As the fourth episode of Rivals begins, Rupert Campbell-Black (Alex Hassell) rides over to see Taggie O’Hara (Bella Maclean). When Declan O’Hara (Aidan Turner) comes out, Rupert tells him he thinks his show is thrilling. Declan says he’d made a great guest. Rupert says he only has Valentine’s Day free and he doubts it’ll stay that way for long. He leaves with his silverware. At the end of Declan’s show, he claims Rupert will be coming on for a special on Valentine’s Day. Cameron Cook (Nafessa Williams) confronts Declan after the show. Tony Baddingham (David Tennant) says all they need to do is wait. Deirdre Kilpatrick (Bryony Hannah) tells Declan he has a call from Rupert. Declan makes Cameron handle the call. Rupert hopes he gets to show Cameron how game he is. Next, Tony waits for the shoot to begin. Freddie (Danny Dyer) and Valerie Jones (Lisa McGrillis) arrive moments later.

Valerie speaks to Hermione Hampshire (Olivia Poulet). They go shooting. When Fred asks the women if they want to shoot, Lizzie Vereker (Katherine Parkinson) accepts the offer. He notices she has ink on her hands. Lizzie explains she was fighting with a typewriter ribbon earlier. Kevin invites Archie (Louis Landau) over. Valerie tells Henry Hampshire (Brendan Patricks) he should visit Green Lawns. James Vereker (Oliver Chris) learns that Sarah (Emily Atack) is going to Corinium for a screen test. Tony speaks to Freddie in private. Tony walks into the woods and finds Archie and Kevin a bit too close for comfort. When Archie sees him, he rushes to pull up his pants. Tony warns off Kevin. Rupert arrives and talks to Tony about the show. Taggie is surprised Rupert turned up without being invited. At the office, Declan speaks to Charles Fairburn (Gary Lamont) about Rupert and bringing him down. Charles says Cameron is now the controller of programs and he’s the Head of Religious Broadcasting.

Charles says his heart is broken. He instructs Declan not to show Tony any weakness. Declan gets something about Rupert and a photograph. Taggie tells Rupert he shouldn’t go on her dad’s show because she’s worried he’ll do something awful. Then, she tells Lady Hampshire that she won’t do the shoots and hunts anymore because she finds them objectionable. Fred tells Tony he has to go since there’s been trouble with a shipment out of Japan. He agrees to call Tony on Monday. Tony steps into the other room and plays around with Sarah while making fun of Fred. Fred returns and catches Sarah wearing his wife’s clothes. Lizzie isn’t happy with the display. Declan speaks to Taggie about the shoot. When he’s not looking, Taggie looks at the evidence Declan has against Rupert. Declan interrupts and talks to her about Rupert. Tag insists Rupert doesn’t deserve this type of revenge.

At the office, Seb Burrows (Milo Callaghan) asks Declan about his big scoop. Declan won’t tell him anything. He questions whether he’s ripping someone apart just for the sake of it. Seb says he’s making great television and keeping Tony happy. Freddie calls Tony to say he can’t join the board. He admits he heard everything. Freddie explains that no one can make fun of Valerie. He hates snobs and Tony is the worst kind there is. Freddie says he forgot where he came from. After the call, Valerie tells Fred that some ladies from Corinium were saying awful things about Tony and Cameron at the boutique. He tells her not to say anything. Tony tells Cameron the news and immediately blames Rupert. Cameron claims Tony messed things up though. She tells him to forget about it. Valerie approaches Lady Monica Baddingham (Claire Rushbrook) to tell her something about Cameron. She explains that Cameron might’ve received her promotion through immodest means.

Monica thanks her for stopping by. Rupert leaves an envelope for Gertrude. Lizzie receives a lot of flowers and letters meant for James. Paul (Rufus Jones) speaks to Sarah about watching Rupert’s appearance on the show. She has the screen test. Archie has sex with Shelley. When he goes inside, Monica confronts him about what Tony saw at the shoot. She asks him to exercise restraint when closer to home. Monica also seems to be talking to Tony when she says fraternizing with the staff can only lead to pain and humiliation for all concerned. She says there are lines that one does not cross. In private, Tony admits he doesn’t know what he’d do without Monica who tells him to bear that in mind. Patrick calls Cameron and recites John Keats to her before she hangs up. Cameron receives a card from T asking her not to mess it up tonight. Lizzie calls the office to ask James if he can come home for lunch today.

