Adapted from Jilly Cooper’s infamous novel of the same name, the show boasts an all-star cast that includes everyone from David Tennant, Alex Hassell and Aidan Turner to Katherine Parkinson, Emily Atack and Victoria Smurfit.
And as you might expect from a TV reimagining of one of the 80s’ most iconic “bonkbusters”, it’s also very, very racy.
Critics have already begun having their say on the new show, and it looks safe to say that they’re sold…
The Times (4/5)
“Buckle up – it is a daft but highly entertaining watch. Rather like the 1980s themselves, this lush, plush adaptation out on Disney+ next week does everything to excess and turns the dial up to the max – the colours, the sound, a dazzling cast…”
The Daily Mail (5/5)
“Alex Hassell is surprisingly perfect […] David Tennant fizzes with fury, chippiness and raw, rabid jealousy as Lord Tony Baddington. Claire Rushbrook is wonderful as his matronly wife. Aidan Turner – playing celebrity TV interviewer, Declan O’Hara – should never again be seen without his porn star moustache. Katherine Parkinson is superbly moving. The list goes on and on.”
The Telegraph (5/5)
“Dispel any fears that Jilly Cooper’s book has been Disney-fied. There are no concessions to the times in which we live. Everyone commits adultery and smokes like a chimney. They hunt and shoot. People tell off-colour jokes and nobody pulls them up on it [...] But the show is more than just a romp: like the author herself, it has bags of heart.”
The Standard (4/5)
“Rivals is gloriously trashy and arch, the epitome of guilty-pleasure TV [...] Is Rivals good TV? God, no. It’s brash, obvious, cartoonish. Is it great entertainment. Phwoar, yes.”
Digital Spy (3/5)
“When the show isn’t straying too far from the sex, money and chicanery, it’s good soapy fun – albeit with a stonking cliffhanger that might leave you frothing at the mouth, since we don’t know if Disney will be game to sink another whopping budget into more. You will blush. You will cackle. You will gasp.”
“[Rivals is] a delicious 80s-tastic slice of camp from the queen of the rural bonkbuster, Jilly Cooper. It kicks off with two people joining the mile-high club on Concorde then only gets juicier from there. Every star from David Tennant to Katherine Parkinson and Aidan Turner dials it up to 11.”
Rivals premieres on Disney+ on Friday 18 October.