The juicy, scandalous, oh-so-good, can’t-stop-watching Rivals will be back for a second season, and there’s still plenty of source material in Dame Jilly Cooper’s novel of the same name it can pull.
The first season dropped on Hulu (Disney+ internationally) in October, then the series was renewed for a second in December. “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. And it has been a fairytale come true working with 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 two!” Cooper, who also serves as an executive produceer on the show, said in a statement at the time.
Added Dominic Treadwell-Collins, Chief Creative Officer of Happy Prince and Alexander Lamb, Creative Director of Happy Prince, “It’s been magical to receive the love back from viewers that we put into Rivals. The Rivals team set out to create people’s favourite television show, something enduring that our audience would take to their hearts and watch and rewatch. We’re delighted that we’re returning to Rutshire with Jilly and Disney+. It’s a special place to be.”
Read on for everything we know about Season 2, from the cast to the premiere date and more.
Where did Rivals Season 1 leave off?
Rivals ended on a major cliffhanger. Tony (David Tennant) and Rupert (Alex Hassell) and Declan’s (Aidan Turner) competition for the franchise is just heating up, with the latter’s Venturer allowed to pitch against Corinium. But will Tony even be around to see it? After his wife Monica (Claire Rushbrook) gave him an ultimatum, he still stuck around in his office and confronted Cameron (Nafessa Williams), with whom he’s been having an affair, about her relationship with Rupert. He hit her, but then she hit him back — and he stayed down, bleeding from a serious head wound. Will he die?
Meanwhile, Rupert and Taggie’s (Bella Maclean) slow burn ignited in a kiss, but there’s still the matter of Cameron and the fact that her father Declan wanted the older man to stay away from her. But Declan has his own relationship to worry about: Maud (Victoria Smurfit) left him.
Disney+ / Hulu
When will Rivals Season 2 premiere?
That has yet to be announced. Our best guess is not before the end of 2025 but likely not until 2026.
What will Rivals Season 2 be about?
As executive producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins pointed out to TV Insider, there’s more to the book. “What I’ve always done is talk to Jilly all the way through about where else we would go with the books. We talked about Game of Thrones, we talked about these bigger shows that have big fan love for them but actually bring a whole new audience. What has been wonderful is having Jilly as a really, really clever executive producer who sat on set with us, but also came to the writers’ room a couple of times; everything we did, we ran past her,” he explained. “When we decided to do half the book and stopped where we stopped, we also talked to her about where else we would want to go, and so we’ve got her sign in and then other things that we’ve gone, we’re not sure how this would work on television, we’ve even got her brain thinking and buzzing about how else to play things.”
But when it comes to specifics, we can only guess beyond continuing to tell the stories of the power-grabbing social elite in the world of independent television in 1980s England. Season 2 will, of course, have to resolve that cliffhanger revolving around Tony. Is he dead? “There are so many possibilities about what could happen but what we do know is revenge is a dish best served on television,” was all Treadwell-Collins would tell us.
Whether or not he survives, the “muscular story” of Tony and Rupert’s rivalry “and the destruction that it causes can go much, much bigger and be more Greek in its devastation,” noted the EP, so that’s sure to be something we see.
Related11 Burning Questions for ‘Rivals’ Season 2
There’s also the fallout of Rupert and Taggie’s kiss but also his relationship with Cameron. While Rupert has tried to stay away from Taggie, “there’s a magnetic pull. In the kitchen, when he says, I can’t breathe without you, that’s true. She makes him a better man and he knows it,” said Treadwell-Collins. “He wants to be a better man for her. And that’s why he’s also saying to Cameron, I will look after you. But it also leaves you with hope and confusion about after this, what will happen if Cameron, as per the book, runs to Rupert and says, you promised to protect me. It’s deliciously messy, which is always the best television.”
There’s also the matter of a potential future for Declan and Maud. His work continued to take priority, even as she left, but as the EP pointed out, “You see Maud outside the house smiling, knowing the phone call’s coming. She’s still happy for him. Despite it all, there’s a love between them and they’re always going to be fiery, but it’s not straightforward.” That suggests that the second season could see the two finding their way back to one another.
And, Treadwell-Collins teased, “I’m always planning. I’ve laid down bombs throughout. At the end of Episode 4, when Declan has been interviewing Rupert, he’s got this envelope and we don’t know what’s in this envelope. And you see when he burns it, the name Perdita. We’ve talked about the Cooperverse and always thought, how can we hopefully run with these characters and see more from them? We’ve laid down a lot of Easter eggs.”
Who’s returning for Rivals Season 2?
Season 1 starred Hassell, Tennant, Turner, Williams, Maclean, Smurfit, Rushbrook, Katherine Parkinson, Emily Atack, Catriona Chandler, Oliver Chris, Danny Dyer, Rufus Jones, Lisa McGrillis, and Luke Pasqualino. Tennant’s character’s fate was the only one left up in the air, so chances are we could see everyone back.
Is there a Rivals Season 2 trailer?
Not yet.
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