Sex, scars and spoilers: Rivals is back for round two – here’s all you need to know

When you thought Rivals had wrapped issues up with a bonk, a blackout, and a little bit of blackmail, assume once more.

The gloriously OTT Disney+ adaptation of Dame Jilly Cooper’s 1988 bonkbuster is again for an additional spherical of horsey intercourse, tv skulduggery and aristocratic drama and we now know precisely who’s returning, the place they’re filming, and which character didn’t really die in that stunning collection one finale.

Right here’s every little thing we all know (and every little thing we’re furiously speculating) about Rivals season two and sure, this features a very-much-alive Lord Baddingham.

David Tennant’s scheming TV exec Lord Tony Baddingham was final seen receiving a not-so-gentle whack to the pinnacle from Cameron Prepare dinner (Nafessa Williams), leaving viewers assuming he’d exited stage left for good. However no. In what seems to be a devoted return to Jilly Cooper’s unique plot, Tennant has been noticed on set, scar and all.

Sure, Lord Tony lives! Sporting a really theatrical gash throughout his temple, Tennant’s return confirms the collection will proceed to play quick and free with homicide however maybe not that free.

Followers noticed Tennant filming within the Gloucestershire countryside alongside co-stars Aidan Turner (Declan O’Hara), Alex Hassell (Rupert Campbell-Black) and Bella Maclean (Agatha “Taggie” O’Hara), which suggests the stakes, and libidos, stay excessive.

Though the primary season boasted eight episodes of scandal, sabotage, and intercourse attraction, it solely coated half of Cooper’s novel. Which means there’s much more plotting, romping and feuding left to unfurl.

And judging by forged and crew updates, the subsequent instalment will keep comparatively near the supply materials with a number of TV-friendly liberties alongside the way in which.

The need-they-won’t-they (however largely will) romance between Rupert and Taggie stays central, with Hassell and Maclean confirmed to return.

Emily Atack’s Sarah Stratton may even be again, seemingly nonetheless coping with that dramatic revelation on the finish of season one. And as for Cameron Prepare dinner? Williams may be very a lot on set – presumably nonetheless wielding weapons and charisma in equal measure.

Anticipate extra boardroom battles, bed room antics, and blow-dries set to wind machine ranges of drama.

Filming started in spring 2025 throughout Gloucestershire and Somerset, which is becoming, on condition that the Rutshire Chronicles are as spiritually rooted within the English countryside as a Labrador in wellies.

Disney+ has launched a collection of behind-the-scenes photographs: Bella Maclean posing with a clapperboard and a really photogenic canine, Tennant sporting prosthetic scar make-up, and Danny Dyer trying suspiciously content material with Lisa McGrillis.

It’s giving Dynasty with deck footwear and canine breeds. And followers? They’re rabid. “We’re so again child!” wrote one commenter. “I’m awake. I’m crying. I’m excited,” stated one other. No strain, then.

Season one wrapped filming in September 2023 and hit screens a month later, in October 2024. With season two now in manufacturing, we’re taking a look at a possible 2026 launch, although presumably earlier if Disney+ hears the pleas of the UK’s Jillycore devoted.

They usually’ve obtained much more to sit up for: this time, it’s not simply eight episodes, however twelve, because of what government producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins calls an “prolonged keep in Rutshire.”

Dame Jilly herself stays an government producer and if her quote is something to go by, she’s having a riot. “I am totally sex-static filming for the second season is upon us,” she stated. “I’m delighted to have the ability to work with [Disney+] once more and for everybody to see what additional mischief all of them stand up to!”

In different phrases: extra mischief, extra mayhem, extra martinis.

Nearly definitely. With Rivals solely the second of 11 books within the Rutshire Chronicles, there’s a lot extra polo, power-grabbing and posh chaos to adapt.

If season three follows Cooper’s Polo!, we could possibly be seeing Ricky France-Lynch and Perdita MacLeod take centre stage – a tortured love story involving aggressive polo, daddy points and a LOT of driving (in each sense).

Forged members appear keen, too. Victoria Smurfit, who performs Maud O’Hara, stated she’s gunning for a 3rd and fourth collection: “You’ve obtained so many wonderful characters to comply with.”