This juicy new British drama set in the ’80s features tennis players in the buff & a surprising gay love story
Succession but thought the darkly funny HBO drama was a little too buttoned-up, then the unapologetically bold and brash—and gay!—Hulu series Rivals might be the show for you.Based on author Jilly Cooper’s 1988 novel of the same name, the show is set in the 1980s in the fictional English county of Rutshire, where neighbors Rupert Campbell-Black (The Boys‘ Alex Hassell) and Lord Tony Baddingham (LGBTQ+ all David Tennant of Doctor Who fame) have a long-standing rivalry.Very loosely inspired by the era of British television when government-run (and therefore conservative) network The BBC saw a number of independent networks rise to challenge its chokehold on audiences, the plot kicks into motion when Lord Baddingham uses his immense wealth to run new TV station Corinium out of his estate, sniping popular talk show host Declan O’Hara (The Hobbit trilogy Aidan Turner) as a new face of the channel.As Rivals opening scene makes clear—featuring bare bum as Campbell-Black gets it on in an airplane bathroom to the tune of “Addicted To Love”—this show knows it’s pure, trashy fun.Across eight episodes (which began streaming on Hulu Oct.
18), it’s a story filled with sex and scandal, and features a sprawling ensemble of über-wealthy egotists you love to hate and fresh, in addition to young upstarts who will do anything to climb to the top.And while it’s juggling a lot, a clear standout of the series is its secretive gay romance between two very unlikely characters.On one end of this affair is Corinium’s director of programming, Charles Fairburn (Outlander‘s Gary Lamont), who is out as gay in his personal and professional life, which makes him an easy punching bag for his colleagues at the TV network.On the opposite side of this socio-political battle is Gerald Middleton (Hubert Burton, known for The Inheritance on the West End), an aide for Parliament member (MP) Rupert Campbell-Black who has his own designs on becoming an MP.
