Rivals costume designer honoured to make outfit for Dame Jilly Cooper

Rivals costume designer honoured to make outfit for Dame Jilly Cooper7 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleLucy OwenBBC WalesGetty ImagesThe late Dame Jilly Cooper with David Tennant and other Rivals cast membersThe man behind the costumes on the hit TV series Rivals has said it was an honour to create an outfit for the late author Dame Jilly Cooper.The drama, starring David Tennant, Danny Dyer, Aiden Turner and Emily Atack, is based on the second book in Dame Jilly's best-selling Rutshire Chronicles series about the competition between two firms.Costume designer Ray Holman, from Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf, said he wanted to create something that Dame Jilly, who had a cameo role in the show, loved to wear."One of the things I suggested was a blue satin suit and she adored it," he said. "She loved it so much she wore it to get her damehood and she wore it at the Hay festival."Holman told BBC Radio Wales he was inspired by the way Cooper dressed when she was younger."It didn't feel like she wore many dresses... Jilly was a country woman."Holman was working on the set of the second series when the author died aged 88 in October following a fall at her home. "'Everybody had to go to the studio and they told us what had happened to Jilly and there was a lot of emotion," he said."We were all really upset. "We carried on filming but they said don't go home after. "They wheeled out a glass of champagne for everyone and said this is what she would have wanted."Ray HolmanCostume designer Ray Holman has worked on a number of other TV shows including Doctor Who and BroadchurchHe said Dame Jilly was heavily involved in the production."To see the joy on her face when she came to visit with all the amazing actors and crew, and she was really, really supportive."The second season is set in 1987 with the backdrop of a general election. Holman said the costumes were crucial to makin...