With Rivals, Disney+ delivers a delicious slice of glossy, high-octane escapism that whisks you straight into the decadent heart of 1980s Rutshire—a fictional English county where ambition, power, and scandal rule. Adapted from Jilly Cooper’s beloved series, this show is Bridgerton with perms and leg warmers. It is unapologetically indulgent and impossible to look away from.

As we follow Declan O’Hara and his family into this gaudy, glamorous world, the real one fades to static. With every slow pan across a country estate or shoulder-padded boardroom, you feel the shift—you’re no longer in your living room, you’re in the inner circle. The production design leans into 80s maximalism with flair giving it a larger than life feeling.

At the heart of it is the Gatsbian rivalry between David Tennant’s magnetic Tony Baddingham and Alex Hassell’s suave Rupert Campbell-Black. Their feud—new money versus old money, populist grit versus aristocratic polish—is both classic and sharply drawn. Tennant is clearly having the time of his life, chewing scenery with the kind of unhinged charisma that only he can deliver. Hassell, meanwhile, oozes the kind of charm that makes you hate yourself for loving him.

Yes, it’s sexy, but that’s not what makes Rivals so addictive. What hooks you, episode after episode, is the sheer fantasy of it all—the illusion of being in a world where everything is brighter, bolder, and drenched in glamour. For an hour, you’re not doomscrolling or doing laundry—you’re wrapped in fur, sipping champagne, plotting rival takeovers with a smirk.