Critic Reviews

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.

It has all paid off. Cooper’s books are about joyfully indulging your appetites and knowing that literary (or televisual) escapism is not a sin but a very necessary part of being a human. Disney has taken the business of bringing her Rutshire vision to life just as seriously and with just as light a touch as they needed.

The dialogue is, as ever, fabulous. .... How best to reward such exquisitely knowing escapism? Ten stars? Ten thousand stars? Rivals is beyond earthly praise.

It is television as X-rated pantomime. And it is hugely entertaining, just like the first series. It works because the writers and actors are canny throughout.

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

While Season 1 was a delightful entry into this over-the-top world of the British elite, Season 2 has taken things up a notch with a tonally perfect and exceptional continuation of a truly scandalous series.

A vivid, thrilling throwback to the soapy dramas of primetime television’s heyday. A scandalous, uninhibited romp from its very first scenes (which involve two characters joining the mile-high club in an airplane toilet), its story is full of betrayal, ambition, greed, and excess in all the best possible ways.

“Rivals” is yet more wealth-aganda, but it refuses to take itself too seriously and is all the better for it. Visually, it’s a terrific blend of classy and tacky. .... The heartfelt moments hit, but so does the humor.

How much you enjoy Rivals will depend on how much of a Jilly Cooper fan you are (I think she is fabulous). But even if you’re not au fait with the books you can tuck in to a lavish series that takes you back to a decade (it is set in 1986) before mobile phones and when people still got steaming drunk at lunchtime. This is a big pink Anglo bubblegum of a production and a splash of retro-escapism.

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.