#monica baddingham

[aq2003]

tony baddingham how bad can i be amv

[nastasya--filippovna]

So I finally finished Rivals

so here's my review followed by my episode-by-episode, PowerPoint presentation, Danny Motta style reaction (which no one asked for)

⚠️so massive spoilers heads-up⚠️

WHAT A WATCH! for the first time in, well, forever I did not binge the show immediately after it came out. I gave it time. Watched one episode each day and I think I liked the experience! I remembered a lot more stuff that I do when I binge things. But that's not what I'm here to talk about. Pfft let'g get into it huh!

So I read the book like ages ago when the show was first announced and though I remembered some stuff from the plot, I mostly let myself be shocked by it. Would I have watched it if David Tennant wasn't in it. Hmmmm? Probably not!

I mean this show....ugh... man there's no one word to describe it, is there! It's not all romp and pomp although it may seem like it. The strangest part is that for a show that's dealing with some really dark matter it (for some darn reason) refuses to take itself seriously (as @davidtennantgenderenvy wonderfully put it). I mean one minute we're dealing with woman rights, the other Matador Ole is playing while Rupert and Cameron stare each other like that.

I think it's unfair that the media constantly limited the premise of the show to its sexual aspects. The story is a clear socio-political critique of the power politics, sexual politics, and elite culture of the time and it's still quite reflective of the same things in our time too. In fact, the very fact that it disguises itself as a period piece makes it all the more applicable to our time. While watching the show I felt as if each character represents a different segment of the upper class; like Antonio Gramsci said the capitalist class is not a unified group. We have Rupert who represent the political elite, the ones that come from powerful families and then we have Declan who's the intellectual elite, Tony who's one of those new-money business elite people who will never really fit into this cult, Fred the technology millionaires, and Monica who represents that fading, waning part of old British aristocracy that was all about decorum and honour and values and virtue, something that is no longer valued in all the new kinds of elites that are springing up.

It's a very turbulent time. We're on the brisk of turning the world into the way we have it now, pulling it out of another era that is now fading away.

Rupert.... um man! Alex Hassell should be banned from playing this character because he injects more charisma in it that he deserves. I almost started liking him. And it's weird to me that his character development is fine, it's great it's wonderful, he goes from a careless heartless scoundrel to a nice caring person. The only problem I have here is what he did to Taggie in the beginning. How can someone ever possibly expect a woman to forgive a man for s3xual abuse or harassment. That's like major rizz-killer. But his friendship with Lizzie was one of the things I really liked. Made him seem so much more human.

Talking of Lizzie. My girl. My favourite character. Although if I'm being honest EVERY single woman in the show was impeccable. Every one of them ten thousand times more complicated than any male character. We need more women written by women. Sarah looks like a dumb blonde but she's not. She's just a woman who's trying to make something of her life in this male dominated world. Cameron Cook. Absolute goddess. She's powerful. She knows what she wants and how to get it. We just don't have enough ambitious women in media portrayed as "good". Ambitious women are always shown as bitches. And she's not passive in regard to her sexuality. It's her weapon and she uses it with her full agency. Monica, what can I even say about her. Perfectly embodies the crumbling grace of old aristocratic families. Beautiful performance, beyond words. Maud. Oh boy. I lowkey hated her for a bit but her last scene was so amazing.

Aaaaaaand Tony. Tell you what they should NOT let David Tennant play bad people. 'Cause he's gonna do it so good it will give you nightmares for ages. I love that he is always in command of the kind of response he wants to elicit from the audience in regard to his character especially when playing an antagonist. I mean if we compare them, Des makes you feel like you're gaping at the fucking abyss, Tom Kendrick is just awful and scary like a bad father, Kilgrave is (like the character's personality) the kind of performance where you want to hate this person bcs you know they're awful but something about them is sucking you in and you hate that feeling but you can't stop it somehow (cz that's what Kilgarve does!). For Tony he knew what he was doing. He knows how to turn on maximum rizz and then turn it off. He reels in the viewer, making them think oh this is the most charismatic human being I have ever seen (just like Tony does to other characters) and then he strikes when you're in deep.

Another interesting bit about this character was how (esp in eps 7 and 8) there's bits where you think that maybe he's not altogether bad, that maybe there's a bit of kindness and love hiding there somewhere. But then you realise there isn't. All that tenderness is deliberate. He does it on purpose because it draws people in. He cannot love because he doesn't have it in him. Everything is, for him, about social status and winning. He doesn't love his wife. He doesn't love Cameron. He just wants to have them because she feels like he didn't have the things he deserved at some point so now he's gotta have everything. Like he says "just let me have this one"; it's all about winning. Heard someone call him a cartoon villain. Nope guys he's very real. Also the only time you feel like he's being genuine is when he's being a sopping wet pathetic mess in the end.

