When a TV series opens with a sex scene, you know you’re going to be in for a ride. And what an enjoyable ride Rivals is!
The sex scene in question takes place in an aeroplane bathroom between journalist Beattie Johnson (Annabel Scholey) and the Cotswold’s resident lothario, former show jumper turned politician Rupert Campbell-Black (Alex Hassell). And it sets the tone for the absolute romp-com – yes that is a word that we’ve invented, and yes we are hoping that it becomes common vernacular - that is Rivals.
Because it turns out the Cotswolds is an incredibly sexy place. Everywhere you look, husbands (and sometimes wives) are having affairs, people are even playing tennis completely nude.
But despite all the nudity - none of it gratuitous, in my opinion – there’s also multiple brilliant storylines that will keep you watching long after you’ve seen Aidan Turner’s bare bottom.
Based on the second novel of Jilly Cooper’s Rutshire Chronicles, the main storyline of Rivals tells the story of a fierce rivalry between TV mogul Lord Tony Baddingham (David Tennant) and Rupert Campbell-Black, which is only exacerbated by the presence of Irish journalist and presenter Declan O’Hara (Turner). As Tony rules the TV studios of Corinium with an iron fist (apt considering that the drama is set in the 1980s when England was led by its first female Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher), gradually his employees and their families grow to resent him, leaving the drama spilling into their countryside homes.
We don’t really know how the rivalry between Tony and Rupert was started - we’re supposed to assume that, as a self-made man, Tony resents Rupert’s upper class upbringing, but in truth the pair have far more in common than you’d like. Despite Tony being the true villain of the piece (David Tennant is clearly relishing being an absolute arsehole), it’s sometimes difficult to root for Rupert.
Even though there are constant efforts made to redeem Rupert, and prove that there’s a ‘good guy’ underneath the dickhead façade, none of it quite sticks. In fact, very few of the characters in Rivals are especially likeable. Even Taggie O’Hara (Bella Maclean) - the supposed moral cornerstone of the show - is actually quite annoying in her infatuation with Rupert.
That’s where Danny Dyer as Freddie Jones and Katherine Parkinson as Lizzie Vereker (and to a lesser extent Emily Attack as Sarah Stratton, who is a surprising shining star amongst the A-list cast) come in.
In a loveless marriage with the hapless James Vereker (Oliver Chris, who provides plenty of comic relief amidst the drama), Lizzie provides the grounding that the plot needs. Parkinson’s subtle portrayal of her means that Lizzie serves as a touchstone for how we, the viewers, should be feeling, especially as she’s an author writing a book called Rivals. You can’t really break the fourth wall much more than that - she even shares a brief scene with the actual Jilly Cooper!
For his part, Freddie Jones (Dyer) is a working-class man, who has managed to climb the social status thanks to his success in the world of software technology. Married to Valerie Jones (Lisa McGrillis), he’s the only person how can resolve the many arguments between Declan and Rupert, and he’s exclusively kind to everybody but doesn’t take any nonsense.
Without Freddie and Lizzie serving as the moral compasses for Rupert and Declan especially, Rivals just wouldn’t be as powerful, or dare we say as enjoyable.
Why haven’t we given Danny Dyer the opportunity to spread his wings like this before? Yes we all loved him in EastEnders, but since then he’s only really played spoofs of himself. Dyer is an incredible actor, but it’s in Rivals that you’ll realise just how good he really is. Bring on series two!
Daisy Hall is a News and Entertainment writer on Grazia, specialising in TV and film meaning that you can count on Daisy for the latest (and best) recommendations.