Jilly Cooper's Rivals on Disney - episode 1 discussion thread WITH SPOILERS! Open the Pouilly Fume & curl up on the sofa with a lurcher puppy here!

[TheSecondMrsCampbellBlack]

Exciting!

I was there too! Immediately though she would say Bojo. Grealish was so left field. I loved it.

Happy evening, shame the sound was shite and I didn’t much care for the interviewer tbh. The writer was charming. Loved AH giving a shout-out to his mum and the fact that his Dad (a vicar) had the full set of the Rutshire chronicles on the shelf above the Bibles in their study 😂

AH is waaaay hotter IRL (and very lean).

Well done @TheSecondMrsCampbellBlack for the great question.

Going to admit now that I was there but looking a state and didn't want to be discovered by fellow Mumsnetters in rag order!

Loved Jilly, interviewer warmed up a bit, Alex Hassell seemed lovely, I want Katherine Parkinson to be my best friend.

So glad I got to see Jilly. She's so earthy and naughty!

I’m late to this thread but they filmed the Spain footage in South Africa (friend had small part in this). Maybe somehow S.Africa was cheaper but must have had some budget to do that. So not a far stretch to think they could get a bigger budget (as it has been such a success) for the next series.

For those that were there - an article about the evening with Jilly and co....

www.goodhousekeeping.com/uk/lifestyle/a62761400/rivals-dame-jilly-cooper/

Ah thanks for that @CoverMeInMarmalade - I don't think that does it justice though, the atmosphere was incredible, so much Jilly love in the room!

I'm rereading The Man who made husband's jealous. It's not my favourite but it's great fun. I think Ferdy is her son. Is she Georgie?

@virgocatlover, I've been having this same conversation with my Gen Z daughter (we are watching Rivals asynchronously, for obvious reasons!).

I was a child in the 80s, so I remember when 17 was considered a suitable age for a young woman to be thinking about aspiring to an older, more "settled" man who could be a good provider. Older usually meant 20s rather than 30s, but the whole premise was that you would be looked after by a man, and you pinned your ambitions on marrying a man with a good career because if you had kids you'd probably stop working. (I didn't want that myself, but there was a definite sense that if you pinned your ambitions on yourself and your own career first, you were a horrible feminist bitch - the Cameron of the books fits that trope pretty clearly).

RCB's appeal is a bit lost on the Gen Zs because they just see an older jerk who groped Taggie. Women my age who have long fancied RCB see a handsome, suave, famous, rich, well-connected and (crucially reformable) rake. The whole Taggie storyline is Cinderella-ish, and Taggie basically reforms Rupert by the sheer power of being beautiful, wholesome and good - which is a quite an old school female fantasy!

My daughter can't for the life of her see what attracts them to each other, and has come out of the whole thing thinking Cameron was more of a match for RCB, but that's generation gaps for you...

@RayonSunrise I'm millennial and I'm totally with your daughter.

I'm finding it really difficult to get past, because I think unlike the other 'of the time' morality features the viewer is expected to get behind their relationship. Whereas the general sexism, attitudes towards gay characters and sexual assault we are supposed to judge.

If Taggy was in her late 20s I think I could get more behind the fantasy but she's still in her TEENS. I don't get what either of them see in the other and I actually don't think the actors have much chemistry either. I do see the attraction in general to RCB but just not from a teenage girl.

Cameron is a much better match for him! Or even if Lizzie 'reformed' him ... Not that I'm advocating that given how much I love her relationship with Fred-Fred!

Actually she's 20 at the beginning of the show - although in her late teens in the book.

Exactly, they've tried aging her up to make it all a little more palatable and it's still all a bit virgin-on-a-pedestal.

Her age is weird.

She is 20 when they move to rutshure but Patrick turns 21 on New Year's Eve. So that's a quick turnaround fora second baby!

Yup!

I think the actress playing Taggie could pass for 20 but Alex Hassell does look the mid 40s that he is.

And a similar age to Aiden Turner playing her Dad!

AT is actually slightly younger!

i get they fancied each other but was saying But what about Declan/her dad!

Not that uncommon to have babies in quick succession in the 80's and even now I know a few women who became pregnant with their second baby while on maternity leave

I remember when Charles and Diana were first linked together and the press were speculating about marriage, she was 19 and he was early 30s. I was only a year younger than her and I couldn’t for the life of me understand why it was considered a suitable match or what she saw in him. Not everyone thought such age gaps were ok back then. Maybe older people did but neither I nor my friends got it.

Perhaps more common/accepted amongst their class/circles than the hoi polloi?

@diddl Ha yes, definitely! I remember my dad saying as much.

Charles and Diana had a big age gap because he had to marry a virgin, and he left picking a wife quite late so his contemporaries had all become a bit too, er, "worldly."

Help me with this oh loyal fans... I've not read the book and have just watched the second episode where Rupert sexually assaulted the young girl at the dinner party. Am I right that she's going to be seduced by him? Am I the only person with whom this sits badly? I thought the assault was appalling and the idea of him seducing her - a very young, naive girl - feels a bit wrong in today's world. Also, all of sex feels a bit male gaze, ie designed by men for men.

Will watch a bit more but wondered if I've got it wrong?

I think this series must be tricky to watch and understand if you haven’t read the books. Not saying any of the themes are right or correct. More a reflection of the era and what went on at the time.

I agree that the books are "of their time" but I also thought it was a shitty thing to do to a neighbour's daughter trying to start up her own business!

I guess she was meant to be flattered though as it was the "irresistable" RCB!

yes but Patrick born 31 Dec/1 Jan - they move in about august/very early sept because caitlin is about to start a new term at school = even if Maud got pregnant literally the day after she delivered (highly unlikely) that's only an 8 month gestational period. While it's possible Taggie was early, it's highly unlikely both she was that early and Maud got pregnant again that quickly.

there's a difference between 'short turnaround' and 'almost physically impossible.'

someone who got pregnant while still on their maternity leave could still end up with (assuming a year's leave) 21 months between their kids, not 8!

I’m only two episodes in and really enjoying. David Tenbant is excellent in it - spot on. Didn’t recognise Danny Dyer at first - he looks so different.

The only disappointment to me is the actor playing RCB - he’s a fine actor and has got charisma and a twinkle in his eye, but something isn’t quite right . The only thing I can think of is he’s too old for the part and not quite rakish/playboy enough. (Not read the whole thread, so I’m sure this has already been discussed).

Love looking at the costumes as well.

Just looked RCB actor up - Alex Hassell is 44. I thought he was older!

I heard on a podcast that the younger people on the writing team objected to the groping being included, they argued viewers wouldn't see Rupert as the romantic lead based on that behaviour. But it was included to show that he was someone who did many unpleasant things, not just a charming ladies man, he was someone who could be capable of horrible things.

But Taggie prompted him to fundamentally change as a person. As a viewer I think it's more interesting including it...also I think other characters criticised him, it's not treated as a lighthearted joke