And he's also very relatable to some extent. I get that what he goes through. His insecurities and whatever complex he has. I do. I go to a university with rich kids from filthy rich families. My parent's parents weren't rich. They just made their fortunes in the last generation and even though I get to be in the same circles as these rich pricks, I feel always (or they make me feel) left out. Like I'm an imposter. Like I could never really have any real class. And that itches a very particular itch in my brain.

As an afterthought, I think you can measure men's personalities and worthiness in terms of DT characters: On a scale of Alec Hardy to Tony Baddingham what kind of man are You!"🫵

On the whole it was a great show. Lovely music. Loved the introduction of each character and how it just lets you know what kind of person this guy/gal/person is! Wonderful cinematography and visuals. Gripping sub-plots. An what an ending! Perfect cliffhanger. And tbh I'd really like it if they left it here. To me a good story doesn't always need to be resolved. There's something to be said for those little ambiguities and uncertainties in life and all the thigs left unsaid. [and if someone is really anxious they can go read the book] Remarkable watch. ★★★★★ (5/5)

And now the reaction!

(Tap for full picture and better quality)

Anyways, here's some memes I made while watching Rivals

Episode 5 Live Reaction:

[emotinalsupportturtle]

This is their whole dynamic right?

[flintstill]

i'd seen people in the tag putting that sex scene between Tony and his wife Monica on blast as bad sex but tbh the sex doesn't even look bad, in fact it looks kind of cozy? Like no it is not the athletic sex that Rupert and Cameron or having or even that Tony and Cameron had in ep 1 but that doesn't mean bad. And just because it wasn't explosive didn't mean they didn't both come--it was acted that they both did. Anyway.

[anja32]

OMG, Tony and Monica in Episode 6 🥰🥵 Didn't expect that.

Now I'm torn.

Tony x Monica

Or

Tony x Cameron?

[hotandmessyinthecotswalds]

It's a real pity! There are so many great characters! I love them all, especially the ones who are terrible.

I really enjoyed watching Rivals, but it’s a bummer that 95% of the fandom only talk about Rupert and Taggie relationship which I don’t care for. The other 5% is Declan and Freddie/Lizzie who I adore. It’s so hard to find content on the show that references other characters or about other events that occurred in the show.

[jam3sacaster]

i’ve just finished rivals on disney +

and i’m genuinely wondering why i wasn’t born into an egregiously unstable old money family in rutshire circa 1986 and destined to be the one true love of sir rupert campbell-black, and be condemned to live at penscombe court and snidely judge our peers on their infidelity

disparaging james to my best friend lizzie and glaring at lord baddingham scornfully across the shoulder of monica

[princeloww]

rivals plot summary (including content warnings)

What to expect from the new DT show, basically. Vague spoiler warning.

Tony Baddingham, DT's character, runs a British television company in the Cotswold area. He is a lord and, as you might guess, extremely rich. He tends to manipulate people and spend their money instead of his, so that when his ventures go wrong, other people are left scrambling to pick up their losses, while he's completely fine.

He has a long-lasting rivalry with the tory minister for sport, Rupert Campbell-Black. Rupert is extremely charming and athletic, and has a new mistress every week. He is divorced and does not see his two children very often. He's an athlete at heart, and adores his horses more than people --- but politics are a lot more stable than that.

The plot follows a very large cast of characters, which can be quite confusing at first. I had to go back and work out who Beattie Johnson was, for example, because I'd completely forgotten who she was and who she was involved with. There are lots of wives and husbands and mistresses and children, so it gets a bit complicated. Most of the characters are somehow linked to Corinium, Lord B (Tony Baddingham)'s TV company.

Tony hooks up with and employs an American director/writer, Cameron Cook. She moves to England to work at Corinium. Her arrival and bad attitude forms tension in the Coriunium workspace, and the tension furthers when Declan O'Hara, an Irish TV presenter and author, arrives at Corinium. He is a leftist (in contrast to the conservatives around him) and often discriminated against for being Irish. At times he is accused of having IRA links, mostly just to make him look bad. He and Tony's personalities clash, leading to a fall out at Corinium. Declan, in a drunken rage, quits his job and falls into a bit of a bad state.

Recovering from the publicity of his departure, Declan groups up with Rupert Campbell-Black and a few others (including Tony's brother, Basil Baddingham) to create a rival television company, Venturer, to challenge Corinium and Tony for the franchise.

There is a lot of romance and a LOT of subplots. Declan's daughter, Taggie O'Hara, is a dyslexic cook who struggles to find work due to her inability to read and write. She develops a crush on Rupert, who is considerably older. If I start talking about how much I despise their relationship, I will never stop. Taggie will probably be quite a main character in the show, I'm guessing. Declan also has a wife, Maud, who is a failed actress and spends all of his money.

Tony's wife, Monica, is very charitable and employs Taggie despite Declan and Tony's rivalry. She is aware that Tony is having an affair with Cameron Cook. An affair which, while Cameron is under his employment, becomes extremely toxic and abusive.

