Rivals

Dame Jilly Cooper and her bonkbusters never really made a splash stateside. So you'd probably think it safe to assume that the one and only reason I watched this series was because of David Tennant. You'd be partly right, but throw in Aidan Turner, Katherine Parkinson, Oliver Chris, and Claire Rushbrook as well. But the thing is, if you're a fan of British television and in particular older classic sitcoms like The Vicar of Dibley, there are many cultural references that you either educate yourself about or allow to go over your head. I chose to educate myself, so while I've never read a word Dame Jilly Cooper has written I was well familiar with her name and her subject matter. I mean, the dust jackets of the Rutshire Chronicles are pretty iconic and are very clear as to what they're about. In other words, Dame Jilly Cooper is Dallas and Dynasty in prose form. And I love me my Dallas and Dynasty and was so stoked that they were going all in on the eighties excess for this adaptation. The clothes, the music, the lifestyles of the rich and famous, but at the same time, oh so British. It was like a mashup of all things I love in one perfect package. And you will see many a package. Because what sets this show apart is that it's seen through the female gaze. So it's the men whose bodies are being sexualized, and I say about fucking time. The romance genre is primarily female dominated and yet how often are adaptations still seen through the male gaze? And why I ask myself!?! Women want a little rumpy-pumpy with their own needs met. Though I will say that the coupling montage sequences that close out a few of the episodes go a bit too far... Or should I just say, I bit too much. It's like sensory overload which tips it a little too far into the camp category. And while there is no denying that this show is camp, camp is a fine line to walk, wobble too much to one side or the other and you could end up stodgy or ludicrous, which it occasionally does, in both directions. Though I shouldn't read too much into my nitpicking, because this is about abundant joy, and it doesn't take itself seriously at all, and boy did I enjoy it. I mean, the bad guy is named Baddingham and they live in Rutshire! That's the level it's playing at and playing with! And oh, David Tennant loves to chew the scenery villainously. If there's one flaw to the show it's a lack of explanation as to how television worked in the eighties in England. So Lord Tony Baddingham runs Corinium, an independent commercial television station which currently has the franchise rights for the southwest of England. But these rights are up for renewal so another company could pitch for them and a board made up of Sister Boniface's mother and a rapist priest get to decide who gets it. Which is where the rivalry really heats up because Tony's nemesis Rupert Campbell-Black, the top TV show host Declan O'Hara whom Tony fired, and electronics impresario Freddie Jones form Venturer which in the finale gets through the public hearing to being allowed to pitch for Corinium's franchise. Or at least I think that's what happens. It's confusing to an American like me where this isn't at all how television works. Anyone can have a station as long as you have money... So... Yeah. Love the show but don't really understand a lot of what happened in the middle. I guess that just means I'll have to watch it again. The lengths I'll go to to make sure I have all the facts! Grueling I tell you! Grueling! I think I'll read the book as well...