‘Whoever said country life was boring was clearly in bed with the wrong people,’ so teases Rivals, Disney+'s adaptation of Dame Jilly Cooper’s 1988 ‘bonk-buster’ novel. Raunchy, glamorous and often ridiculous, the star-studded drama explores the cut-throat TV world in the 1980s. We can’t wait for the second season.
When will Rivals season 2 be released?
Though no official release date has been confirmed, it is expected to be land on Disney+ at some point in 2026. But we do know that it will be longer than season 1, with 12 episodes to look forward to, and production is already underway. This is a reflection of the incredible success of season 1, which became one of Disney+’s most popular British original dramas.
Who will be starring in Rivals season 2?
Jilly Cooper, who also served as an executive producer on the adaptation and who sadly passed away in early October, expressed her delight at seeing her characters brought to life on screen: ‘Nearly 40 years after my novel Rivals was published, I’ve adored seeing the world fall in love with my beloved characters – Rutshire’s Finest. It has been a fairy tale come true working with [producers] Happy Prince and Disney+ on the first season. I’m orgasmic with excitement and cannot wait for the return of my superhero Rupert Campbell-Black and the rest of the characters in season 2!’
Even more excitingly, it has now been announced that Hayley Atwell and Rupert Everett will be joining the cast as guest stars. Hayley Atwell (Mission Impossible, Agent Carter) will be playing Helen Gordon, Rupert Campbell-Black’s ex-wife and the mother of his children Marcus and Tabitha. Rupert Everett, meanwhile, takes on the role of Malise Gordon, Helen’s husband and Rupert’s former show-jumping coach and mentor.
Other confirmed newcomers include Maxim Ays (Sanditon), Holly Cattle (Young Sherlock), Oliver Dench (Hotel Portofino), Amanda Lawrence (Malory Towers, Star Wars: The Last Jedi), Bobby Lockwood (Wolfblood), Eliot Salt (Slow Horses) and Jonny Weldon (One Day). They are expected to join the original main cast of Alex Hassell, David Tennant, Bella Maclean, Aidan Turner, Emily Atack, Danny Dyer, Katherine Parkinson, Nafessa Williams and Victoria Smurfit.
What is Rivals about?
Set at Corinium, a fictional regional TV station with big aspirations, Rivals season 1 followed the intense power struggle between TV station controller Lord Tony Baddingham and Olympic horse-rider and Conservative MP Rupert Campbell-Black. British TV legend David Tennant took on the role of Tony in season 1, with the brooding Alex Hassell as his controversial neighbour Campbell-Black. More power struggles and deeper rivalries will emerge over the course of season 2.
Tonally, the show seems to blend the broad characters, sexual liberation and glossy finish of something like Sex Education, combined with the retro appeal of the 1980s backdrop. It has elements of a soap (Treadwell-Collins and Lamb are both veterans of the acclaimed soap opera EastEnders) but with the high-budget locations and swooping drone shots that we’ve come to expect from Disney+. All this combined with Jilly Cooper’s beloved roster of lovable reprobate characters? It’s fair to say this lively, escapist drama is not a difficult watch.
Where is Rivals filmed?
‘As full of ravishing countryside as it is workaholics and their bored spouses, where Barbour jackets do battle with fast cars and buckets of Champagne,’ says the Rivals team of the fictional Rutshire, which provides the backdrop for the action. Set vaguely in the Cotswolds, Rutshire is a wonderful satirisation of the most luxurious and wealthy parts of the English countryside. The Cotswolds has long been synonymous with wealth and power, with seemingly all of the British media and politicians owning second homes just a stone’s throw away from Daylesford. ‘The Chipping Norton Set’ (a group of political and show-business big dogs whose country houses all reside in the picturesque town of Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire) were no doubt a major inspiration for the show.
As well as juicy character touchstones, the Cotswolds is also full of beautiful, bucolic countryside and drool-worthy estates, and the showrunners had their fill of ‘locations as impressive as their characters.’ Producer Eliza Mellor’s starting point was Caroline Lowsley-Williams, the owner of Chavenage House in Tetbury, having used the house as a location on Poldark. ‘Caroline introduced us to the owners of our Falconry, Lord Baddingham’s home, and also to those of the house where we shot the tennis,’ says Eliza. ‘They’d never had filming before, so we’d never have got it without her.’ Luckily, Lowsley-Williams is (along with most of the British public) an avid Cooper reader, so she became their local eyes and ears, making lists of all the best suitable local houses for other
characters.
The filming mainly took place around Gloucestershire (particularly in Tetbury, not far from where Jilly Cooper lived), Bristol and Bath. Some filming took place in in the traditional Cotswold stone Elizabethan Grade I listed Chavenage House near Tetbury. The cast and crew also roamed a little south of Gloucestershire into Wiltshire, particularly in Corsham (a quaint market town known for its picturesque streets and nearby rolling hills) and at Neston Park (a large country pile in Wiltshire). Further afield, another known location was Woodbank House in Monmouthshire (Wales), a large country house on the edge of the River Usk and views over Usk Valley which is also available for weddings and parties.