I'm sure the show will be rounded out a bit for modern audiences, but warnings wise (at least in the book), Rivals includes themes of sexual assault (particularly groping), misogyny, domestic abuse and much more. A big majority of the characters are rich and extremely corrupt. Tony, the baddie of the story, has some of the worst moments. There is a scene where he hits and throws a woman until she is bleeding, because she's 'betrayed' him. He also threatens to kill somebody. On a separate occasion, he tells a distraught SA victim not to tell anybody, because the attacker is somebody who he needs on his side, for money. There is also, obviously, given the kind of characters we follow, a lot of classism. Valerie Jones, for example, exists as a punching bag for a middle-class Northern woman who wants to be like the rich Southerners.

Tony might be the bad guy, but Rupert, who we're supposed to like, is also awful. He's Jilly Cooper's little golden boy, despite being horrible. I hate him so much but Jilly clearly loves him. He gropes eighteen-year-old girls and objectifies every single woman he speaks to.

Again, I'm sure a lot of this will be toned down, but watch with caution. The story has light moments and lots of romance, comedy and drama --- it just occasionally dips into dark themes. There will probably be lots of dinner parties, as every other scene is a giant social gathering. As much as I have issue with Jilly Cooper, she is absolutely excellent at writing large social scenes with dozens of different subplots combining.

There's also a weird theme of characters describing 14-year-olds (specifically 14-year-olds) in weird predatory ways. It's weird though, because a strange amount of characters do it -- to the degree where I think it's just Jilly Cooper describing them weirdly. She acts as though being a teenage girl is a woman's prime and that she is wasted after that. She has also gone on the record to state that she hates feminists. I'm not a giant fan, frankly.

On a lighter note, if you want to tell who's supposed to be a good guy, just remember that the good guys always quote poetry and like animals.

Despite its many flaws and dark themes, Rivals really is an interesting read. Jilly Cooper says the weirdest, most fucked up things ("she's like a little sister", thinks Rupert, right after staring at the 18-yo's ass) but the story really supports itself. It's interesting, gossipy, raunchy and very well written. Cooper is an expert at big scenes, and works so well with the giant ensemble cast. I disagree with a lot of things she says, but I think the show will be really good. I'm super excited and can't wait to watch it. There's a particular scene with David's character that I'm looking forward to; while in the book it was a bit scary, because we know how Jilly is with teenagers, there's a scene where Tony drives Declan(his enemy)'s daughter home, and is actually very nice to her before realising who she is. I think DT will do this scene a lot better, and it might actually be a bit endearing. Idk, I don't wanna jinx it, but I think it has potential to be a sweet scene, with the charm DT typically brings to these roles.

If anyone has any plot-related questions, or about David's character or anything, please feel free to ask! I'm more than happy to ramble about this book, because I do really like it. I see and dislike its flaws, but personally I am able to look past them and appreciate the story and characters. They're all horrible people, but let's be honest. They're politicians and rich, tory lords in the 1980s. They were always going to be horrible. You can like something that contains problematic characters without necessarily, immediately condoning and agreeing with those things. People online and especially on places like TikTok seem to struggle with this concept, but I'm a firm believer in media literacy and accepting flaws. You can like something that is bad. You can like villains. It's fine.

Declan is my favourite btw. Live laugh love Declan O'Hara

[that-tardis-teacher]

Tony and Monica Baddingham’s scenes break my heart. Like he completely and totally sucks. He betrays her. He keeps saying he’ll leave her, but at the same time I feel like he still loves her? I want him to stop being such a heel and cherish his wife. A small part of him obviously does.

[turneradora]

Here is a new press article concerning "Rivals", with the new pic of Aidan as Declan O'Hara !

Thanks to Emma Jones for the written version 🙏🥰 ❤️🌹

EXCLUSIVE The secrets of autumn's biggest bonkbuster Rivals: Why Emily Atack ended up giggling through the sex scenes... and Jilly Cooper's inspiration for the real-life Rupert Campbell-Black

By Sarah Oliver For Weekend Magazine

Published: 06:52 EDT, 4 October 2024 | Updated: 06:54 EDT, 4 October 2024

Hard as it may be to imagine anyone eclipsing the sex appeal of Ross Poldark by being darker, sexier and even better with horses, someone has. Yes, ladies of Great Britain, Rupert Campbell-Black has landed straight from the pages of Jilly Cooper’s 1988 bonkbuster Rivals on your screens here in 2024, and you are all in trouble. A lot of trouble.

Rupert gives the best riding britches and bronzed biceps since Aidan Turner was seen scything topless. He’s hot hot hot, joining the Mile High Club on Concorde and serving up a scorcher playing naked tennis in the sun. Even dressed as Santa come Christmas, he’s the gift that keeps on giving.

