Rivals on Disney Plus is a racy eight-part adaptation of the bestselling Dame Jilly Cooper novel that delves into the world of 1980s independent television in the UK. Set in the fictional British county of Rutshire, the story centers around a long-term rivalry between ex-Olympic rider turned politician Rupert Campbell-Black (Alex Hassell) and TV station controller Lord Tony Baddingham (David Tennant), who, along with their friends, family and neighbors, drip with ambition, lust and power.
Here's everything that happened in Rivals episode 1...
The series opens on a Concorde flight to New York, and while everyone is sipping champagne, smoking and eating prawn cocktails (it is 1986 after all!), our main character Rupert Campbell-Black is in the plane toilets having sex with young journalist Beattie Johnson. Just as the plane goes supersonic everyone cheers and Rupert and Beattie eventually emerge and return to their seats. Next to them is Tony Baddingham, managing director of Corinium Television and Rupert's life-long nemesis. The pair tear shreds off one another, but it seems they both enjoy the banter, while Tony boasts that his TV production company, Corinium, has signed a new producer called Cameron Cook. Rupert scoffs, telling Tony he has never heard of him.
After his trip to New York where he is trying to sell his TV shows, Tony goes to see TV journalist Declan O'Hara, who is seen filming a TV talk show for the BBC where he is interviewing, Paul Stratton the Deputy Prime Minister. Declan gets annoyed when his interview is cut short after he asks about the Deputy Prime Minister's mistress, but his luck is about to change because Tony Baddingham is waiting for him in his dressing room and wants to sign him up for a new show on Corinium Television.
Declan is hesitant, knowing it is a risk going from the BBC to a regional TV company. Tony tells him he will go out live and have complete editorial control, which interests Declan. However, it is when Tony writes him a huge cheque and tells him about life in the Cotswolds, that he soon changes his mind.
Tony arrives home in his helicopter (as you do) landing on the lawn outside his sprawling mansion, where his wife and two daughters are playing croquet. He apologizes for landing in their game, to which his wife reminds him they do have 'other lawns' he could land his private helicopter in.
Meanwhile, Declan and his wife, Maud, have packed up their life in London and arrive at their new house in Rutshire. His two daughters are thrilled by their huge new house, but Maud isn't happy and describes their new home as a 'very pretty prison'. As the family unpacks, Lizzie Vereker, their next-door neighbor (if you can call her that as she must live more than a mile away!) arrives with champagne. Maud is thrilled and they open it immediately, determined to get drunk. As the girls unpack, Lizzie is thrilled to see they own a copy of one of her raunchy novels that she wrote years back, and it turns out she is an author, but doesn't write much anymore now she has a husband and two young children.
How to watch Rivals: stream the British drama show online
Declan and Maud's girls Taggie and Caitlyn ask about their new neighbor, Rupert, and Lizzie is surprised when Caitlyn says he wants Rupert to ravish her. Lizzie confirms she is one of the few women in Rutshire who hasn't slept with the infamous Rupert, but that she does know him well.
Declan heads to work and is enjoying the novelty of being in the countryside as he has to let a herd of sheep cross the road. At the Corinium Television offices, he parks up and is quickly surrounded by the press, which annoys him as he says he is the journalist and he asks the questions. He mistakes Cameron Cook as his new assistant and hands her his bag, not realizing that she is actually the producer on his new show. She realizes instantly that he thought Cameron Cook would be male, getting their working relationship off to a bad start. She pulls him up on his mistake and the pair argue, before storming into Tony's office and saying they can't work together. Tony manages to defuse the situation, and when Declan says he has seen the set for his new show and he doesn't like the sofa, Tony agrees they can redesign the set - Declan is his new big star and wants to keep him happy.
