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Rivals: Hulu Previews David Tennant-Starring British Sex/Class Satire

Rivals, the first TV adaptation of Dame Jilly Cooper's "bonkbuster" novel starring David Tennant, is premiering on Hulu on October 18th.

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Rivals, the original eight-part blockbuster based on the iconic novel by Dame Jilly Cooper, is part of her Rutshire Chronicles series packed full of romantic entanglements, dastardly deals, sex, and wit. British author Dame Jilly Cooper is practically an institution, and her gossipy novel about the British media industry in the 1980s is the defining work of the "bonkbuster" genre. The star-studded cast includes Doctor Who star David Tennant, Eastenders star Danny Dyer, and Poldark star Aidan Turner in the ensemble. Hulu has released a poster. Guess who's considered the biggest star of the show? He's probably not playing a Timelord here. The trio features in an ensemble cast that also includes Nafessa Williams, Bella Maclean, Katherine Parkinson, Alex Hassell, Victoria Smurfit, Claire Rushbrook, Oliver Chris, Lisa McGrillis, comedy star Emily Atack, Rufus Jones, Luke Pasqualino, and Catriona Chandler.

Rivals: British Sex & Class Satire Premieres October 18th on Hulu
Poster art: Hulu

Rivals is part of iconic author Cooper's bestselling Rutshire Chronicles and is set against the backdrop of the drama, excess, and shocking antics of the power-grabbing social elite of 1980s England. In the fictional upper-class county of Rutshire, Rivals dives headfirst into the cutthroat world of independent television in 1986 when a long-standing rivalry between two powerful men is about to boil over: ex-Olympian, Member of Parliament, and notorious womanizer Rupert Campbell-Black (Alex Hassell) and his neighbor Tony Baddingham (Tennant), controller of the independent TV franchise Corinium Television. Turner will play TV presenter Declan O'Hara, a fierce intellectual with an even fiercer temper who is wooed to Corinium from the BBC, while Dyer is Freddie Jones, a self-made electrics millionaire.

The lead director of Rivals is BAFTA-nominated Elliot Hegarty (Ted Lasso, Cheaters, Trying), who also serves as executive producer on episodes 1-4. Eliza Mellor (The Midwich Cuckoos, Behind Her Eyes, Poldark) serves as a series producer. Dee Koppang O'Leary (The Crown) and Alexandra Brodski (Somewhere Boy) also direct episodes.

Rivals premieres on Hulu on October 18th. It will show up on Disney+ for those who subscribe to a bundle, so Disney kids will have a chance to discover posh British bonkbusters as part of their cultural education to expand their horizons. Go Disney!

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Adi TantimedhAbout Adi Tantimedh

Adi Tantimedh is a filmmaker, screenwriter and novelist. He wrote radio plays for the BBC Radio, “JLA: Age of Wonder” for DC Comics, “Blackshirt” for Moonstone Books, and “La Muse” for Big Head Press. Most recently, he wrote “Her Nightly Embrace”, “Her Beautiful Monster” and “Her Fugitive Heart”, a trilogy of novels featuring a British-Indian private eye published by Atria Books, a division Simon & Schuster.
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