So hat tip here to Alex Hassell, whose swarthy looks and CV as a serious Royal Shakespeare Company actor (he was garlanded for his Henry V) don’t immediately suggest him to play a blond-haired, blue-eyed, tabloid headline-hogging love rat. ‘I was slightly concerned at first,’ says Jilly, ‘because my Rupert in the book is blond and blue-eyed, and Alex is very dark-eyed and olive-skinned. But he’s such a good actor.’

From the moment he strides out of the loo having had supersonic sex (he makes Mach 1 at the same time as the plane) with the Daily Scorpion journalist ghosting his memoirs, Alex Hassell owns RCB, as Jilly fans call him. ‘I always believe in laying one’s ghost,’ he sighs as he swaggers back down the aisle, and the millions of women who grew up fancying the rotter know they’re in safe hands.

It wasn’t all plain sailing for Alex though. ‘Some days I’d be quite intimidated because the scene would describe Rupert walking into a room and everybody stops and looks at him and swoons,’ he says. ‘I was nervous about that, but everyone was told to act as if I was Harry Styles, and then my day turned into a wonderful day.’ So what does he think of Rupert? ‘While he is in many ways a s***, he’s not a bad man.’

Rivals is a riot and a romp, faithful to the book but with some sinuous updating to make what was the ultimate 80s tale of wealth, power and corporate backstabbing more nuanced. It is shagtastically good fun and if you’re old enough to have properly enjoyed the 80s, you’ll be drowning in nostalgia for those brash, optimistic champagne-fuelled years.

There are chaps in pinstripes and scarlet braces; women in power suits with root perms and earrings the size of a bin lid. Desk toys have an un-ironic place on boardroom tables and chintz runs amok in the English country house. Everyone is somewhere between slightly tight and completely plastered a lot of the time and can get up to mischief without being found out by their phone. The soundtrack alone will make you cry with longing.

‘We do it lovingly, but as the series goes on we address feminism, racism, sexuality, homophobia and snobbery,’ says showrunner Dominic Treadwell-Collins, who sees Jilly Cooper as a social commentator on a par with Austen or Dickens. ‘Rivals is a raucous party that gets darker. We keep our moments of joy, but the party gets a bit more warped.’

That’s not to say this new Disney+ eight-parter is any less fruity than the book. ‘If you had that copy you borrowed from your friend and it fell open at various pages – we’ve done all those bits,’ he acknowledges.

That classic Cooper sauce is still in there too. ‘How long do you spend on a cock?’ one guest asks Lady Monica Baddingham at a pheasant shoot. ‘Well, generally speaking, I can finish one off in 15 minutes or less, but my hands aren’t as quick as they used to be,’ she replies.

Or when TV technicians prep Rupert for his interview with TV journalist Declan O’Hara (played by Aidan Turner, yes, he of the topless scything). ‘The make-up artist is going to touch you up,’ they tell him. ‘I’d love her to,’ says RCB, ‘but I’m just about to appear on national television.’

There’s lashings of this since we are back in the (imagined) county of Rutshire, deep in the (real) Cotswolds, the setting for Jilly Cooper’s multi-million-selling Rutshire Chronicles series of novels. Riders, the first book, introduced Rupert as he chased Olympic showjumping gold. In Rivals, the second, Rutshire’s commercial TV station Corinium is up for franchise renewal and RCB is again at the heart of the action. ‘In bedroom and boardroom,’ promises Jilly, ‘the fight to capture the Cotswold Crown is on.’

Lord Tony Baddingham is Corinium’s boss. He’s on Concorde too, locking horns with Rupert, now a rising star in the Thatcher government, two of the ‘rivals’ of the title. He is played, with just the right amount of aristo-executive villainy, by David Tennant, persuaded to take the role by his wife, Georgia, also an actor and a huge Jilly Cooper fan.

‘I had my research fellow, who I live with, who could tell me anything I needed to know,’ laughs David, adding his casting caused a frisson at the school gate. ‘It’s a certain generation of women who go a bit giddy at the thought this has become a TV show. I just hope we can meet everybody’s fantasies…’

Well, if those fantasies include seeing Aidan Turner’s bare bottom you can tick that one off the list though he is, unusually for Rutshire, bedding his own wife at the time, rather than someone else’s. Declan O’Hara is Lord Baddingham’s star hire, married to fiery Maud, a man-hungry former actress.

Maud is played by Victoria Smurfit who really, really wanted the role and went full ‘Rutshire’ to get it. ‘I made this big decision where I thought, “Go big or go home.” It was December: freezing cold, ice on the ground, snow coming down through London. And when I arrived at the audition space, I had my coat on, and I walked in to meet the team who were in hats and gloves because it was even cold in the studio. I said, “Hello, I am Maud. You’re all dressed for London in December and – I threw my coat off and had this flimsy dress on underneath – I’m dressed for summer in the Cotswolds, darling!” Going home was quite chilly, I’m not going to lie, but it was worth it.’

