Everything you need to know about Rivals’ gay couple Charles and Gerald
Charles Fairburn and Gerald Middleton are the gay couple in Rivals. (Disney+)
In the delightfully smutty Disney+ adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s novel Rivals, a secret gay romance is stealing the show.
Rivals, set in 80s Britain, follows the sour rivalry between Rupert Campbell-Black, played by Alex Hassell, and Lord Tony Baddingham (David Tennant), in the world of TV broadcasting, and fans have latched on to the show’s queer plot.
The eight-part drama is jam-packed with sex, scandal, and plenty of nudity, and follows several socially elite couples, including gay lovers Charles Fairburn (Gary Lamont) and Gerald Middleton (Hubert Burton).
Their queer romantic storyline is set against the backdrop of the discrimination surrounding the HIV/AIDS pandemic, alongside discussions of sexual politics and the confrontation of Margaret Thatcher’s Section 28 policy. The relationship between conservative political hopeful Charles and openly gay controller of programmes Gerald takes place as both try to navigate how queer love can thrive in 80s Britain.
Speaking about how the plot evolved, writer-producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins told Digital Spy that the aim was to “round [Charles] out more than the book and give him his own storylines”.
He went on to say: “We talked a lot about what it would be like to be gay in 1986. You’ve got the spectre of AIDS, and, within that, we talked about giving Charles a big, sweeping difficult love story. We wanted Charles and Gerald to feel equal to the other couples, so you’re willing them to go on, even though it’s much harder for them.”
Treadwell-Collins said he believed “you can change the world a bit… by playing gay stories in the mainstream, adding: “Sometimes, with the more niche, smaller gay dramas, that are incredible, some of the viewers whose minds you hope will change a little bit, [aren’t] going to watch.
“I think telling queer stories in the mainstream is how you change the world – and people’s opinions.”
Gary Lamont plays Charles Fairburn
Charles Fairburn is the controller of programmes. He is an openly gay man but is concealing his romance.
The covert gay love story heightens Charles’ feelings of insecurity and alienation, exacerbated further by the Aids pandemic crisis, while his colleagues pick on him because of his sexuality. He dreams of a more romanticised life away from the pressures of TV broadcasting, where he can flourish as his true self.
Actor Lamont played hairdresser Robbie Fraser in the soap opera River City from 2009 to 2017. He also starred in the 2022 Netflix film Boiling Point, as well as appearing in ITV’s adaptation of queer author Val McDermid’s Karen Pirie.
Hubert Burton plays Gerald Middleton
Gerald Middleton is Rupert Campbell-Black’s aide, a job he sees as the first step towards becoming a Conservative MP.
His ambition, however, is paired with the knowledge that he will need to marry a woman and suppress his gay desires. That positioning is at odds with his secret relationship with Charles.
Burton has appeared in ITV’s Jekyll and Hyde and World War I dramas The Passing Bells, on BBC1, and Testament of Youth, on the big screen. On stage, he had a role in the West End production of The Inheritance, which was inspired by gay author EM Forster’s novel Howards End.
Rivals is available to stream now on Disney+.
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