Rivals lothario Rupert Campbell-Black, played by Alex Hassell, is first introduced to viewers having a romp with a journalist in the toilet of a plane.
After his steamy mid-air antics, he swiftly progresses to a match of naked tennis with Sarah Stratton (Emily Atack) within just minutes of the first episode of the Dame Jilly Cooper adaptation.
Before filming the raunchy scene, Alex, 44, told Metro ahead of Rivals’ launch, discussions were had over whether he would appear fully frontal naked on screen – before deciding to take the plunge.
‘It was discussed how comfortable I was whether or not it would be me or prosthetics or digital. But in the end, we just went for it,’ the His Dark Materials actor explained at the Soho Hotel in London.
‘Well, my hair’s dyed, I’ve got a fake tan and my eyelashes are curled but apart from that it’s all me.’
Suffice to say, the eight-parter has not shied away from the source material and if anything revels in it, with the drama kicking off with a sequence of back-to-back bonking from its starry cast.
However, David Tennant, who plays Lord Tony Baddingham, a TV executive locked in a bitter rivalry with Rupert in Rivals while juggling a passionate affair with producer Cameron (Nafessa Williams), admitted that sex scenes ‘absolutely do not’ get easier.
Sat next to Alex at the Soho Hotel, the Doctor Who actor said: ‘These things are never comfortable, but that’s why the environment that’s created is really important. The arrival of the intimacy coordinator on sets has been hugely beneficial to everyone.
‘Recreating that kind of intimacy is not something you get excited about doing, but you want to make sure that in that environment everyone feels safe and looked after, and that it can be as comfortable as possible.’
Alex added: ‘It doesn’t feel like any of it’s gratuitous either – it’s always an extension of the character and the relationships and the way that they’re expressing themselves and the power dynamics or the sexual dynamics.’
Danny Dyer, who plays minted entrepreneur Freddie Jones in Rivals, also maintained that the show isn’t just about racy sex – it’s a layered portrait of different forms of love. So much so, that he became teary when he watched the much-hyped drama for the first time.
Joined by Katherine Parkinson, Freddie’s love interest, writer Lizzie Vereker, he said: ‘We both got quite choked up when we went to the screening. And that’s odd.’
What made you emotional? ‘It was a certain moment and it got me,’ the EastEnders actor, 47, replied.
‘You look at each other as it’s weird watching yourself, but it’s just so beautifully shot and the music and everything just added to it.’
Unlike the other characters in Rivals, Freddie and Lizzie’s romantic entanglement doesn’t immediately start in the bedroom. Katherine agrees when I say it seems ‘pure and innocent’ – at least from the first four episodes given for review.
She described their relationship as ‘romantic and beautiful’, a bond formed through a mutual ‘childlike innocence from being underappreciated by their partners’.
It didn’t take much for the actors to develop that chemistry. They had previously met before at an awards ceremony when the IT actress, 46, asked him to film a video message for her then-neighbour, a Danny superfan, and he obliged.
Katherine said as soon as she saw the script, Danny was her ‘ideal imagining’ of Freddie. She was gutted when he wasn’t initially available for the role but then found time in his schedule.
‘We just had a natural chemistry so it’s played out lovely, really,’ Danny agreed. ‘It was always fun.’
Also starring Aidan Turner as TV presenter Declan O’Hara, Claire Rushbrook as Lady Monica Baddingham, Victoria Smurfit as Maud O’Hara and Bella Maclean as Taggie O’Hara, Rivals follows the intense politics inside a regional TV station and the romantic exploits of the British elite in fictional county Rutshire in the 80s.
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Rivals is available to stream on Disney Plus.
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