In Rivals she specialises in making an entrance: do enjoy the scene with the camel.

As for Aidan Turner, with an absolute whopper of a moustache, Day-Glo yellow socks and a battered old Mini Cooper, he’s more workaholic dad than sex god. ‘That car, it’s got four gears but only three work,’ he groans. ‘The floor has holes in it. I think we maxed at 42mph. It was like driving a go-kart.’

Like all the actors, he knows his Mini isn’t the only bit of Rivals that could have looked clapped out in 2024, if not for the clever screenwriting. ‘I think we’re saying, “These are examples of the problematic behaviour that was acceptable at the time,”’ he reflects. ‘Some of it still does exist, but a lot has changed. It’s interesting to watch a show like ours and think, “We’re still doing that, maybe we should have left it in the 80s.”’

That said, ‘people having sex’, as David Tennant gleefully points out, ‘is timeless’ and all the characters are still aboard a classic Jilly Cooper sexual carousel. Baddingham is having an affair with his brilliant American TV producer Cameron Cook (now a black character), and Rupert is fending off Maud while falling in love with the eldest O’Hara daughter Taggie (played by Sex Education’s Bella Maclean), who’s only 20.

Electronics mogul Freddie Jones (Danny Dyer) and his wife Valerie are the nouveau riche trying to crampon their way up to social acceptance, but Freddie has feelings for novelist Lizzie, whose husband is Corinium’s ghastly news anchor James Vereker. Then there’s disgraced deputy PM Paul Stratton, newly married to his mistress Sarah (Emily Atack), who we first meet playing naked tennis with Rupert.

It’s a legendary Rivals scene (inspired by the tennis court at Jilly’s own house in the Cotswolds) where the tennis ball isn’t the only thing bouncing over the net. ‘The tennis scene was probably one of my favourites,’ says Emily. ‘It was a beautiful sunny day and I’d been exercising, I’d been – I wouldn’t say dieting, I love wine and pasta too much – but I’d been doing my sit-ups and my squats, and I was ready to do this naked scene!’

So it really is Love All, even among Rutshire’s lusty teenagers, for whom ‘I’ve got some Malibu upstairs’ is still a winning pick-up line. And this only takes us to the mid-point of the series: there are four further episodes and a lot more bed-hopping and dastardly boardroom behaviour to come.

It’s hard to overstate the scale, complexity and gleaming polish of the show, with its ensemble cast and Cotswold locations crammed with pale gold mansions, buttercups, bluebells and red phone boxes. (You might recognise 16th-century Chavenage House near Tetbury, which becomes the O’Haras’ home, The Priory, because that too was in Poldark.) There are sweaty horses, bounding hounds and huntsmen in their pinks.

Dinner parties start with pheasant and finish with pavlova, and guests disco dance until it’s time for a Survivors Breakfast. Picnics are enjoyed out the back of a Land Rover – green, what else – and Rupert Campbell-Black is secretly so lonely he shares his bath with his favourite black Labrador, Beaver.

The original book was 720 pages long and they’ve done it proud. Some days, according to Alex Hassell, there were 42 main characters on set at the same time, making it, he thinks, the biggest film unit in Europe.

Vintage Ungaro and Laura Ashley were sourced for the women, 80s-style suits handmade for the men. A safe had to be brought in to stash the 80s watches which are now worth an eye-watering amount. Someone’s mum knitted a bunch of pre-divorce Diana jumpers, Nafessa Williams, who plays Cameron Cook, modelled her ponytail on Sade’s and Danny Dyer drew on his own experience of snobbery as he, a working-class untrained actor, fought to break into theatre.

Emily Atack took to watching reruns of Top Of The Pops in which her own mother, the actress and singer Kate Robbins, appeared, by way of research. Everyone is wearing Wayfarers. Cadbury’s Fruit And Nut still comes in paper and gold foil while Wham!, Roxy Music, ABC and The Communards are on the radio. You can virtually smell the Elnett extra strong hold hairspray, the Drakkar Noir aftershave and the garlic chicken vol au vents warming through in an Aga somewhere.

Like the rest of the cast, Nafessa Williams knew what she was getting into with her sex scenes (Cameron has relationships with first Lord Baddingham and then Rupert). ‘I mean, we all knew what we were coming to do, so there were no surprises. I think it’s a matter of making sure you’re comfortable with each other and you’re listening and asking questions: is it OK to do this? Is it not OK to do that? It is a dance, so you essentially have to practise that dance before going on the dance floor.’

Plus, because Rivals is a bonkbuster – a label which has both supporters and critics among the cast – there was safety in numbers, as Emily Atack explains. ‘When we were doing all these scenes, we flocked to each other to talk about it, and support each other and really big each other up and we laughed about it. They were such a huge part of our bonding as a cast and as friends. It really interested me to see what nudity does to human beings – we were all like giggling teenagers, hugging each other, high-fiving each other, going, “Oh my God! Yes! You did it!”’

