The move could be seen as a way of winning audience share from arch-rival BBC1, which is constantly being criticised for "dumbing down" its programming in an effort to become more mainstream.
ITV's drama line-up includes a new gay drama series from Queer as Folk creator Russell T Davies called Bob and Rose and featuring Jonathan Creek star Alan Davies.
A modern adaptation of Othello is to be aired for the first time, along with Micawber, an adaptation of Charles Dickens' David Copperfield by Only Fools & Horses writer John Sullivan and featuring David Jason.
Other serials featuring some of the nation's favourite actors include My Beautiful Son with Julie Walters and Ricky Tomlinson, and Anybody's Nightmare featuring Patricia Routledge.
Cold Feet, one of ITV's ratings mainstays, returns for a fourth series and follows the lives of six thirty-somethings through the ups and downs of marriage, divorce and parenthood.
Cold Feet star Robert Bathurst will also appear in a new comedy with Caroline Quentin called Dead which, along with Cold Feet, will attempt to revive ITV's comedy offering.
One of the channel's most controversial decisions is to air an animated satirical show called 2DTV, which has been developed by Giles Pilbrow, the producer of Have I Got News for You.
The cartoon, like the Spitting Image show of the Eighties, will feature caricatures of stars such as the Beckhams and Geri Halliwell, to Tony Blair and Prince William.
Steve Coogan returns to TV with The Sketch Show, which will introduce a raft of new UK talent such as Lee Mack, Jim Tavare and Ronni Ancona.
ITV's reality-TV programming offering includes Soapstars, which will search for actors to appear on long-running soap Emmerdale. It will follow the formula employed by Popstars, which led to the formation of the chart-topping group Hear'Say.
Ratings juggernaut Popstars will be replaced by Pop Idol, which will document the search for a new solo pop star. However, this time, the viewers will vote on who will become famous.
Serious true-to-life factual programming will be led by a series called Real Life. One of the subjects of this documentary series is Vicky Carter, a 16-year-old anorexic who took her parents to the High Court to stop herself from being tube fed.
Another hard-hitting series by documentary maker Marilyn Gaunt charts the lives of six teenage girls living with their parents in a condemned house on a run-down council estate.
The South Bank Show celebrates its 25th anniversary this autumn with two special programmes in which Melvyn Bragg will present clips from the show's archive.
David Liddiment, ITV director of channels, said, "The challenge for ITV1 is to achieve a balance between attracting large audiences and developing new and innovative programmes which keep our schedule fresh and the channel relevant to an ever-changing audience."