Rivals

I am laughing at some of the reviews, clearly by readers who take themselves far too seriously.

This is a Jilly Cooper adaption.

It's not a series to be intellectualised or morally judged.

It's so much fun.

Superbly cast.

Yes, RCB's hair and eyes are the wrong colour. As is Taggies hair. But they work. Somehow.

RCB will disappoint some for this reason. But Alex Hassell is captures everything else about him.

Danny Dyer is perfect. David Tennant is EXCELLENT as always. And Aidan Turner is just gorgeous, if slightly young to play Declan.

Falters slightly in the final third. But yes. It's fabulous fun.

Watched it all in 1 go.

In terms of TV shows, this year has been fairly average. Rivals stands out as an absolute highlight. It's a multi-layered work that definitely deserves a sequel.

Conceptually, it's a soap opera, narratively a satire, and stylistically a period piece. A careful viewer will find a message within that, for once, isn't superficial or forcefully pushing political idealism but instead seeks truth. Rivals is entertaining, clever, raunchy, and funny. Not a single episode feels loose, unnecessary, or forced; the story and characters build beautifully toward an outstanding climax.

The writing, scenes, lines, and direction all serve the greater whole. The soundtrack appeals to every child of the '80s. The acting is a pleasure to watch. The always excellent David Tennant shines as a humanized villain, with Alex Hassell as his opposing force. Victoria Smurfit and Aidan Turner form a believable, well-matched broken couple. The audience witnesses the rise of a few new stars, especially Bella Maclean will be name to recon in the future.

Highly recommended, the best show of the fall.

So obvs read the book an aeon ago (it was like a coming of age ritual in a certain time and place) and TBH remembered very little aside from the odd name (coz some Jilly created were soooo de rigeur - Rupert Campbell Black says it all - and have somewhat passed into the lexicon) but almost immediately I started to, if not remember the plot wholesale, get a synaptic snap with the heady scent of YSL Opium from watching The Rivals.

This adaptation (one ep in) is seeming to get it just right. Its silly giggles rather than laugh out loud and saucy not salacious. It quickly built the world - the 80s, greedy Thatcherite old boys and yuppies, bored wives and fearsome warrior women all treated like meat whatever they do, concord, cigars and the birdie song, the English class strata, the UK in a globalising world tryna dig nails in at the top... and the socio-political commentary, whilst not being shoved in your face, is much more clear than when reading the books. It might be coz I'm older and have met more people that Cooper's critique of British culture is more obvious, but I think its also the casting, the accents, the costumes - drawing out each character's habitus (to cite Bordeau) and presenting it to the audience for consideration, admiration, denigration and/or titillation.

Okay its a little bit of a panty, pantie panto but FFS why not?!

I was 19 in 1980, so I reached manhood in the "decade of greed", but American, not British. However, this struck me as very true to the 80s. The characters were larger than life, the excess was correct (can't tell you how many times I went to a party and got coked up and watched the sun come up) and the narcissism is spot on. The casual sex is also on par with the 80s. Enjoying thios series and hoping there is more. And yes, I did think this is very much like "Dallas" by the 3rd episode. Thing is: I liked Dallas.

Why do I need six hundred characters to post a review? It seems absurd. Am I right, or is this review not good enough to print? What do you think? Do we expect more? Getting penalized for brevity seems silly. Yet still I need more characters. WHY? WHY? WHY?

Back in the 90's there was an appalling version of Riders by Jilly Cooper, since then TV had avoided her 'bonkbusters' the critics feeling that Jilly Cooper novels were outdated and silly. That's far from the truth, Cooper satires the upper middle classes of the Cotswolds with an iron wit and has always understood comedy, character and fun plots. In many ways her work has been more akin to Restoration Comedy than Carry On with characters having more development and more inner life than you'd expect.

Now from Disney comes RIVALS boasting a stellar cast and the good news is that it's a great watch, yes it's full of naughty moments and boobs and bums, even the occasional Willy. The triumph of it though is that it has the budget and it has the time to do justice to the feel and spirit of the original book. The changes are minor and actually open out the period and the politics more.

Bella Maclean is brilliant in the central role of Tagie and Alex Hassel makes a great job of Rupert, a role that is impossible to cast because nobody in history can be the character that Cooper created - part villain, part Adonis, part whimpering child. He makes a really creditable job.

The real star of this though is the ensemble of great character actors Emily Atack, Danny Dyer, Katherine Parkinson all putting in career best performances.

The 80's soundtrack is on point throughout and makes Rivals a real triumph for Disney. It's fun, it's frothy but there is a deeper undertow that raises it above a hallmark movie and offers the hope that we will see much more from this team and this universe in the future.

Really liked it.