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?

Oh god, Charles Fairburn!

I've just finished it. Really enjoyed it.
However, David Tennant is wrong as Tony. Tony is more thuggish and rapey.

Cameron is not nasty enough.
Seb Burrows is wrong and where is Dom?
Where is Billy Lloyd Fox?
They have changed the story...I keep having to readjust in my head.

Don't like alex Hassel as rcb.

They’re all nicer than they are in the book! Declan and Tony seem to get on much better, Cameron is way less prickly, Tony almost gets rapey (at the house after the party) but then Cameron kind of consents (kind of).

Freddie, Sarah, Lizzie and James are perfect!

Isn't seb and Dommie Carlisle different characters from polo?

Seb burrows was the hard working junior producer (and I had forgot gorgeous georgie Bain's!)

Yes! Sorry, I have got all mixed up! Well that solves that mystery!🤣

I think they merged Ginger Johnson and Georgie Baines to be Ginger Baines.

Absolutely loved Freddie and Lizzie. I very much wanted to be standing around the piano singing Total Eclipse of the Heart with everyone. Wonderful telly.

So I love Freddie and Lizzie too - but in the book she enters into the affair in a much more cavalier fashion. In the series she seems to have the affair once she finds out about James’ affair with Sarah whereas in the book I felt like their marriage came across as pretty dead already.

And the Tony/Cameron engagement discussion? I’m sure that didn’t happen!

It feels like they’ve kind of made it more moral I guess.

Still love it though!

How long do we have to wait for the next season 😭

Ok I just finished it <slow> and, ahem, what the actual fuck was the last episode? It could not have diverted more from the book if it tried! The book is such a good story but this is just, not the book.

I think it was just so unbelievable that David Tennant's tiny Tony would be able to beat up a strong woman like Cameron so the producers went a different way.
I mean they were already asking the audience to buy Alex Hassel and his weird gurning as "the most handsome man in England".

I didn’t know it wasn’t going to cover the whole book! I loved it but am so disappointed we don’t have the whole thing

I’m delighted they haven’t covered the whole thing - we’re bound to get a season 2! And they changed “handsomest man in England” to most eligible bachelor. Beauty being in the eye of the beholder. The actor was relieved!

@OhTheLeetleHandsAndFeetle i looked that bit too - cracking soundtrack. I don’t think any adaptation can nail everything.

I agree!!

the final episode is just WTF. I was baffled.

On the whole, I loved it although I didn’t fancy Rupert - but I wonder whether they went that way because it would just be impossible to accurately portray him? I liked the actor playing him and thought he was very charismatic.

The one thing that really irritated me though was when Rupert says to taggie, “I can’t breathe without you”. I’m sorry but Rupert Campbell-Black would never.

To be honest, I felt like none of the men were good looking enough - not Bas, Rupert or even James who was meant to be attractive in a smarmy way.

I guess they had to put a modern spin on the women too as in the book they do get treated quite badly. Like we had Taggie actively approaching Rupert in the last episode whereas in the book that slow burn of the leaf collecting, their “almost” kiss in the car and then her trip to the airport at the end was perfect.

And Cameron was treated much less badly by Tony and seemed to have the upper hand over him. Again - not a bad thing! But different to the book.

I think what really pissed me off about the Rupert casting is he looks more Joey Essex than posh. I don't find posh men wildly attractive on the whole but I do know what they look like and he wasn't it!

Cameron was great . She was my favourite character in the book, spiky chippiness and all, and although they changed her I still really enjoyed her.

James was ok, Freddie worked (despite not looking like Phil Collins as in my head). Bas was probably about right. But Rupert and Tony not so much. Actually maybe the Rupert actor should have played Tony.

I liked Cameron and Freddie best. And some of the peripheral characters were excellent like Sarah Stratton who was exactly correct and Daysee as well.

Interesting - I didn’t like Sarah at all. Thought Freddie was perfect. Patrick, maud and Caitlin too. Declan much younger than anticipated but for me the hottest character.

Yes the OHara’s were excellent, I liked all of them. Sarah was just exactly how I pictured her in the book.
Declan was probably the stand out character for me. Rupert felt almost peripheral to the story.

Just to flag up that season 2 has TWELVE episodes in it - so half as much again (hurray!) and Danny Dyer is learning to play polo!

I hope they don’t have too much Perdita but LOTS of Ricky and Daisy and Drew.

@GertrudeOHara oooo have they started filimg??