‘Rivals’ Renewed for Season 2 at Disney+ and Hulu

variety.com:

K.J. Yossman Jilly Cooper fans have reason to rejoice: “Rivals” is returning for a second season. Based on Cooper’s bestselling “bonkbuster” of the same name, the series stars Emily Atack, Aidan Turner and David Tennant as residents of a fictional English village called Rutshire where they regularly fight, flirt and fornicate.

The book was first published in 1988. Season 1 ended on a cliffhanger, with Cooper’s iconic hunk Rupert Campbell-Black (played by Alex Hassell) finally giving in to his feelings for his friend’s daughter Taggie (Bella Maclean), some 16 years his junior, and evil TV boss Tony Baddingham (Tennant) getting his comeuppance after violently beating his mistress and employee Cameron Cook (Nafessa Williams).

Last month Tennant told Variety he felt “very fortunate” to be part of the series, despite only taking on the role of Baddingham at the behest of his wife Georgia. “It’s happened a handful of times to me when I’ve ended up in something which becomes bigger than it is, and becomes a kind of public conversation about not just the piece of work itself, but about what the repercussions of that might be societally,” he said. “And it definitely feels like ‘Rivals’ has broken through in that way.

People just seem to be loving it.” The series is produced by Happy Prince, part of ITV Studios and is available on Hulu in the U.S and on Disney+ in the U.K.