Posh People Go Wild in First Steamy Teaser of Jilly Cooper’s Iconic ‘Bonkbuster’ Romance Novel Adaptation ‘Rivals’
Horses, helicopters and hanky-panky are what fans of Jilly Cooper’s iconic novel “Rivals” can expect from Disney’s screen adaptation.
Starring Emily Atack (“The Inbetweeners”), David Tennant (“Doctor Who”) and Aidan Turner (“Poldark”), “Rivals” follows the power-grabbing social elite of 1980s England as they break up and couple up.
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In the first teaser trailer, which dropped today, Tennant can be seen dressed as an upper crust gentleman farmer, Turner dons a smart suit and Tom Selleck-inspired bushy moustache while Atack adjusts herself in front of a full-length mirror clad in a period-inspired bodycon dress.
Rounding out the cast are Catriona Chandler (“Enola Holmes 2”) as Caitlin O’Hara, Oliver Chris (“The Crown”) as James Vereker, Danny Dyer (“Eastenders”) as Freddie Jones, Rufus Jones (“W1A”) as Paul Stratton, Lisa McGrillis (“Maternal”) as Valerie Jones, Luke Pasqualino (“Skins”) as Bas Baddingham, Claire Rushbrook (“Sherwood”) as Lady Monica Baddingham and Victoria Smurfit (“Once Upon A Time”) as Maud O’Hara.
“Rivals” is part of Cooper’s bestselling “Rutshire Chronicles.” It follows two powerful men and neighbors – Olympian turned politician Rupert Campbell-Black (Alex Hassell) and television executive Tony Baddingham (Tennant) – have a longstanding rivalry that finally comes to a head. With Cooper nicknamed “Queen of the Bonkbuster” the novel is also unsurprisingly pretty steamy — and judging from the teaser trailer the series is set to be equally scandalous.
The eight-part adaptation is set to drop later this year on Hulu in the U.S. and Disney+ internationally. It’s produced by ITV Studios shingle Happy Prince and written by Dominic Treadwell-Collins and Laura Wade.
Exec producers include Treadwell-Collins, Wade, Cooper, Felicity Blunt and Disney+ scripted content director for EMEA Lee Mason.
Watch the teaser trailer below:
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