That said, they were all rigorously policed by not one but two intimacy co-ordinators, something which would not have happened had Rivals been turned into telly closer to the time the book came out. The intimacy team placed a partially deflated fitness ball between some of the actors so they could rock and create rhythm while having a physical barrier. Others were encouraged to use a tap-in tap-out psychological technique, clapping their hands before a take to signal to themselves they were in character, and then clapping at the call of ‘Cut’ to signal they’re themselves again. ‘We’ve been equal opportunities with sex,’ says Dominic Treadwell-Collins. ‘You will see an awful lot of willies.’

It was the only way to film the lovely, unbridled sort of sex synonymous with Jilly Cooper and the author, now a venerable 87 years old, is characteristically relaxed and happy about the outcome. ‘I trusted Dominic like mad,’ she says, ‘I knew it would be all right!’

A superstar writer since the 60s, made a DBE for services to literature and charity in this year’s New Year Honours, she wasn’t at all bothered when one of the actors, Lara Peake who plays Corinium PA Daysee, failed to recognise her at a read-through. ‘She came over and said, “Oh, you’re the lovely Daysee,”’ Lara recalls. ‘I said, “Yeah, I’m so excited. Who are you playing?” She was like, “No, darling, I’m Jilly…”’

‘Rivals is my favourite novel,’ confirms the author ahead of the series dropping later this month, ‘because I love the characters so much. Even the most ruthless display moments of vulnerability and the shyest show courage and integrity as true love blossoms.’

But can you believe it, RCB almost wasn’t in the book. ‘Originally, I intended to leave out Rupert, my hellraising hero, because in Riders he was cruel both to women and his horses,’ says Jilly. ‘But I missed his glamour and humour.’ She belatedly wrote him back in as a lead, reinforcing his place as one of the most lustworthy men in British fiction.

She says she loves the ‘ruthless glamour’ Alex Hassell brings to her creation, while admiring the greater vulnerability and tenderness the Rivals writers’ room has imagined for RCB today.

His casting has been the subject of heated debate everywhere from Mumsnet to The Tack Room, the online chat area of Horse & Hound. The actor almost withdrew from the first audition because he couldn’t see himself making everyone swoon but, by golly!, to borrow a Jilly Cooperism, he does. So much so he was sad when the shoot was over. ‘No one was looking at me like I’m the most sexy man on the planet any more,’ he says. ‘It was tough.’

Anyway, if you’d like to watch him make your screen melt, are old enough to remember the 80s, or young enough to think it must have been cool to be there, then clear eight hours in your diary because you won’t be able to stop watching Rivals.

But start early or you’ll be late to bed, and that would never do, not in Jilly Cooper’s world.

All episodes of Rivals are exclusively on Disney+ from 18 October.

[malewhoreforalechardy]

⚠️possible RIVALS spoiler.

I don’t like the way they portrayed tony baddingham. In the book he was more rough and reckless. More horrible. And he treated everyone horrible. In the series they kinda made him soft and more likeable. People who haven’t read the book emphasise with tony.

The whole 'tony loves cameron' I stan with the opinion he doesn’t truly love her. It‘s more of a sexual thing since minica banned him for wanting to much sex. And he wants to keep Cameron in Corinium. I know in the end tony begged cameron to come back to him and that he would even leave his wife but that’s just him being desperate to win the franchise because he knew he needed Cameron to win the franchise. Tony would do ANYTHING to success more than rupert campbell black or anyone else. The series made tony look like a love sick man. They even created a scene with the two of them which wasn’t even in the book.

And TV monica was really out of character. She was different in the book. She never told tony to decide between her and cameron (at least how I remember). She was so mad at tony in the series while in the book she was more carring and loving to tony. Especially when venturer was created and everything turned against him and Cameron left him. 'They grew more together' is how it was written in the book.

I excepted more. :(

[thedoctorwhocompanion]

David Tennant Enthuses About Reuniting with The Impossible Planet Co-Star on Rivals

David Tennant Enthuses About Reuniting with #DoctorWho The Impossible Planet Co-Star on Rivals

Tenth Doctor actor, David Tennant, says it was “heaven” to work with his The Impossible Planet co-star, Claire Rushbrook, again on the Disney+ series, Rivals. In the show, based on the Jilly Cooper novel, Tennant plays Lord Tony Baddingham, while Rushbrook is his on-screen wife, Lady Monica Baddingham. David says: “She’s just glorious, and she’s also one of the loveliest, funniest people with…

[broadchurchroyal]

He’s VERY bad but he’s certainly hot whilst being bad 😍🥵

tony baddingham how bad can i be amv

[princeloww]

breaking down the rivals 2024 trailer because i'm hyperfixating on rivals and you all need to hear about it

First shot, sweeping long shot of a man on a white horse. Definitely Rupert Campbell-Black riding one of his horses. Where is he going?? Potentially across to The Priory? Maybe it's just an establishing shot to show he rides horses? Who knows but I hope he crashes into that tree I hate him

This is a Corinium card for Declan's programme, early in the story. This is when Declan is still working there, and when his show is just starting, so in the peak of it's popularity and success. It's the cloudy day before the storm. Not calm, but things are still going relatively well

I've seen so much debate on who tfs bare chest this is. I've seen people saying it's David Tennant, but I'm not sure. Might be him, might be Rupert. There's lots of sex, who knows.

