<p>Today we head to Rutshire, to take a crack at the frothy, riotous TV adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s 1980s romance novel, <em>Rivals</em>. The eight-episode series follows a cluster of posh English country-dwellers – including TV executive Lord Tony Baddingham (David Tennant) and local heartthrob Rupert Campbell-Black (Alex Hassell) — as they bonk and bust their way around the Cotswolds. Shoulder pads, extramarital affairs and messy dinner parties abound. But what is the show really about: Class? Sex? The 80s? Lilah is joined by the FT's Robert Shrimsley and Harriet Fitch Little to discuss. </p><p>-------</p><p>We love hearing from you. Lilah is on Instagram @<a href="https://instagram.com/lilahrap" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">lilahrap</a>, and email at [email protected]. And we’re grateful for reviews on Apple and Spotify!</p><p>-------</p><p><strong>Links (all FT links get you past the paywall): </strong></p><p>– <em> Rivals</em> is out now on Disney+ in the UK, and Hulu in the US. You can read the FT’s four star review here: <a href="https://on.ft.com/40sqQa6" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://on.ft.com/40sqQa6</a> </p><p>– Robert Shrimsley’s column, ‘Were the 80s as much fun as Jilly Cooper says?’ is here: <a href="https://on.ft.com/4f5PcL8" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://on.ft.com/4f5PcL8</a> </p><p>– We also love Jo Ellison’s recent column, ‘Jilly Cooper’s Britain: the bad sex world capital’: <a href="https://on.ft.com/3Uvj0Zt" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://on.ft.com/3Uvj0Zt</a> </p><p>– Robert is on X <a href="https://x.com/robertshrimsley?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@robertshrimsley</a>. Harriet is on X <a href="https://x.com/robertshrimsley?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@HarrietFL</a> and Instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/huffffle/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@huffffle </a></p><p>-------</p><p>Original music by Metaphor Music. Clips copyright Disney.</p><br><p><a href="https://www.ft.com/content/5c6b01a8-8e1e-4352-aa61-94098da5ca72" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com</strong></a></p><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
