You know, sometimes something is absolutely, positively not made for us in any way. There are no space lasers, no explosions, and no stoic heroes making dry quips as they walk away from an explosion in slow motion. Yet that doesn’t mean we can’t find that thing incredibly fun and hugely entertaining. Like Rivals.
And trust me… this really, really wasn’t made for us.
So what is it? It is an adaption of a best-selling British novel written by Jilly Cooper. It is part of her Rutshire Chronicles. These are set among the extremely badly behaved British upper-class establishment who spend their time riding horses, living in indecently large houses, scheming, and bed-hopping. These novels made a generation of housewives across the world go all weak at the knees. They used to be called a “bonkbuster”.
This adaption closely follows the novel and tells a story set in 1986.
Ex-Olympian, MP, and notorious womanizer Rupert Campbell-Black (Alex Hassell – The Boys, Cowboy Bebop) becomes set on a collision course with his neighbor, the notorious shit, ruthless businessman, and controller of the local independent television station Lord Tony Baddingham (David Tennant – Doctor Who, Good Omens).
The scene is set for a showdown in the highly competitive world of television franchise auctions, back in the golden age of terrestrial television pre-satellite and cable. Back then even a soap opera had half of the population tuning in and advertising revenue made franchise owners titans of the media.
Wives shall be shagged, champagne will be thrown, and curiously posh insults will be shouted, as the two vie for control of the airwaves. Into this battle steps world-famous chatshow host Declan O’Hara (Aidan Turner – Being Human, Poldark, the Hobbit movies) and his family, alongside hotshot American television producer Cameron Cook (Nafessa Williams – Black Lightning).
Also caught up in the action are Emily Atack (The Inbetweeners) and Danny Dyer (Football Factory, Human Traffic) along with Katherine Parkinson (The IT Crowd), Bella Maclean, and Victoria Smurfitt.
So what happens? Well… sex. Lots and lots of sex. Definitely don’t watch this with your kids in the room, even if this is Austin Powers-style “shagging” and mostly played for laughs, there are boobs and nudity and even a male-full frontal right from the start.
So why are we even talking about it here? Well, because it is fun.
It completely leans into the ridiculousness of the whole thing and doesn’t take itself seriously at all. In the process, Rivals becomes an incredibly entertaining romp that manages to engage you in the shenanigans while making you laugh at it all.
Dare I say, it is the very definition of a guilty pleasure. It could even be a camp classic.
Surprisingly, the MVP of the whole show is the “geezers geezer” and professional Cockney Danny Dyer.
He makes a leap from running the Queen Victoria pub in the British soap opera Eastenders, and starring in numerous mockney gangster outings, to play the extremely likable working-class-boy-made-good, electronics millionaire and new local resident Freddie Jones. Somehow his navigation of these badly behaved upper-class toffs makes him our cipher into this world. He also plays the character surprisingly sensitively and is, as a result, very funny.
Bella Maclean as Taggie is another delight in a cast who really are throwing themselves into the silliness with enthusiasm. Tennant’s Baddingham is such a wonderfully unprincipled villain, and Tennant is having the time of his life, chewing scenery with abandon, and feeling like he is letting a dark version of his Doctor Who off the leash.
Wrap this up in a well-realized 80s setting of tasteless decoration and embarrassing fashion, then layer in the perfectly pitched 80s pop soundtrack, and the whole thing is just a winner. A completely unserious, knowingly mocking winner, but the kind of ridiculous fun that feels like it is missing from television these days.
There is one point in a later episode where the whole thing takes a very dark turn and becomes momentarily, yet deliberately, uncomfortable. You will know it when you see it. As Rivals navigates this, while still keeping an eye on the fun, and managing to hit every single important beat of the novel you might just do what I did. Find yourself enjoying this immensely.
Give Rivals a chance, lean into it with the right mindset, and you could be in for a good time. At the very least, if you are a standard Outposter then you can watch it with your partner and not find yourself contemplating ending it all.
All episodes of Rivals are available now on Star and Disney+ globally. It is on Hulu in the US. If you enjoy it, then you will be pleased that they have only adapted the first half of the book so it looks as if season 2 will be commissioned. There are also signposts to later Jilly Cooper novels, so this might be the start of something.
Brace yourself for heroics, hedonism, head, and hand jobs from the help.