Rivals: An Evening with Dame Jilly Cooper & Cast
Experience Rivals on the big screen as legendary author Dame Jilly Cooper lays bare her career and discusses the TV adaptation of the novel.
Cooper is joined on stage by some very special guests for a 40-minute panel discussion, followed by a screening of the first episode of the brand new TV adaptation of Rivals.
The panel includes Olivier Award-winning playwright and screenwriter Laura Wade, and cast members Katherine Parkinson and Alex Hassell, who plays the notorious Rupert Campbell-Black.
Cooper is the international bestselling author of Riders, Polo,Wicked! and Tackle!, and a number of non-fiction books. She was awarded an OBE for services to literature in 2004 and was also appointed DBE in 2024 for services to literature and charity.
Rivals is an eight-part series based on Dame Jilly Cooper’s novel, part of her bestselling Rutshire Chronicles, now a beloved piece of British literary history. Rivals is full of romantic entanglements, dastardly deals, sex and wit, set against the backdrop of the drama, excess and shocking antics of the power-grabbing social elite of 1980s England.
Need to know
You can join the conversation by submitting your questions in advance – details to follow.
Dame Jilly Cooper’s extensive list of works is available to purchase on the night.
A copy of Rivals is included in the top-price ticket.
Katherine Parkinson as Lizzie Vereker
Alex Hassell as Rupert Campbell-Black
Access
The episode of Rivals shown during this event is Captioned.
For your visit
This event is held at the Royal Festival Hall Southbank Centre
The Royal Festival Hall is open six days a week.
Tuesday – Sunday, 10am – 11pm
Monday, closed.
Plan your visit
The Royal Festival Hall is home to our largest auditorium as well as The Clore Ballroom, National Poetry Library, Members’ Lounge, Festival Bar & Kitchen, Ballroom Cafe and Skylon restaurant.
Getting here
Our address is Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX.
The nearest tube stations to us are Waterloo and Embankment; Waterloo is also the nearest train station. And more than 20 different London bus routes pass within 500 metres of our venues. More information on getting here by rail, road or river is available on our Getting here page.
We’re cash-free
Please note that we’re unable to accept cash payments across our venues.
Access
We’re working hard to remove barriers, so that our facilities and events can be accessible to as many people as possible.
All help points, toilets, performance and exhibition spaces at the Southbank Centre are accessible to all, as are the cafes, bars and restaurants. We also have excellent public transport links with step-free access.
All information about booking wheelchair spaces, step-free access, blue badge parking, access maps and guides and other help available whilst you’re here, including details about our Access Scheme, can be found on our Access page.
Food & drink
On Level 2 of our Royal Festival Hall you can grab a slice of life by the Thames with drinks and freshly made pizza at our Festival Bar & Kitchen which opens out onto our Riverside Terrace. You can grab a coffee and a slice of freshly made cake from our Ballroom Cafe. Or alternatively enjoy destination dining in the restaurant at Skylon.
From coffee to cocktails, filling favourites to fine dining, plus some of London’s best street food – it’s all here at the Southbank Centre.