42/17
Coincidentally, Aidan Turner previously filmed at Chavenage House (The Priory in Rivals)
Synopsis
It follows Rupert Campbell-Black and Tony Baddingham as they have a long-running rivalry that comes to a head. The same filming location was also used to stand in for Trenwith House in the 2015 BBC TV adaptation of Poldark.
I read Rivals a few years ago and loved every page!
It’s quite difficult to compare the book and its characters to its TV adaptation, as we all bring our own perceptions of how certain characters should look and behave. Also, while we can read a book at our leisure, TV has to move at a pace that suits the format and doesn’t drag, so some characters or side story lines may need to be cut for time reasons.
It makes us love Declan as much as we hate Lord B!
That said, yes, there are differences from the book, but none so big that they ruin the overall enjoyment and entertainment value. The characters, especially Aidan Turner as Declan O’Hara, the goody-goody journalist and David Tennant as the evil Lord B, are fantastic!
It was wonderful to see Jilly Cooper herself in the restaurant lunch scene
The 80’s music is great, although the only part I found annoying was the high-pitched opera music at the beginning, it just doesn’t fit. As for all the sex scenes, yes, we could do without them, as we all have imaginations, but it wouldn’t be the book that Cooper wrote.
She looked like she was enjoying the show, as I did
The last episode ended very differently to the book, so I hope there will be at least another season where we see what happens with Taggie and RCB… And of course, we know that evil Lord B must be there to wreak even more havoc .