Rivals—a Disney+ adaptation of the popular book by Jilly Cooper, the second in her Rutshire Chronicle series—has swaggered its way onto our screens with lots of star power, bouffant ‘80s wigs, and more high-society sex than you can shake a riding crop at. But our first vision of Cooper’s world is not the country manors or busty politicians’ wives that audiences might expect from the author’s fictional romp. No, we begin with a behind.
Specifically, that of Rupert Campbell-Black—the most handsome man in Britain, and a rider of horses and women. He’s ravishing the ghostwriter of his memoir in an airplane bathroom on his way to the United States. “Addicted to Love” is playing. The sound barrier breaks. Champagne corks pop. This is Rivals.
“The first not-quite-lady of Fleet Street” Beattie Johnson is very audibly enjoying herself during the show’s grand opening scene, but what are the critics saying about the sexiest show on Disney+?
A lot, it turns out. While the subject matter may sound somewhat dry—the world of 1980s independent television is hardly the juiciest on paper—Rivals is the talk of the town. The cast, in particular, have been getting lots of praise for going all out as the sexed-up Cotswolds set. David Tenant, according to the New Statesman, is “honestly never better” as television boss Lord Tony Baddingham. Slimy and smarmy, The Standard calls the performance “an etiolated preying mantis, stalking malevolently through the buttocky countryside.”
