Disney+ makes new Rivals

Disney+ makes new Rivals


By Michael Pickard
December 5, 2025

First Look

FIRST LOOK: Disney+ has unveiled new images featuring David Tennant, Alex Hassell, Aidan Turner, Nafessa Williams and Bella Maclean ahead of the launch of Rivals season two in 2026.

Currently filming in the UK, the series sees the return of Tennant as Lord Tony Baddingham, Hassell as Rupert Campbell-Black, Turner as Declan O’Hara, Williams as Cameron Cook and Maclean as Taggie O’Hara.

Set in the Cotswolds countryside and against the backdrop of the glamorous, high-stakes world of 1980s British television, the second instalment picks up events following S1’s dramatic cliffhanger. With Tony’s fate hanging in the balance, Lord Baddingham is back and out for vengeance ready to stop at nothing to keep Corinium’s empire unrivalled.

Careers, marriages, and reputations hang in the balance as personal and professional lives collide in a world where secrets can’t stay hidden for long.

Based on the novel by the late Dame Jilly Cooper, Rivals is made by Happy Prince and executive produced by Dominic Treadwell-Collins, Alexander Lamb, Felicity Blunt, Elliot Hegarty, Laura Wade, Dame Jilly Cooper and Jonny Richards. Eliza Mellor returns as series producer.

It is written by Treadwell-Collins, Wade, Sophie Goodhart, Sam Hoare, Mimi Hare, Clare Naylor, Sorcha Kurien-Walsh and Dare Aiyegbayo, and directed by Hegarty, Jamie J Johnson and Dee Koppang O’Leary.

Rivals will return to Hulu in the US and Disney+ in the UK and internationally in 2026.

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