Disney Plus doing Jilly Cooper's Rivals

[countrylifer]

This is just the best news. I've been waiting for an adaptation of Rivals since I first fell in love with the bounder Rupert C-B in circa 1997.

But the question is who will play him? I can't think of anyone off the top of my head who can fill those boots - any suggestions?

It is Rupert. I’m disappointed but I’m now wondering if they’re deliberately moving away from the descriptions in the book to make it right for tv. Or something 😭

Bad Baddingham is gorgeous - the casting is so good here. Controversial, but I really loved Bas over Rupert....

Rupert surely wouldn’t wink at someone - he wouldn’t need to! The actor will have a hard job creating arrogance which is attractive but not creepy. He needs to be seriously attractive but wear his looks lightly - they’re attracted to him not just because of his looks.
I still think Rupert PJ would have been perfect, they could make him younger but he has that English upper class arrogance yet likeability In spades.

And surely Tony is also meant to be properly attractive? He shags Cameron pretty easily after all, and Maude. David Tennant is far too weasly and pointy.

Taggie looks good though and Cameron too. I hadn’t pictured her black but it works really well and she is very attractive and looks great in the part. Freddie Jones also looks good.

Although I know it was the 80s I also hadn’t pictured perms and moustaches!

It looks awful! I’m not convinced that Dame Jilly giving Rupert the ok means much - after her past few books I think she’s lost the plot a bit.

This is my concern.

Anything after 1993 (Polo), wasn't great IMO.

Well I can't disagree but I do think casting all of those characters is really hard - if they capture the spirit of it, I'll be happy.

I feel Tony always had an essential element of weasel about his personality though.

Perhaps Bas deliberately given a bigger role?

Luke Pasqualino is great casting for Bas. I think Tennant can play threatening so they will be a great contrast as brothers.

I've accepted that they will not be able to translate whats in my head to the screen so as @Solihullproject says if they can capture the spirit that will have to be ok.

Polo was the last book of Cooper's I really enjoyed. Although I quite liked The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous I pretty much stopped reading her after that.

I've read them all but agree Polo and MWMHJ were the last great ones.

The great run ends after Appassionata in my view - it’s always been one of my favourites.

I will reserve judgement on the TV series until we have more footage but at the moment I’m a bit anxious. I agree that Rupert would never wink at someone - he wouldn’t need to!

Have they said when it will be out? I do need something to cheer me up.

Some more cast photos have been released: https://www.happyprince.co.uk/productions/rivals

Most of them actually look great! Not sure about Caitlin who looks too old, but it seems like they’ve aged both her and Taggie up (presumably to make the Taggie-Rupert age gap less problematic).

I haven’t seen any photos or mention of Patrick at all - looks like they’ve written him out, which means significant changes to Cameron’s storyline.

Oooh that's a real shame about Patrick. Some good casting there! To me it looks so much better than the old version.

Hmmm might have to have a Summer re read...

The trailer is not impressing me too much atm. I agree that I’m not convinced on the Rupert casting but will wait and see.

Definitely planning a summer re-read. I’ve got the copy my Mum bought back in the 80s. It’s a bit tatty as t was passed around to so many people!

I forgot Danny dyer was to be Freddy who was my fave in the book but here probably won't be.

Who is the guy on the horse?

It’s Bas (Tony’s polo-playing half brother).

@bookworm14 thanks. Never would’ve called that one :/

Reading the book in the 1990s, in my head Freddie looked just like Phil Collins. I figure DD is probably as near to that as they could get now.

Same!!

Late to this Krug-drenched, Fracas-scented party but

(a) I think that the series Rupert (deliberately not overdoing the googling on actors I don't already know for this) may carry it off through sheer drawly arrogance despite not being blonde. Jilly always said that Rupert was modelled on Andrew Parker-Bowles. If that's true, I'm afraid she and I just really fundamentally differ on what an exceptionally attractive posh bloke is supposed to look like.

(b) I liked everything up to Appassionata, found Score! interesting, after that she did go off the boil a bit and I'm not sure I'll ever forgive her for what she turned Taggie into in Mount!.

(c) I am wildly excited, to coin a Jillyism, at the prospect of two intimacy co-ordinators. It tells me that whoever wrote this really understood the fundamental point of Jilly's story-telling: the bonking.

I'd also like to use this thread (even if everyone else has now left it) to vent my frustration about the complete lack of any update on Ferdie and Natasha. We know what happened to literally every other couple in the entire Rutshire universe but them, and I speak as someone who has searched all applicable terms in the Kindle version of every single Rutshire book.

Agreed. WHAT happened to them? I mean, I think I know. Ferdie founded the Cooper Universe equivalent of Foxtons and Natasha probably rolled about on Ralph Lauren sheets all day long. But that’s not the point.

That's got to be right, but why doesn't she care about them enough to confirm? WHY?