Rock on: Michelle Collins is 'rewarding' in Rock Rivals. Photograph: ITV
Given the scandals that have lately surrounded ITV's phone-ins, with rumours of rigged votes and viewers relieved of millions of pounds, you might think it folly to create a drama whose outcome will be decided by a public phone vote. And yet ITV1's Rock Rivals makes a virtue of viewers' ability to affect the outcome.
Moreover, the last drama set behind the scenes on a TV show - Moving Wallpaper - was greeted with what we might kindly call indifference, so setting another one there could be considered unwise. And yet, that's where Rock Rivals happens - behind the scenes on an X-Factor-esque talent show.
A recipe for disaster? Not at all. Rock Rivals' audacity, humour and self-confidence are such that, despite its faults and the brash whimsy of it all, you're left smiling.
As you'd expect from the makers of Footballers' Wives and Bad Girls, Rock Rivals is big and bold - though a lot less camp than its predecessors. It stars Michelle Collins and Sean Gallagher as Karina and Mal Faith, talent show judges whose disintegrating marriage is played out through on-screen bickering - the desire for their prodigy to win the show is just another front in their personal battle. And while the "grown-ups" fight, the young contestants frolic, showing off their pretty faces, nubile bodies and naked ambition. The result is an abundance of multi-generational storylines running together in a way that further illuminates the flaws of Echo Beach.
The characters are painted in broad strokes and have suitably daft names - Sundae Gorgeous or Angel Islington, anyone? - but crucially, they are characters whom we can cheer, or indeed boo - unlike those in The Palace. Indeed, Rock Rivals is the very antithesis of The Palace: there is nothing but Everymen and women here. Whether it's forbidden love blossoming between contestants or a pushy mother living vicariously through her troubled daughter, these are scenarios with which we are familiar and that awareness means there's emotional resonance. One of the things that makes good drama connect with an audience is the "what-if-it-were-me?" factor and Rock Rivals has it.
Crucially, the show is full of rewards - little moments that lift you. Watching it feels like a treat, not a chore. Can you say the same of Honest? Or BBC1's po-faced Mistresses? Rock Rivals is punctuated with humour that's sorely lacking in much contemporary drama.
Of course, it isn't without its faults. We're expected to believe Karina is a player in the music industry, but she seems strangely soft and naive. She provides one of those rewarding moments - involving a Ferrari and a swimming pool - but the character feels a bit inconsistent and the chemistry between Mal and Karina is a bit flat.
Unlike most British drama, there's almost too much story in the first episode. What should be major emotional moments - when Karina discovers her husband's infidelity or a tender exchange between two contestants - aren't given sufficient breathing space. Perhaps Rock Rivals' biggest fault is that its tendency to show off detracts from its emotional power.
And for multimillionaire record producers, there are an awful lot of Ikea lamps around their house. Still, after a run of disappointing dramas, ITV1's latest offering is a reason to be cheerful. And any show in which a vital part is played by an inflatable sex doll gets my vote - even if it threatens to act certain cast members off the screen.
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