Early versions of Vanity Fair had the tagline “A novel without a hero”.

Unlike other tales of the time that had a saccharine-sweet heroine, or cartoonishly evil baddies, Thackeray’s tale is much more realistic.

At times, you will root for all of them, and at other times, none of them. All the characters have their strengths and foibles, moments of honour and times of utter dishonour – just like in real life.

His book was lengthy even for the Victorians though, which meant Gwyneth Hughes who adapted the book for ITV’s Vanity Fair had to cut chunks out to fillet the book down into seven moreish episodes, still encapsulating all the mood and action.

According to Hughes, “The second half of the book goes round the houses a bit, so I cut a lot there. Everyone has too many relatives, so a lot of them went in the bin.

“My goal was to reach into the heart of Vanity Fair, to follow the simple story of a friendship between two girls from different sides of the tracks. One starts out poor, the other starts out rich. Luck and hard work reverse their fortunes, more than once. Their ending is bittersweet and unforgettable.”

5 interesting things you didn't know about 'Vanity Fair'