“You can no longer engage in flirtation. We used to enjoy ourselves far more!”
Dame Jilly Cooper, 87, reflects nostalgically on her prime during the latter part of the last century. This sentiment is shared by her numerous admirers who relish her tales in print, audiobooks, and on-screen adaptations.
Rivals, Disney’s adaptation of her 1988 “bonkbuster,” situated in the imaginary Cotswolds county of Rutshire, has emerged as one of the television sensations of the year on both sides of the ocean.
A second season has been greenlit. Cooper expresses that she is “orgasmic with thrill and cannot wait for the return of my hero, Rupert Campbell-Black,” portrayed by actor Alex Hassell.
There is ample drama awaiting the lustful Campbell-Black because – Spoiler Alert! – the first season concludes with his television franchise clash with David Tennant as Lord Baddingham still ongoing.
It’s likely that younger audiences aren’t familiar with what a television franchise entails, which makes the success of Rivals all the more astounding.
Many viewers probably tune in for the romantic allure of Rivals set against the picturesque English countryside, for the voluminous hairstyles, and the shameless sexism exhibited by Rutshire’s lascivious men and willing women.
A Hollywood actor’s flirtation in a secluded area with a production assistant he has just met, along with a scandalous couple playing “nude tennis” outdoors, encapsulate the essence of the 1980s.
In the current moral landscape, Dame Jilly concedes that a real-life Campbell-Black would likely be “imprisoned”.
Dame Jilly Cooper is ‘orgasmic with excitement’ over second series. Pic: PA
It is not solely about the sex. In many respects, Rivals serves as a prime example of the transformation of British television over the past fifty years.
The principal characters of the show are television executives and personas caricatured by Cooper, who herself was a media sensation during the “swinging ’60s”.
The sleek production also reflects the evolution within the television industry. It is produced by Disney for its streaming services globally, rather than a national British channel like ITV or the BBC.
Franchises and comfortable monopolies
The conduct of the characters in Rivals is merely an exaggeration of the actual occurrences. There was a wealth of capital in British media until the 1980s. Those fortunate enough to partake in the profits lived it up.
Obtaining an ITV franchise was famously termed “a license to print money” by Lord Thomson, the founder of Scottish Television.
Since 1955, ITV maintained a commercial monopoly across the UK. The publicly funded BBC did not air advertisements. Commercial rivals like Channel 4, Channel 5, Sky TV, and YouTube only began to emerge in the 1980s.
The revenues were so abundant that ITV was structured into a federal system. There were 15 regional franchises, broadcasting each other’s shows, rooted in the major cities of the UK.
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Sky News’ Katie Spencer talks to the cast of Rivals
In Rivals, Baddingham’s Corinium is defending against a challenge from Venturer for a fictional West Country franchise.
Local dignitaries Campbell-Black, an Olympian equestrian gold medalist and Tory MP, alongside Irish television host Declan O’Hara are being wooed by both factions – as astonishingly to us today, the exclusive 10-year franchise licenses were dispensed by the government-appointed regulator on a “they seem like nice fellows” basis.
I entered ITV just as its congenial monopoly was being dismantled, yet there remained an abundance of entitled behavior.
TV-am, the breakfast television franchise, competed for the same advertising budget as the old federal ITV.
Commercial rivalry was intensifying, but typically, TV-am was awarded the license because it was promoted by the “Famous Five” of notable television personalities, including David Frost and Michael Parkinson, despite their lack of proven expertise in managing a substantial enterprise.
TV-am’s studio and aesthetic are affectionately parodied in the daytime programming depicted in Rivals.
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An impassioned scene from Rivals. Pic: Rivals/Disney
Was television in the ’80s a male-dominated milieu rife with instances of “romantic escapades”? It was certainly a different landscape.
Smoking was prevalent in the workplace, featuring large cigars and a plethora of banter. Moreover, it was routine to overhear sexist comments around the office.
I recall senior male editors patting themselves on the back for sending a female reporter to infiltrate a male rugby scrum dressed in shorts.
Conversely, it was also common for female news desk assistants to tease their male peers in the workplace.
‘I delight in being wolf-whistled’
Jilly Cooper carved out her career by cleverly chronicling themes of intimacy and relationships during a time regarded as one of “sexual liberation,” facilitated by no-fault divorce, abortion, and the contraceptive pill.
In her view, the #MeToo movement tarnished that freedom. “I delight in being wolf-whistled,” she expressed to The Irish Independent, “what concerns me is that an unfortunate man at the end of his life will be dragged into the limelight and accused of jumping on someone in the distant past”.
Others may feel less empathy for well-known media personalities whose conduct has since been uncovered and criticized, sometimes posthumously.
With the perspective of today, there is an inherently uncomfortable moment in Rivals when Campbell-Black inappropriately touches young Taggie O’Hara while she stands by to serve him.
Alex Hassell (L) portrays Rupert Campbell-Black, with David Tennant playing Lord Baddingham
Within the narrative, the incident is brushed aside during a dinner conversation, setting the stage for two domineering characters, Declan, her father, and Campbell-Black, to confront one another.
Dame Jilly surely was correct in assuming that her protagonist’s actions would warrant more severe repercussions in contemporary society.
ITV has also had to become more sober. Margaret Thatcher thrust television into the arena of market competition, effectively halting the franchise gravy train.
ITV underwent a “rationalization” into a singular entity, with minimal regional divisions. Presently, it holds a place in the FTSE100, maintaining a legacy of loyal, predominantly older, audiences.
Speculation exists regarding the possibility of ITV being acquired by a larger multinational corporation. At best, today’s ITV would only deliver an extravagant, niche production like Rivals as a subordinate collaborator in a joint venture.
Era of reckless indulgence
For Disney+, Rivals represents a relatively minor financial outlay and a gamble worth pursuing over time.
The show’s premiere episode garnered a robust 441,000 viewers in the UK. In the pre-digital era, when BBC and ITV formed a duopoly, programming could only be viewed live, and substantial audiences were counted in the tens of millions.
Rivals luxuriates in a bygone era of extravagant television excess. As noted by the critic for the prestigious art publication Apollo , it presents “a self-aware display of superficiality laden with risqué themes that offers little beyond its exterior. What could epitomize the 1980s more than that?”.
Undoubtedly, many spectators, particularly veterans from ITV, are relishing Rivals as a somewhat unsettling “guilty pleasure” – “akin to devouring an entire box of chocolates or sharing a bed with a rogue,” as someone, possibly Jilly Cooper, once remarked.
