The TV drama doesn’t shy away from the worst aspects of the Thatcher era. But this version of Jilly Cooper’s bonkbuster also captures the lust, laughter and late-night parties
There is no watching Rivals, the Disney+ adaptation of the Jilly Cooper classic, and pretending the 80s weren’t like that. The poisonous, unabashed homophobia of Tory politics; the hushed-up rapes, the sexual exploitation, the abuse of power, the objectification. Not to mention the inequality, the snobbery, the vulgar excess, the truly nauseating deference to aristocracy – a craven surrender to their innate superiority – and the racism and misogynoir. There is a highly plausible depiction of just how hard a black woman had to fight to exist and to be seen, even by the characters who are meant to be right-on. There is no denying any of it. So why does this high-camp, warts-and-all frolic through the 80s make me feel so nostalgic? Is it just because I had forgotten how much I liked Wham!?
No, it is not just the Wham!. It’s not even just for the bam, thank you ma’am, but let’s start there.
