Polo: The lavish and racy classic from Sunday Times bestseller Jilly Cooper

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Rivals” is a joyously mischievous rollercoaster ride, steamy in its love stories and packed with larger-than-life characters,’ runs the Disney synopsis. The 2015 30th anniversary edition's toned-down cover artwork moved the male hand from where it was firmly gripping the female rider's bottom to a much higher position nearer to her hip, generating some backlash from fans.

Part of Jilly Cooper’s racy 10-book ‘Rutshire Chronicles’ series – named after the fictional county in which its set –‘Rivals’ follows members of England’s ruling elite as they fall in and out of bed with each other and claw each other’s eyes out to get ahead. Dubbed ‘bonkbusters’, the English novelist’s ripe, pre-’50 Shades of Grey’ tales full of powerful executives,horny polo players and sexy showjumpers questing after other men’s wives and businesses, they often leaned heavily into the dual meaning of the word ‘stud’. We see the highs and lows of life in the equestrian world, but who will eventually come out on top in the final showdown at the Los Angeles Olympics.The first book in the series Riders was released in 1985, followed by Rivals (1988) , Polo (1991), The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous (1993), Appassionata(1996), Score! Arcane, complex, frequently telegraphed yet rarely discussed, the British class system must be a nightmare to negotiate if you're born outside this country. Many of them appear in ‘Rivals’, including former actress Maud O’Hara, fickle wife to Declan, and their daughter Taggie. But before she had time to grow up, Ricky's life exploded into tragedy, and Perdita turned into a brat who loved only her horses - and Ricky France-Lynch. They own vast "country piles", in varying states of repair ("crumbling" if they can't lay their hands on any capital; not-crumbling if they can), and tend to be a bit problematic by today's standards.

The minute we met with Alex we knew he’d perfectly embody my all-time hero, the iconic, racy, ruthless,and devastatingly handsome, Rupert Campbell-Black," says Jilly. It was turned into a television film, Riders (1993), directed by Gabrielle Beaumont for Anglia Television and broadcast on the ITV Network. He’s had roles in The Boys, Silent Witness , The Miniaturist and was Metatron in His Dark Materials. He doesn't appear until her next opus, Polo, but he knows RC-B, because all upper-class people know each other, and Cooper's heroes are always upper class.

Nafessa Williams, whose credits include Black Lighting and Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody, plays Cameron Cook, a ferociously talented American TV executive who is brought to Corinium by Tony to produce Declan’s new prime-time talk show. The world of smart women, handsome army officers, romantic school girls, lustful grooms, insecure wives. During a recent interview with us Aidan revealed more about his Rivals role: "I look like I’m from circa 1975 but it’s for Jilly Cooper’s Rivals, which I’m filming until October. He's about to star in Channel 5 drama Heat, and host Scared Of The Dark on Channel 4, and has hosted quiz shows Cheat and The Wall.

He then expects everyone to feel sorry for him, which they do, because Cooper's characters operate in a system of almost feudal morality.

I'm a huge fan of television so I really have found the perfect job, as I've been writing about TV shows, films and interviewing major television, film and sports stars for over 25 years. Aidan Turner plays TV presenter Declan O’Hara, with Victoria Smurfit, of Bloodlands fame, playing his “bohemian, fickle” wife Maud O’Hara. Jilly, who is also an executive producer of the series, said she is “utterly enchanted” to announce the “all-star line-up” for Rivals. The Campbell-Blacks, Lloyd-Foxes, France-Lynches, and other families from the Rutshire Chronicles also appear in Wicked! A recurring character, and the only one to appear in every book, his cameos lend a sense of continuity to the series.