The critics have had their say on the second season of Rivals – and fans can expect yet another unapologetic Eighties bonkfest with higher stakes and heaving bosoms galore.
The Disney+ comedy-drama, adapted from the late Dame Jilly Cooper’s novels, gallops back onto our screens today. Alex Hassell returns as polo-playing Cotswoldian cad Rupert Campbell-Black, as he fights for control over the local TV franchise with the dastardly Tony Baddingham (David Tennant). According to reviews, Rivals’ follow-up series is a resounding success – with the show receiving five stars from a number of critics.
In fact, The Guardian’s Sarah Dempster said that she wanted to give the “exquisite bonkbuster” 10,000 of them, adding: “Rivals is beyond earthly praise. Let us instead insert a single rose between its tireless bum cheeks and raise a glass of Cinzano to its naked audacity.”
The Independent’s Nick Hilton called the show “a rare treat”, praising the “cartoonish world” of Rutshire. “It is well-written and well-acted, but it aspires to nothing more than being fun. Real, associable human emotions are kept at arm’s length in favour of stylised bucolic horniness,” he writes.
The show’s camp, frivolous tone was praised by a number of critics, with The Telegraph’s Benji Wilson enjoying its “heady mix of guilty pleasure, trenchant satire, rambunctious comedy and out-and-out trash.” The Times’ Carol Midgley called it “gloriously uplifting television” that’s “unashamedly celebratory” – before warning viewers of “the most hilariously bad orgasm face” from Aidan Turner’s Declan O’Hara.
Several critics mentioned one particularly outrageous scene in which two young male polo players, who also happen to be twins, “rip off their trunks and jump into a pool”, with The Times calling it “an entirely gratuitous full-frontal male nudity shot and a synchronised double whammy”.
In another five-star review from The Standard, critic Martin Robinson said season two is “a gleeful continuation of the bonking, big hair and hilarity where there’s a belly laugh every 30 seconds”. Commenting on Rivals’ “soft satirical” look at Margaret Thatcher’s Britain, he added: “This is a man’s world, but one where women use their sexuality to hold the reins and spank the buttocks.”
Earlier this month, Danny Dyer – who plays electronics businessman Freddie Jones – revealed that he goes “full frontal” in the new series. “If they keep it in the edit,” he added in a chat with Radio Times. “It’s a night shoot, and it was cold, and I’d better not say any more.”
Meanwhile, back in September, Tennant revealed that he sustained an injury while filming a sex scene for season two. He admitted that he “collided with the bed frame in a rather unfortunate way” after launching himself onto a wooden bed. “You can never quite tell when you’re going to fall over and embarrass yourself, can you? But you most certainly don’t want to do it whilst wearing a modesty pouch.”
