Fans of Jilly Cooper rushed to watch the Disney Plus series of her raunchy novel, ‘Rivals’. But what are Christians to make of all this sex on our TV screens?!

If you were a teenage girl in the 80s and 90s, you may remember Jilly Cooper’s best-selling books: Rivals, Riders and Polo, set in the fictional UK county of Rutshire. The novels were famous for their sex scenes and have been celebrated by popular culture – Riders was even picked for the BBC’s list of 100 Novels That Shaped Our World.

For many the books were a jaw-dropping sex education, with girls swooning over lothario, Rupert Campbell-Black. In hindsight, this is a little troublesome, as he has more red flags that I’ve had hot dinners. Let’s just say he potentially would not have survived the #metoo movement.

But Jilly Cooper, 87, writes about dysfunctional behaviour, the lusts of life – wine, women and song, with humour, and has been praised for it.

But Jilly Cooper, 87, writes about dysfunctional behaviour, the lusts of live – wine, women and song, with humour, and has been praised for it.

She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2004 Birthday Honours for services to literature, Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2018 New Year Honours for services to literature and charity, and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2024.

When asked who the inspiration behind Rupert Campbell-Black was, she said it was a mix of three men, one being Andrew Parker-Bowles, the ex husband of the Queen of England.

So now that Disney+ has come out with an 8-part adaption of Rivals, staring Alex Hassell as Rupert Campbell-Black and Aiden Turner (from Poldark fame) as journalist, Declan O’Hara, should we, for the sake of nostalgia, and ‘it’s just a bit of fun’, watch it?

For those that don’t know, the series follows the tense rivalry between two ambitious and charismatic men, Rupert Campbell-Black and Lord Tony Baddingham (David Tennant), and is packed with sex, romantic entanglements, and shocking antics.

For those that don’t know, the series follows the tense rivalry between two ambitious and charismatic men

I watched the first episode in the series for the sake of this article. It begins with Rupert Campbell-Black having sex with a female journalist in Concord’s loo, as passengers and air-hostesses listen on. ‘That wasn’t in the book,’ Jilly said in a recent interview. I haven’t checked.

The rest of the episode was almost a parody of 80s dressing and a way of thinking that is now so alien to us in 2024. The drama includes journalist Declan outing a politician for having a mistress, and later Rupert Campbell-Black having sex with the same mistress.

Now I may be called a prude and a kill-joy, but I won’t be watching any more of the Rivals episodes.

‘Is it edifying?’ my dad used to ask, and the truth is, I don’t think Rivals is. Listen, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6:12 ‘Everything is permissible for me, but not everything is beneficial’. There is no rule saying a Christian cannot watch it, this is not to be legalistic, or to cast judgement on those who would happily watch similar shows, but the Bible is clear that we need to think about what we let in, and what we dwell on.

I would say Riders and similar TV / Netflix programs come under the same banner, of not being beneficial.

Philippians 4:8 says Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

What you feed grows. Don’t think watching the brokenness that Rivals portrays as entertainment – sexual immorality, unfaithfulness etc – won’t de-sensitise you to a way of living that is so far from the narrow path that those who are following Jesus and are fully surrendered know.

1 Corinthians 6:18 says, ‘Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not now that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your body.