Cameron Cook, sporting the red high-heels from the book cover. I like this little nod to the book. Looks like she's in Tony's office, based on other shots.

This is from a scene where the men are out shooting pheasants. To be honest I read this scene ages ago and can't remember what exactly the point was, but it was before the whole Venturer start-up.

This is the opening scene!!! Or at least it's the second scene, in the book. Tony and Rupert meet on the same flight and have a snappy, passive-aggressive conversation. Establishes their rivalry. This scene follows Tony in the book, and we get his and Rupert's backstory.

There are so many social gatherings in this book that I have no idea which one this is. However, this is probably what Tony's house looks like, given where he's standing. The woman in green (Claire Rushbrook), is Tony's wife, Monica Baddingham.

This might be completely wrong, but given the way Declan's looking at her I'm assuming that's his wife, Maud O'Hara? So this might be after her play. I haven't gotten to that point in the book yet but I'm assuming the play goes well. Maud is beautiful, she's definitely going to get some recognition after it. If that's not Maud I'm not sure who it is.

Again, there are so many parties that I have no clue which one this could be. It kind of looks similar to the other shot, with Tony and Monica, but I don't think it's the same. The horses in the back make me think it's Rupert's house.

Taggie!! I skipped some of the shots because it's just close ups of character's talking and I can't really tell what scenes it is. This is probably The Priory kitchen, Declan's house, judging by the books? But it could also be that scene in Valerie Jones' house? I can't tell if she's wearing trousers or a skirt. If it's a skirt it's probably Valerie Jones' party. But she looks pretty happy and the house looks cozy so it's probably The Priory.

Sarah Stratton, played by Emily Atack. Probably before one of the aforementioned parties. Not sure.

This looks like Declan and Maud, in one of their more passionate scenes? Probably in The Priory. I see more books in the back.

I think the voice over line is taken from Taggie and Rupert's first scene, the naked tennis one. Abhorrent is probably her word of the day. If it's not from that scene, it's still definitely about Rupert.

Corinium office? Not sure which scene this is, maybe I haven't gotten to it yet, if it's near the end. Tony Baddingham and Cameron Cook have lots of office scenes together though, so could be any.

Horses in the back again. This is a different angle of the last scene we saw of Rupert's house. You can see the square bushes round the side, where we were in the last one. I assume it's Rupert's house, again, because of the horses.

Here we have the same Corinium office, so most likely Tony's. We have Declan (Aidan Turner) smashing a window and Tony (David Tennant) standing in the background. This is probably the scene where Declan drunkenly quits his job, right before Venturer kicks off.

Skipped a few shots but -- Cameron Cook again. I think this must be at Patrick's birthday party. Not sure why, I just get that vibe. And it's dark out, she arrives super late. And the song says 'addicted to love' at this moment. She and Patrick have their fling on this night. But I might be completely wrong, because if you look at the wreath-bunting-thingy in the background it looks similar to the decor in the shot with Maud, where I thought it might be the play. BUT THEN AGAIN, Maud shot could be in her house, and Patrick's party was also in her house. Not sure but it's an interesting one.

Taggie and Rupert on the pheasant shooting day. Hope they mistake his head for a pheasant so he gets away from 18-yo-girls.

The next few shots are again just face close ups, so they could be from any scenes. I'm super excited for this show, if you couldn't tell.

[turneradora]

Here is a new press article promoting "Rivals" !

Thanks to Emma Jones for the info and for the written version ! 🙏🌺

TV Times

12-18 October 2024

RIVALS

FROM FRIDAY 18 OCTOBER, DISNEY+ DRAMA

Dust off your shoulder pads! A racy, rip-roaring adaptation of Dame Jilly Cooper’s novel Rivals is whisking us back to the 1980s, where deals are sealed in the boardroom and the bedroom in the heady world of independent television... Landing on Disney+ this week, the eight- part romp is based on the second story in the author’s hit Rutshire Chronicles collection and follows the feud between power- hungry TV boss Lord Tony Baddingham (Doctor Who’s David Tennant) and rakish show jumper turned Tory MP Rupert Campbell-Black (His Dark

Materials star Alex Hassell).