As Taggie walks a very tiddly Lizzie home, she spots smoke coming from Rupert's estate and realizes his fields are on fire. With this being the 80s and the middle of the countryside, she has to run to the nearest payphone to call the fire brigade. She then dashes to Rupert's house to let him know about the emergency but finds him playing tennis in his back garden. However, this isn't any old game of tennis - he is totally naked and playing the game with a woman who is also totally starkers. While the woman (who later turns out to be Sarah Statton - more on her later) is embarrassed and rushes to find her clothes, Rupert seems to enjoy being naked in front of a very embarrassed 20-year-old Taggie, who doesn't know where to look. She tells him about the fire, but he isn't bothered and says he set it deliberately as it's the best way to get rid of the stubble after harvest season. Taggie is horrified that he is hurting all the animals in the area, telling arrogant Robert what she thinks of him, just as the fire brigade arrives.
At the Corinium Television studios, Tony and Cameron are showing Lady Gosling around. She is impressed with Cameron and they bond instantly, but she warns Tony he needs someone with some more character on his board if he wants his franchise to be renewed. She suggests Rupert, which doesn't go down well with Tony.
Tony and his wife Monica throw a huge garden party to welcome Declan and his family to Rutshire. The event starts off being very sophisticated, but everyone there has their own agenda... either to find someone new to sleep with or to do business with.
Tony makes a speech welcoming Declan to Corinium Television, but as he is talking Rupert and his fling, Beattie, arrive and steal the show. We also meet Freddie Jones, who has made all his money in electronics, who Tony would also like to bring into his TV business. Freddie's wife, Valerie, shows him up by telling him he shouldn't eat potatoes while they are chatting to Lizzie Vereker and her husband, James, (who she doesn't make any secret of the fact she despises!) who also works at Corinium Television.
While Valerie and James head off to get some lunch, Freddie and Lizzie chat and seem to get along very well.
Later Declan is worried when he can't find Maud and he finds her flirting with Rupert in a secluded bit of the garden. It is clear that Rupert likes her, but the arrival of her husband distracts him and he asks Declan to come into the house and drink Tony's whiskey with him.
While they play snooker together Rupert belittles Tony to Declan, not realising he is listening at the door. Tony comes in and asks him, reluctantly, to join the board of his TV company, but Rupert turns him down. However, Tony's sour mood soon changes when the Deputy Prime Minister, Paul Stratton, arrives with his new wife Sarah - he makes out they are late because they struggled to get out of bed, what with them being newlyweds, and Sarah puts on a show of being very much in love. However, this is the same woman who Taggie caught Rupert playing naked tennis with the previous day and while they pretend not to know one another, Tony clocks Taggie's face when she walks out of the room, disgusted. He realizes that Rupert is sleeping with the Deputy PM's wife and decides to use it against him.
Back out in the garden, everyone has made the most of the free booze and they're all dancing. But the mood turns when Tony quietly tells Beattie that Rupert is sleeping with someone else and she slaps him before racing off in his car telling him she is going to ruin him.
Meanwhile, Paul isn't happy to hear about his new wife's antics and goes to hit Rupert, who is cool as a cucumber as he steps out of the way and leaves Paul to fall into the buffet table, causing the music to stop and everyone at the party to stop and stare.
Later, Rupert returns to his massive house alone, with only his dogs for company. The phone rings and it is the Prime Minister who isn't happy about her team's private lives being in the papers and wants to see him the following morning.
We then see Lizzie has gone back to writing and her book is called Rivals... then her voiceover talks about people using passion to get what they want while we see all the main characters in their various houses having sex with their other halves... some who they are married to, some that they aren't. We also discover that Tony is sleeping with Cameron.
At the end of the episode, Tony finds Rupert sitting behind his desk in his office and he is there to tell his rival that Mrs Thatcher wasn't cross with him about the fight with the Deputy PM and that while Paul Stratton has been demoted to the back bench, Rupert is now the new Minister of Sport.
Tony is fuming that his plan to sabotage Rupert hasn't worked, in fact, it has done the opposite and got him a promotion. As Rupert walks out, he tells Tony that he'll have to try harder than that if he wants to beat him, to which Tony replies 'Game on!'.
All episodes of Rivals are available to stream on Disney Plus now.
