Rivals cast say filming sex scenes in 80s bonkbuster was everything from 'fabulous' to 'uncomfortable'

Some actors in the Disney series, based on Dame Jilly Cooper’s 1988 novel, found the romping easier than others - but many think it’s their best work ever

The star-studded cast of Dame Jilly Cooper’s Rivals reads like a Who’s Who of television and includes Poldark, an EastEnders legend and a former Doctor Who.

But along with the rest of the cast Danny Dyer, David Tennant and Aidan Turner agree that Disney’s adaptation of the 80s bonkbuster might just be the best work they’ve ever done.

Showrunner Dominic Treadwell-Collins says he’s kept the action as close as he could to Dame Jilly’s much-loved novel about power, loose morals and sexual politics set in the heart of the Cotswolds.

And there is no chance anyone is going to moan he’s gone light on the bonking. “If you had that copy you borrowed from your friend that fell open at various pages – we've done all those bits,” he laughs.

Former Time Lord Tennant is playing an actual Lord - Tony Badingham - a grammar school boy with a huge chip on his shoulder about not being a proper toff. Tony runs regional TV station Corinium and to ensure the franchise is renewed he hires a hot-shot from New York and they launch into a steamy affair. Of course, his dependable upper-crust wife, played by Sherwood’s Claire Rushbrook, has no idea.

Tennant, 53, admits that filming the incredibly saucy bedroom scenes with American actress Nafessa Williams was awkward but he felt there was safety in numbers. “I mean, sex scenes are never comfortable, you know? But again, because everyone was in the same boat, there was a lot of discussion about, ‘When are you doing that scene?’ and ‘Have you done that yet?’”

The actor, who took the job because his wife Georgia is a huge fan of the books, says a scene where the pathologically competitive Tony leaps from his helicopter onto his croquet lawn is his favourite career moment so far.

“That hole-in-one, I would like you to know, was probably the greatest day of my professional life,” he laughs. Instructed by the director to “whack it” from 30 feet he was told the cameras would keep running until he succeeded. “I nailed it on take four. I've never felt more pleased with myself than that moment. I felt like a sporting God.”

Aidan feels similarly - having earned an army of adoring fans thanks to five years as Cornish heart-throb Ross Poldark, he reckons his turn as moustachioed TV interviewer Declan O’Hara tops it.

“There are great performances from every actor who's in it. It's the best I've seen almost everybody, including myself,” he says. “I hope the audience have as much fun watching the show as we had making it.”

In the story his actress wife Maud, played by former Ballykissangel star Victoria Smurfit, gave up her career to have children and is now bored and prone to playing away. They move the family to fictional Rutshire from London when dashing Declan is poached for a new show by Tony.

Aidan, 41, says Declan’s tempestuous relationship with his wife is “complicated”. “I do think there is love and compassion in their relationship but years of bitterness and resentment has built up,” he says. “They have their own way of dealing with this like a lot of Irish families - they try and pretend the problems don’t exist.”

Victoria, 50, says Maud and Declan are all about “passion-argument and passion-lovemaking” and laughs that getting frisky with Aidan wasn’t hard at all. “To be cast opposite him was just fabulous and it was so easy, because there was a shorthand - we had to do some pretty mad stuff together and at no point did either of us feel in any way uncomfortable. It was just like, bosh, let's go!”

She agrees their characters have a tempestuous relationship which often ends up with sex - although not always in the bedroom, much to the dismay of their three kids.

“It's just driven by energy, a tiny bit of crazy and probably a drop of whiskey,” she laughs, adding that Jilly’s romps are all there for a reason. "Every sex scene she writes is exciting and interesting and aspirational. It's all power tools to find love.”

Hunky Alex Hassell landed the role of leading man Rupert Campbell-Black despite not being blonde and blue-eyed as he very much is in the books.

The series kicks off with the show jumper turned politician joining the Mile High Club (probably for the umpteenth time) with one of his many conquests. Like Victoria, he felt that filming the naked romps was good fun. “These characters are supposed to enjoy sex, and so they were a laugh,” he explains. “Luckily, we all got on very well, you don't have to deal with not liking the person that you're doing those things with. And being naked - you just pretend that the other people aren't there. It’s easier once you do that.”

Another who didn’t mind getting down and dirty in the slightest was Emily Atack, who plays another of Rupert’s ladies, Sarah Stratton. Sarah, married to a stuffy MP with whom she’d had a previous affair, is seen at one point playing tennis with Rupert while completely starkers.

The actress, 34, says she was just desperate to land the role. "As soon as I read it, I got the same feeling I got when I first auditioned for Charlotte from The Inbetweeners; the same little thrill in my stomach of, ‘Oh my god, this is perfect for me.’

“It’s in my bones to play roles like that. Sarah’s extremely promiscuous, but she's also funny. There's a comedy edge there. You could easily just make this woman completely stereotypical and unlikeable, and instead, she was instantly likeable.”

Danny, best known as Albert Square’s Mick Carter, feels equally pleased about landing the role of electronics magnate Freddie Jones. He says it’s the best thing he’s ever been in - even though having to speak Japanese nearly broke him.

“I really felt like I was working on something elite,” he explains. “Like this is television that can't be bettered in the way it's shot, the way it looks, the actors in it, the music, the relationships. It’s up there with some of the greatest telly that's ever been made.”

Danny, 47, says his character is a good egg who is also very, very rich. “I see him as being based on an Alan Sugar-type character in the sense that he does computers and satellites and all that sort of stuff, so he's way ahead of his time.”

On the Japanese, he explains: “I had a great guy on WhatsApp giving me voice notes, but I had a lot of fear around it. I did have one night where I thought, ‘I can't do this. They're gonna have to ADR it.' But actually, I just put the work in.”

The Londoner drew on the snobbery he’s experienced throughout his career in order to understand how Freddie might have felt mixing with the aristocratic circle he finds himself among. “I have come across quite a lot of classism towards me that just spurred me on a little bit more, especially when I went into theatre. I didn't really feel like I belonged. I never trained, you see, so I wasn't very good at the rehearsal process of sitting round a table and breaking down your subtext and why you're saying stuff. I'm a very instinctive actor so it's all about just getting up on my feet and saying words.”

His love interest, outside of his marriage to social-climber Valerie (Lisa McGrillis), is the warm and friendly Lizzie Vereker, an author who is married to preening and awful TV presenter James (Oliver Chris)

Actress Katherine Parkinson, best known as Jen from The IT Crowd, says her character Lizzie’s slow-burn romance with Freddie was a joy to film. “I got on very well with Danny from the start - he’s a real delight,” she says. “Sometimes you feel a pressure to show bits and bobs or whatever – that wasn't the case at all, that was entirely up to me. I just didn't feel uncomfortable at all.

All episodes of Rivals streams on Disney+ from October 18

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