Jilly Cooper’s Andrew Parker Bowles fantasy is coming to Disney+ with RIVALS

[quote]Set in the fictional upper-class county of Rutshire, Rivals dives headfirst into the cutthroat world of independent television in 1986 when a long-standing rivalry between two powerful men is about to boil over: ex-Olympian, Member of Parliament and notorious womanizer Rupert Campbell-Black (Alex Hassell) and his neighbor Tony Baddingham (Tennant), controller of the independent TV franchise Corinium Television.

This seems so niche. What sort of tone will this have? Is it going to be like Industry, or more soapy?

Oh, and Hassell better get naked, his bod is insane.

It's a Modern British Classic, r1

Well that narrows it down.

Jilly Cooper wrote bonkbusters. Think Bridgerton cast amongst Princes Charles’ set in the 1980s.

I hope it will be a period piece. Imagine the awful clothes.

David Tennant is quite nicely bulgy.

Should have cast Gabriel Byrne as Declan.

Is that Leo DiCaprio, in the black shirt, to the left of the elderly lady?

That’s ex-twink Danny Dyer who specialised in gay teen roles at the beginning of his career, but he turned to fat in his 30s.

Much like Leo himself.

R1 less Industry/Lena Dunham, more Jackie Collins meets Jeffrey Archer with a lighter touch and more sex chat complete with multiple uses of the words cock, cunt and clitoris.

Oh Jesus, not David Tenant again!

r9 Thanks, I'll check out a couple of episodes when the show comes out since I have no experience with this genre, plus I'm curious as to how she managed to land all these guys.

Oh, and I don't get why you mentioned Lens in the same breath as Industry, since she literally just directed the series premiere for some reason. She's not involved with the running of the show or the writing in any way. On the TV front, she's known for Girls and that's about it, Industry creatively isn't her thing at all.

So it's based on the horsey set who live in Gloucestershire, which is where King Charles's house Highgrove is (that he moved into not long before his engagement to Diana) and where the Parker-Bowleses, Princess Anne and Mark Phillips, and practically everyone in the UK who was wealthy and sexy and in the Establishment lived in the 1980s.

It's about a lot of wealthy, privileged, shallow people having sex outside of marriage, and the Rupert Campbell-Black character at the center (based on Andrew Parker-Bowles) is a highly sexed superstud polo player who fucks just about every woman in the county.

The tone would best be described to Americans as exactly like r9 described it, only Americans don't really know Jeffrey Archer. It's very sexy and trashy like Jackie Collins, but not depressing the way Jackie Collins is, and has a little wit to it despite the trashiness. There is a LOT of sex. There's also far more detail about horseback riding than I would ever have cared to read.

Can we expect some homo stuff as well? Did she touch on that in her work at all?

I love David Tennant. I have watched most of his work and find him to be superb actor. Very a versatile actor.

R4 : Yes!

Bad clothes, bad hair, bad makeup.

I would so watch a series not afraid to lean into the kitsch of the 80s.

And Fergie in r4 actually looks … not so bad? Considering it’s the 1980s and, ya know, Fergie.

Danny’s moustache and wig tends to suggest it will be set in the 80s.

Hopefully the ladies clothes are more Princess Diana and Kim Wilde than Margaret Thatcher.

R17, that's what I thought... quite presentable. Broken clock, twice a day, I guess.

The trailer for Rivals is out.

I don’t understand the plot. Alex Hassell Parker-Bowles is trying to seduce Aidan Turner’s daughter which annoys David Tennant because?

Though I gather Jilly Cooper is read for the sex scenes not the story.

I saw an interview with her about this yesterday. She said something like "men aren't as macho now, so no wonder women don't want to have sex as much".

I mean, I know she's old and batty, but even so.

Oh wow. Aidan Turner looks…not good.

Alex Hassell and David Tennant are too skinny.

I really can't stand to look at Tennant anymore, he hit the wall so hard.

David Tennant was showing quite the moose knuckle there. It's usually Danny Dyer assaulting our eyes with his moundage, but he looks like he's getting fat.

I thought Asian Turner looked ok, actually.

Elder gays might remember the prequel of sorts - the adaptation of the first "Rutshire" book Riders, starring Prince Michael of Moldavia and Sable Colby.

The casting may work but Alex Hassell looks a bit TOO jolie laide for this and feels too old.

But the trailer gets the era right, you can smell the nicotine smoke.

The clothing is too tasteful.

How anyone can talk about David Tennant being bulgey in a lineup that includes Danny Dyer is just insanity.

None of the men look good. Even Luke Pasqualino looks past his sell by date.

And going back to the earlier "Bridgerton" comparisons, Jilly Cooper is a VERY funny writer. She has a light touch and a wit that the Bridgerton books simply don't have.