‘Rivals’ – Review
Dame Jilly Cooper’s titillating novels set the 1980s on fire with their sex, scandal and sauciness, and now the 1980s are back in all their salacious goodness in Disney+’s Rivals and a whole new generation about to be introduced to the charismatic rogue Rupert Campbell-Black and the residents of the county of Rutshire, and drama is most certainly on the menu.
Set in 1986, old money MP Rupert Campbell-Black (Alex Hassell) and nouveau riche Lord Tony Baddingham (David Tennant) have a rivalry that seeps into the world of Baddingham’s Corinium independent commercial television station, located in the county of Rutshire, in the Cotswolds region of southwest England. Baddingham brings American producer Cameron Cook (Nafessa Williams) to help strengthen Corinium’s programming and hires dynamic Irish newsman Declan O’Hara (Aidan Turner), husband of actress Maude (Victoria Smurfit), away from the BBC.
In the mid-1980s, Dame Jilly Cooper was dubbed the queen of the ‘bonkbuster’, and it wasn’t hard to see why. Her novels chronicled the dramas and scandals of the old-money aristocracy and the new-monied elite at the height of the Thatcher government. And many were left panting from the heat of these scintillating stories. Now a new generation is ready to embrace the naughtiness of the 1980s, and Disney+’s Rivals starts off with a literal ‘bang’ courtesy of the series charming, debonair, devil-may-care antihero Olympic winning showjumper turned conservative MP, Rupert Campbell-Black (Alex Hassell), and it involves plenty of skin, and one bare-backside, a whole hap of thrusting, lashings of champagne and trip to the mile high club in Concord, and Rivals is HERE! Set in 1986, when men were men and women seemed to be lining up for them, this show firmly clings to the excesses and taboos of the error, and there’s certainly no sign of any kind of PC culture in this piece. This is a naughty, invigorating and completely absorbing piece of television; once it starts, you won’t be able to look away.
Politics and power, money and excess, sex and desire all swirl about in Rivals, and Cooper’s famed antihero, Rupert Campbell-Black, is at the centre of the action. The infamous Olympic Gold medallist showjumper turned politician is played to delectable perfection by English actor Alex Hassell, and he brings a swaggering machismo that hides an incredibly complex and layered character. Outworldly, he’s a dashing lothario whom every woman only dreams of sharing his bed with, and he has a talent for excess and scandal but always seems to come out on top. But it’s the inner character that presents the most intriguing facet of Campbell-Black and Hassell brings a layered context to the dashing rogue, and while he first appears very much as the villain of the piece, he proves himself to be far more heroic and upstanding than we initially thought he could be. Hassell utterly knocks it out of the park with his performance, and every time he’s on screen, you gravitate towards him.
Thrown into the mix of Rivals is established television star Aidan Turner as obsessive journalist turned talk show host Declan O’Hara, who, having left the BBC in a riotous storm, finds himself, along with his family, in the aptly named Rutshire and the brand new face of Corinium Television. Turner’s O’Hara is a calamitous and fiery character who is very much the moral centre of the show, but his ‘act first, think later’ behaviour causes more problems than are warranted and, of course, drives the series heightened drama. It’s a real shift in Turner’s character, and he’s commanding on screen, especially in his sparring sessions with Hassell’s Campbell-Black. Victoria Smurfit as Declna’s attention-seeking wife, Maud, is another brilliant casting. She’s a through-scene-stealer who causes plenty of trouble on screen. There’s the demure, unsure of herself Agatha ‘Taggie’ O’Hara, in a star-making performance from Bella Maclean, becomes a foil for the heart of Campbell-Black, only adding to the drama.
Bringing Rivals together in a riveting performance as the series arch-villain Lord Tony Baddingham is David Tennant, and he’s thoroughly perfect as the sly, seeding and repulsive media baron who has a particular axe to grind against Campbell-Black. Tennant is an actor of tremendous talent and ability, and as he’s shown, he can increase the volume of his performances. And he certainly does that as the spiteful Baddingham who will go to any length to win and who has not found any moral boundaries that he’s not willing to cross to see the downfall of his hated rival Rupert Campbell-Black. Baddingham’s ace to bring down Campbell-Black is hotshot American producer Cameron Cooke, played in the series by Nafessa Williams, who not only happens to be an absolutely knockout bombshell but who inhabits a firecracker of a character who puts the male characters through their pacers.
As a viewing experience, Rivals is filled with the bring with plenty of naughtiness, and there’s a whole heap of sex and sin on display that is sure to get the audience hot under the collar. From Rupert’s rollicking romps to the heights of euphoric orgies to the more romantic of moments, the experience of sex is central to the world of Rivals, and it’s not just the spiciness that makes it so hot. Yes, there’s plenty of hot and slightly shocking sex on screen, but all of it adds to the narrative experience of it, and it’s a significant driving factor to the success of Rivals’ story. And if we had to pick our favourite sexy moment, Rupert Campbell-Black’s game of ‘cheeky’ tennis with the buxom Sarah Stratton (Emily Atack) is certainly the winning moment.
Rivals is a grand tale of the 1980s and the excess that defined that era. Grand estates, lavish parties, wild costuming and bold wardrobe choices, and plenty of swagger make a big impact on the audience. It’s a dramatic and large series that swings big, and you can’t help but be caught up in the action of all of it; its multiple narratives and range of characters intertwine for a fascinating story of power and access, and the central theme of rivalry and competitiveness plays out in interesting and unexpected ways. There’s also the ‘will they/won’t they’ romance that is shared between Rupert and Taggy, and this infatuation turned romance is a major contributing factor to the success of the series, and audiences will be holding on to find out just what happens to this whirlwind romance by the end of the season.
Rivals is an utter treat of a television series, and this very naughty watch is sure to leave audiences very hot and flustered. Its characters, narrative, setting, costuming and the era in which it is set are all captured perfectly by this series, and we’re hanging on for Season Two, particularly following that shocking finale, and we’re looking forward to more romps in the Cotswolds down the line.
Rivals is now streaming on Disney+.
Image: Disney+
