Rivals is the best TV adaptation of a book ever — here's why

Rivals Alex Hassell as Rutshire playboy Rupert Campbell-Black. (Image credit: Disney)

Rivals has finally hit our television screens and I am here to tell you, it most definitely lives up to the hype!

I am a HUGE Jilly Cooper fan. I love her books - including Rivals which has been adapted for the TV show - so much that I always joke they'd be my specialist subject if I ever went on Mastermind.

I even named my historical novel-writing alter-ego, Posy Lovell, after Jake Lovell in Dame Jilly's first bonkbuster Riders.

David Tennant as Lord Tony Baddingham in Rivals — David Tennant doesn't look like a mafia boss - but that's totally fine! (Image credit: Hulu)

I also really, really love television.

But what I don't always love is television adaptations of my favourite books. There are very few that I feel really capture the original book.

So I was wary when I heard Rivals was being adapted for TV. How could anything capture the brilliance of Jilly Cooper? The humour? The heart? The gripping plot?

Because that's the thing about Jilly Cooper. Everyone thinks they know what her books are about - sex, of course!

But though, let's be honest, there is a LOT of nookie in Rivals, it's also a laugh-out-loud social comedy, with a smattering of tragedy, some wry observations and a massive amount of heart.

And to my absolute joy and relief, the new Disney Plus series gets it spot on!

Bella Maclean in Rivals. — Bella Maclean is perfectly cast as Taggie O'Hara. (Image credit: Disney Plus)

I mean, first of all there is the fun that is the clothes, and the giant chequebooks, the phones and the fabulous music.

There's the fact that the Rivals cast are obviously having an absolute ball while they're filming.

And if we're talking about the cast, let's talk about how completely brilliant they are.

Alex Hassell does not look how Rupert Campbell-Black is described in the books - he's not blond for a start. Danny Dyer does not have Freddie Jones's ginger curls and freckles. David Tennant looks much less like a mafia boss than Tony Baddingham is supposed to.

But each one of them has captured the spirit of their character so precisely that it doesn't matter. Alex has RCB's confidence and charm, Danny has Freddie's sweet nature, and David Tennant oozes with Tony's evil plots.

Aidan Turner in Rivals — Aidan Turner plays television star Declan O'Hara (Image credit: Robert Viglasky/Disney)

Rivals was published in 1988, and of course the world has changed since then. But it doesn't shy away from the misogyny and casual (and overt!) racism of the times. One comment in episode one made me gasp in shock. But for each awful remark or sly aside, there is an acknowledgement and a pushback - just as there is in the book - and I'm so glad it hasn't been sanitised.

For me, the absolute best thing about Rivals is how it completely gets the heart of the book.

Taggie and Caitlin looking out for each other when their parents are otherwise engaged, Lizzie's embarrassment over her photo on her book, Freddie sneaking extra potatoes and, lonely Rupert going home alone as the camera pans out, making him seem smaller and smaller and his huge house even bigger... it's all perfect.

And there's even a little in-joke for all the die-hard Jilly Cooper fans, which I loved.

I always think Jilly Cooper's books are best described as joyful and that's exactly what Rivals is! I can't wait to watch another episode.

All eight episodes of Rivals are available to stream worldwide on Disney Plus now.

Kerry is a writer, author and editor with a lifelong love of the soaps, a passion for TV drama of all kinds, and an obsessive devotion to Strictly Come Dancing.

She was features editor of All About Soap magazine for more than a decade, covering every bit of excitement from all the UK soaps and the Aussies and still writes about all the juiciest gossip from the Street, the Square and the Dales whenever she can.

Kerry’s also an author of historical fiction, and her two jobs collided when she got the chance to write two novels based on Emmerdale, and the Sugden, Tate and Dingle families, during WW2.