Taggie gets the card from Rupert before Bas arrives. Once she learns about his issue, she agrees to cook him curry. Maud hopes she isn’t going to be abandoned. Bas invites her to come to the bar. He leaves. Tag asks Declan not to do this to Rupert. He tells her this is happening and she needs to grow up. Tony tells Cameron that Sarah’s screen test was really something. Cameron is rude as always. Tony asks Declan what he has on Rupert. He admits he’d love to see him in handcuffs. Lizzie gets dressed in lingerie when she thinks James is coming. Freddie arrives instead. He gives her a Canon word processor so she won’t have to worry about ink. Freddie says she looked lovely before he leaves. James calls saying he couldn’t get away. He tells her not to wait up. Tony interrupts to tell James that Sarah is going to be his co-host.

Taggie visits Rupert’s ex-wife. She admits she believes people can change. Helen says she thought the same. She urges Taggie to cut him out before it’s too late. Cameron finds a sign on her door accusing her of sleeping her way to the top. Declan tells her she’s good. Gerald Middleton (Hubert Burton) gives Rupert advice. Rupert mingles with his fans outside the studio. Then, he goes inside where he’s greeted by Declan. Paul catches up with Sarah with champagne just before the interview. Declan and Rupert start by talking about Margaret Thatcher and Rupert’s political career. Declan says his tenure as Minister of Sport has been controversial. He mentions the hooligans. Rupert says they’re out of work and their fathers are out of work. He thinks they should try to understand the vandals. Declan says some people would call him a vandal before he accuses him of adultery. During his marriage, his affairs were common knowledge.

Rupert manages to turn it around and make the audience laugh. During a break, Tag warns Rupert that her dad is saving the worst for later. She pleads with Rupert to walk out of the building with her. Tony and Declan wait for Rupert to return to the show. Rupert returns and sits next to Declan. He tells the audience that Declan wants to beat him. Cameron tells Declan that now is the time. Rupert suggests men like them do horrible things, but Declan claims he’s nothing like him. Declan alleges he is a lonely man rattling around a huge empty manor. He almost pulls out the envelope. Rupert admits he’s a rake, a liar, and a cheat. He still says they’re very much alike. Rupert says he was willing to do anything to remain the best. He asks Declan what he’s willing to do to his family and himself. Tony urges Declan to get the cat out of the bag. Declan admits he’s a workaholic.

He thinks he might be a bad husband. Declan asks Rupert if he thinks he’s ever been in love. Rupert says no because his ambition hasn’t left much room for anything else. Tony gets upset because he doesn’t think Declan is going to do it. He orders them to pull the transmission. Cameron argues with him not to do that. Rupert says he prefers his dogs to people. The conversation returns to Rupert’s sporting achievements. He says the thing that nearly killed him was giving it all up. After the show, Maud tells Declan that was great television. Tag says she liked the show. Tony still isn’t happy though. Declan approaches Rupert and asks him to stay away from Taggie. Rupert asks what he had on him. Declan claims he was just bluffing. Freddie starts karaoke. Rupert tells Taggie he told her it was going to be okay. He says he has to go. Cameron is told to let Tony be.

He throws things around on Declan’s set. Later, Monica takes a call. Tony wants her to tell them to mess off. He learns it is Margaret Thatcher. Declan burns everything he collected. Tony tells Monica that Thatcher wants to visit the station and do an interview of her own. Monica thinks they should thank Rupert.

 

Rivals Review

The last few minutes of this episode showed that Rivals has potential when it gets to the point. The issue is that it’s taken far too long and too many side trips to reach it. Three episodes and a half have been pretty uneventful with a lot of scenes that aren’t going to add anything to the core story.

The characters still remain hideous though. Another odd thing is the fact that the show really hasn’t done enough to build up Taggie’s relationship with Rupert. It felt really corny to see her become so attached so quickly. It just didn’t work and made no sense that she’d be so worried about Rupert or her relationship with him.

More time should’ve been dedicated to making that relationship seem authentic since it’s such a big part of the story. Otherwise, this was at least a better episode thanks to the latter half. It scores a 5.5 out of 10. Recaps of Rivals can be found here.

Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising with us here. See what others are saying here.