Rivals' Rutshire — where modern Britain's divisions disappear in a cloud of sex

For Jilly Cooper devotees — a motley band that oddly includes Queen Camilla, Joanna Lumley, Ian Rankin and Tony Adams — the adaptation of Rivals has been both a vindication and a bittersweet moment. It proved what some of us already knew: Cooper’s stories are life-affirming, wise and uproariously funny.

Her unexpected death last year cut short the late-life renaissance in which she was reveling. The first half of Rivals’ second season climaxes this week after six hours that revel in 1980s television life: hard-drinking executives careering along Cotswold lanes with Silk Cut smoke through Austin Metro windows, pogoing to Nena’s 99 Red Balloons and knocking back tequila on sticky pub carpet.

The series has been a reminder that television can still be fun, a naughty, indulgent treat in contrast to much of today’s prestige bleakness. Characters are drawn with relish: the villains are delicious, the heroines endearing and the minor roles gleefully juicy.

United Kingdom, Cotswolds

jilly cooper, rivals, tv adaptation, second season, queen camilla, joanna lumley, ian rankin, tony adams, 1980s tv, cotswolds