Rivals

Despite its deliberate corniness, this is also gloriously uplifting television. It is unashamedly celebratory and perhaps even better than the last series.

There are eight episodes. It sags a bit towards the end, when the script concerns itself more with the business of regional television franchises than love and lust and shirtless hunks. But, on the whole, it’s a marvellous antidote to modern life.

Season 2 of this undeniably enjoyable Jilly Cooper adaptation comes with more heart, this time around — yet other organs still abound in TV's silliest, most decadent bonkbuster. 

It is well-written and well-acted, but it aspires to nothing more than being fun. Real, associable human emotions are kept at arm’s length in favour of stylised bucolic horniness.

There’s also a palpable energy slump in later episodes, as Corinium power plays bang on too long. Still, overall, Rivals is big, bold, witty and shameless.

These are characters who happily indulge urges with a devil-may-care attitude (though they're not static, and do grow), with the audience able to comfortably await the inevitable fallout. It makes for a fun, thrilling watch, and it's backed by strong and charismatic performers who add enough complexity to avoid any dramatic ruts.

Rivals has a keen eye for subtle class distinctions and the way they etch tiny fracture lines through a close-knit community. It’s just frustrating that only some of the characters on the show feel like three-dimensional people, while others (most notably Nafessa Williams’ American producer Cameron Cook) feel like paper-thin soap-opera archetypes.

The first episode was a disaster, and my last. Despite a heavyweight cast, this mess wasted its potential with a poor script, unnatural dialogue, and forced 80s England vibes that felt more like a bad Mad Men/Dallas knockoff than authentic period drama. Even Netflix's Legends nailed the era better. The production was merely okay, but the unnecessary nudity felt like lazy filler, not bold storytelling. British TV is full of masterful period pieces, yet Rivals squandered its chance, delivering a clunky, tonally inconsistent slog. The starcast deserved better; instead, they were drowned in a hash of bad direction and wasted talent. A 3/10 is generous - this was a missed opportunity on every level. Not recommended.

I found Rivals to be very boring. So much talking and nothing really happening. I also found it very difficult to watch David Tenant in this since he's gotten so political recently. It's just off-putting since often the difference between him and his characters is just him hiding his Scottish accent..

Just barely managed to watch Ep 1 to the end. I have given no less than a 7 for all the 2024 TV series that I have watched so far, many being binge worthy,. But this Episode 1 is so absolutely tragic in terms of characters and storyline that the producers had to turn to mass porngraphy to generate viewer interest. And that just turned me right off.