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Rivals stars David Tennant, Danny Dyer and more are on this week's Radio Times

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Rivals stars David Tennant, Danny Dyer and more are on this week's Radio Times

We meet the cast of Rivals and chat to Jilly Cooper about bringing her '80s bonkbuster to the small screen.

Tony Baddingham holding a hunting rifle and wearing hunting attire while standing in a green field

Disney Plus

Shem Law

Published: Tuesday, 8 October 2024 at 12:01 am

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I would hazard a guess that many people reading this will remember the 1980s. Whether they remember them as they are portrayed in Jilly Cooper's bestseller Rivals, I have no idea.

The ITV franchise wars of the early part of that decade are probably long forgotten, but at the time they were a big deal. I once met a man (they were always men) who owned one of the new franchises, who told me, "You can make a great deal of money in television, providing you don't spend it on the programmes."

I was reminded of this exchange while watching the Disney+ adaptation of Cooper's uproarious book. It stars the cream of the British acting fraternity, playing characters with pantomime names like Rupert Campbell-Black and Lord Baddingham.

It is, as you would expect, a hoot. We have talked to all the main players, who seemed to have had as much fun making it as it is to watch. Read all about it in this week's Radio Times.

Evidently, TV companies these days do spend their money on programmes rather than cases of champagne, shoulder pads and brick-like mobile phones. Ah the '80s... I remember them well.

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Also in this week's Radio Times:

Julian Fellowes pays tribute to the late, great Dame Maggie Smith.
Actor Lennie James and author Bernardino Evaristo reveal how they brought the novel Mr Loverman to TV.
As Michael Mosley's final unfinished TV series comes to BBC One, we reflect on his career and astonishing influence.

Rivals is available to stream on Disney+ from 18th October 2024. You can sign up to Disney+ for £7.99 a month or £79.90 a year now.

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Check out more of our Entertainment coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to see what's on tonight. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.

Authors

Radio Times editor Shem Law wears a shirt, tie and grey jumper. He is sitting at a wooden desk behind a sign saying "Editor" clasping his hands. There are other items on the desk, including a dial telephone and typewriter.

Shem Law

Shem Law is the brand editor of Radio Times, and the 20th person to hold that esteemed position in over 100 years. He wasn't allowed a television growing up, but over the years he has rather overcompensated for that fact.

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