Rivals
HULU | Release Date: October 18, 2024
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
85
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 24 Critic Reviews
Positive:
22
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
EmpireDavid OpieMay 18, 2026
Season 2 Review: Season 2 of this undeniably enjoyable Jilly Cooper adaptation comes with more heart, this time around — yet other organs still abound in TV's silliest, most decadent bonkbuster.  Read full review
80
DeciderJoel KellerMay 15, 2026
Season 2 Review: As overstuffed as Rivals is, the back and forth between Tony and Rupert is so delicious to watch that the frustration over the underserved storylines is secondary to the viewing experience. Read full review
90
VarietyAramide TinubuMay 15, 2026
Season 2 Review: While Season 1 was a delightful entry into this over-the-top world of the British elite, Season 2 has taken things up a notch with a tonally perfect and exceptional continuation of a truly scandalous series. Read full review
80
iEmily BootleMay 14, 2026
Season 2 Review: With plots sprawling over the two TV companies, multiple complicated relationships and storylines competing for the most important, this second instalment feels a little looser than the first – but its glorious glow of mischief remains. Read full review
80
Radio TimesJack SealeMay 11, 2026
Season 2 Review: It’s impossible to recapture the novelty of Rivals when it first hit, or to continue the constant partner-swapping that made season 1 such a hoot. So it wisely retreats. .... Her [Jilly Cooper] legacy looks secure: the residents of Rutshire are in safe hands. Read full review
100
The TelegraphBenji WilsonMay 11, 2026
Season 2 Review: It is television as X-rated pantomime. And it is hugely entertaining, just like the first series. It works because the writers and actors are canny throughout. Read full review
100
The TimesCarol MidgleyMay 11, 2026
Season 2 Review: Despite its deliberate corniness, this is also gloriously uplifting television. It is unashamedly celebratory and perhaps even better than the last series. Read full review
80
ColliderTherese LacsonMay 11, 2026
Season 2 Review: You might have found yourself rooting for extramarital affairs in Season 1, but Season 2 is ready to douse you in some cold water and remind you that all actions have consequences. That's what makes the series work: you get the good and the bad. Read full review
100
The GuardianSarah DempsterMay 11, 2026
Season 2 Review: The dialogue is, as ever, fabulous. .... How best to reward such exquisitely knowing escapism? Ten stars? Ten thousand stars? Rivals is beyond earthly praise. Read full review
80
The IndependentNick HiltonMay 11, 2026
Season 2 Review: It is well-written and well-acted, but it aspires to nothing more than being fun. Real, associable human emotions are kept at arm’s length in favour of stylised bucolic horniness. Read full review
80
The AtlanticSophie GilbertNov 1, 2024
Season 1 Review: I was more drawn to the qualities it has that’ve been largely absent from more prestigious shows this year: joy, and also abundance, sly humor, and fun. Amid a glut of dour, depressed series with Serious Things to Say, a show that carries itself so lightly is absolutely welcome. Read full review
80
The Observer (UK)Barbara EllenOct 21, 2024
Season 1 Review: There’s also a palpable energy slump in later episodes, as Corinium power plays bang on too long. Still, overall, Rivals is big, bold, witty and shameless. Read full review
80
DeciderJoel KellerOct 18, 2024
Season 1 Review: Despite the fact that the huge cast and massive number of storylines made us dizzy, Rivals is deliciously and unapologetically trashy, and we have to give the show credit for that. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneNina MetzOct 17, 2024
Season 1 Review: “Rivals” is yet more wealth-aganda, but it refuses to take itself too seriously and is all the better for it. Visually, it’s a terrific blend of classy and tacky. .... The heartfelt moments hit, but so does the humor. Read full review
80
EmpireDavid OpieOct 16, 2024
Season 1 Review: Rivals is a supremely confident, endlessly enjoyable time capsule. It goes down as easily as a glass of Buck's fizz with a cheeky slice of Viennetta on the side. Read full review
80
Radio TimesMorgan CormackOct 9, 2024
Season 1 Review: Rivals is a true gem within Disney Plus’s original UK content crown, living up to the understandable buzz around it. Prudes step aside because the rest of us will patiently be counting down the days till Rivals gets the season renewal it rightly deserves. Read full review
80
ColliderJeff EwingOct 8, 2024
Season 1 Review: These are characters who happily indulge urges with a devil-may-care attitude (though they're not static, and do grow), with the audience able to comfortably await the inevitable fallout. It makes for a fun, thrilling watch, and it's backed by strong and charismatic performers who add enough complexity to avoid any dramatic ruts. Read full review
100
The GuardianLucy ManganOct 8, 2024
Season 1 Review: It has all paid off. Cooper’s books are about joyfully indulging your appetites and knowing that literary (or televisual) escapism is not a sin but a very necessary part of being a human. Disney has taken the business of bringing her Rutshire vision to life just as seriously and with just as light a touch as they needed. Read full review
89
Paste MagazineLacy BaugherOct 8, 2024
Season 1 Review: A vivid, thrilling throwback to the soapy dramas of primetime television’s heyday. A scandalous, uninhibited romp from its very first scenes (which involve two characters joining the mile-high club in an airplane toilet), its story is full of betrayal, ambition, greed, and excess in all the best possible ways. Read full review
79
TV GuideGavia Baker-WhitelawOct 8, 2024
Season 1 Review: Rivals wears its ugly side on its sleeve, letting David Tennant sink his teeth into a juicy villain role while embracing the shameless entertainment value of a primetime soap. Read full review
80
The TimesCarol MidgleyOct 7, 2024
Season 1 Review: How much you enjoy Rivals will depend on how much of a Jilly Cooper fan you are (I think she is fabulous). But even if you’re not au fait with the books you can tuck in to a lavish series that takes you back to a decade (it is set in 1986) before mobile phones and when people still got steaming drunk at lunchtime. This is a big pink Anglo bubblegum of a production and a splash of retro-escapism. Read full review
100
The TelegraphAnita Singh Oct 7, 2024
Season 1 Review: There are eight episodes. It sags a bit towards the end, when the script concerns itself more with the business of regional television franchises than love and lust and shirtless hunks. But, on the whole, it’s a marvellous antidote to modern life. Read full review
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