If I had read any of Jilly Cooper’s bestsellers, would I have deigned to watch Rivals, the eight-episode series adapted from one such? Probably not but that decision would have been a mistake. This series retains what I imagine was central to that author’s novels, namely plenty of gratuitous, unlovely sex, a preposterous set of hoity-toity characters, and a story notion designed to grab, but overlays all that guff with a kinetic storyline, splendid acting, fine cinematography in classic British settings, and a keen sense of timing. David Tennant never turns in anything other than a fine performance and here is compelling as one of the movies “rivals,” Lord Tiny Baddingham, heading up a TV franchise that hires an outsider, Declan O’Hara (played by the standout actor Aidan Turner), as a serious interviewer. Declan’s family finds itself in the bonking cauldron of rural Rutshire, and is soon enmeshed in Baddingham’s scorching feud with former Olympian and government minister (it’s the Thatcher era!) Rupert Campbell-Black (a fine performance from Alex Hassell). The supporting actors are well cast and frequently genuinely funny (which I wager I would not glean from the original novel). Rivals is silly nonsense really but the execution is rollicking fun, a welcome antidote to the upcoming Trump debacle.
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