Tony plans to expand his media empire and hires brilliant

chat-show host Declan O’Hara (Poldark’s Aidan Turner) and hotshot producer Cameron Cook (Code Black’s Nafessa Williams). But when he spies an opportunity to publicly destroy his arch-enemy Rupert, can Tony finally get revenge on the man who has it all?

TV Times met the cast in a central London hotel to chat back-stabbing and bed-hopping in the fictional county of Rutshire, where you seemingly can’t move for quarrels ...

LORD TONY BADDINGHAM

PLAYED BY DAVID TENNANT

The controller of Corinium Television and Rupert’s narcissistic nemesis has clawed his way to the top with support from his steadfast wife, Lady Monica (Sherwood’s Claire Rushbrook).

‘These are the days when ITV was split into regional franchises and Corinium is the Rutshire TV franchise,’ explains David, 53. ‘Owning one was a big deal, and Tony is motivated by wealth and power, but also by the fact that he doesn’t come from the upper echelons of society, like Rupert.’

David says he has his actor wife, Georgia Tennant, to thank for his role in the adaptation.

‘Georgia knew Jilly’s books and was convinced I had to be involved, and that it would make sensational television,’ he shares. ‘She said, “It’s exactly what the country needs, exactly what the world needs!”’

RUPERT CAMPBELL-BLACK

PLAYED BY ALEX HASSELL

The ex-Olympic showjumper and Minister for Sport has Rutshire’s eccentric locals under his spell... Well, all except Tony, his ruthless adversary...

‘Tony can’t stand Rupert because, from his perspective, he’s effortlessly privileged,’ says Alex, 44. ‘People throw themselves at Rupert’s feet and Tony is jealous, but Rupert thinks Tony is mean, cold and selfish.’

As one of the executive producers on the drama, Jilly searched far and wide before casting Alex as the story’s irresistible rake.

‘Jilly gave the seal of approval for me as her Rupert,’ says Alex. ‘I’m not blond and blue-eyed like in the books, but I’d managed to portray some essential “Rupertness” that she was pleased with. I hope viewers think so, too.’

DECLAN O’HARA

PLAYED BY AIDAN TURNER

The BBC’s star journalist moves his family from London to Rutshire when he signs with Corinium Television.

‘Declan is selfishly career-driven but he’s neglected his family life, which is undoing his marriage,’ says Aidan, 41. ‘He’s dealing with guilt and shame, and in brilliant 1980s-style, he’s burying it.’

Aidan says ‘many things’ spoke to him about Declan...

‘I had that feeling, which I never really get, but I knew I had to play him,’ he smiles. ‘We all had a blast filming it, too. Jilly set the tone from the top down. She’s cheeky!’

TAGGIE O’HARA

PLAYED BY BELLA MACLEAN

Declan and Maud’s kind-hearted daughter is trying to find her way in the world. She’s overwhelmed by her demanding family, but after being uprooted by their move to Rutshire, she finds a distraction in local lothario Rupert."

As much as people push her around and use her, Taggie has a strong moral compass,’ says Sex Education star Bella, 23. ‘She’s disinterested in Rupert at first and confronts him on how he treats women, which makes him look in the mirror for the first time. He likes that.’

ALSO IN RUTSHIRE...

FREDDIE JONES

PLAYED BY DANNY DYER

The self-made millionaire is an outcast among the old-money families, but his wifeValerie(Mum star Lisa McGrillis) longs to be accepted.

‘Freddie has found himself within this elite world and he doesn’t fit in,’ says ex-EastEnders star Danny, 47. ‘Then he meets Lizzie and they really get each other.’

Rivals also reunites Danny with former EastEnders producer Dominic Treadwell- Collins: ‘It was a no-brainer,’ smiles Danny. ‘And we had a ball shooting in big manor houses, all dressed up in 80s clobber.’

LIZZIE VEREKER

PLAYED BY KATHERINE PARKINSON

The romantic novelist is neglected by her TV presenter husband, James (Miss Scarlet and the Duke’s Oliver Chris), but sparks fly when she meets Freddie Jones.

‘Even though her books get rejected, Lizzie keeps doing it because she loves it,’ says Here We Go’s Katherine, 46. ‘Freddie is in this world due to his talent, so that’s why they’re a good meeting of minds. It’s not just about fancying each other.’

MAUD O’HARA

PLAYED BY VICTORIA SMURFIT

Declan’s glamorous wife sets her sights on seducing Rupert.

Will the former actor’s daughter, Taggie, get in her way?

‘Oh, Maud is a terrible mother!’ laughs Bloodlands star Victoria, 50. ‘She’s a self-obsessed applause junkie, who needs validation from any man who’ll tell her she’s fabulous. But she’s decaying after moving from London and takes it out on her greatest rival – her hotter, younger and better daughter.

[nastasya--filippovna]

This is bloody brilliant!!!!!

tony baddingham how bad can i be amv