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Alex Hassell in Rivals season two If the promise of more David Tennant supervillainary, Danny Dyer’s homegrown moustache and thrusting bum cheeks aplenty isn’t enough to get your juices flowing for Rivals series two, perhaps those unanimously glowing reviews will do it. The TV adaptation of Dame Jilly Cooper’s Rutshire Chronicles is back for a second go, and with Disney+ building anticipation with a staggered release this time round, fans might be wondering what to expect from the new drop. All the usual suspects like Lord Baddingham, Freddie Jones, Rupert Campbell-Black, Declan O’Hara and Cameron Cook are back for more scheming and shagging in the new instalments, and with Rivals building on the success of its first series, it’s probably no great surprise that filming for the new season was a largely no-holds-barred affair. Here are 11 behind-the-scenes facts you may not have known about how season two of Rivals came to be… We’ve got the success of Rivals’ first series to thank for season two’s supersized length When Rivals first hit our screens in October 2024, Disney+ served up all eight episodes up front. Proving the UK’s eternal appetite for a bit of well done smut, it quickly became the streamer’s most successful general entertainment premiere to date, as well as picking up Bafta and International Emmy Award nods. Because of this, Rivals’ second season earned the right to go even bigger, with an extra four episodes being added to the slate for what Deadline referred to at the time as a “rare” 12-episode run. Rivals’ creators had stars approaching them asking for parts in season 2 Rupert Everett in Rivals season 2 According to director Elliot Hegarty, such was the success of season one that for the follow-up, they had actors actively pitching themselves for a role. One such actor is My Best Friend’s Wedding star Rupert Everett , who managed to land himself the role of Malise Gordon, Rupert Campbell-Black’s former show-jumping mentor and new husband to his ex, Helen, played by fellow newbie Hayley Atwell. According to Deadline , Rupert was so impressed by Rivals that he got in touch directly to ask if he could be in the next series. The confident move paid off, with director Elliot teasing that the My Best Friend’s Wedding actor “brings just the right amount of twinkle” to series two. The popularity of Rivals also caused a tourism boom around the locations where it’s filmed Like the thrill of a dog getting loose in the school playground, there’s a universal excitement to a TV set cropping up in your local area. Season two was filmed across locations in Bristol, Corsham in Wiltshire and Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire, with West of England spots standing in for the Cotswolds and London. According to Corsham Town Council , there’s been a “definite upturn in footfall” at the market town thanks to people wanting to visit the Rivals location, proving the adage that sex sells. Meanwhile, the money raised from the show’s presence at Berkeley Castle will help with its repairs . Fabulous locations are just one of the reasons viewers keep tuning in to Rivals Things got pretty chilly on set The cast and crew fully committed when filming series two’s bonfire scene, shooting it on a freezing November evening at Chavenage House in Gloucestershire – forcing Danny Dyer to take drastic measures. “ You got to put them heat pads in your trotters,” he explained . “I’ve got two double ones for me toes. And Long Johns, obviously.” The Corinium set mimics Tony Baddingham’s outrageous ego The battle between Lord Baddingham’s TV company Corinium and Declan O’Hara’s rival studio Venturer rages on in season two. For the new episodes, production designer Dominic Hyman wanted to level up the Corinium set so that it mirrored Lord Baddingham’s wild ego, opting for suitably indulgent colours. “I wanted to be darker and bolder with more contrasting and clashing colours within the Corinium studio sets,” he told Condé Nast Traveller. “This year we leaned into rich purples and mauves, which contrasted really nicely with the established oranges, golds and blacks of Corinium. I hope people will notice how Tony Baddingham’s desperate, out-of-control ego drives the scale and ambition of the set designs at Corinium.” He added: “The sets get bigger, gaudier and more and more extreme. This is the opposite of Venturer’s approach, which is about filming in the community, where people are the real subjects, not expensive and gaudy studio sets.” David Tennant as Tony Baddingham in Rivals There was careful consideration behind Danny Dyer’s Rivals nude scene Danny’s Rivals character Freddie has been dubbed a “wholesome sex symbol” , so it was perhaps only a matter of time before he was granted a nude scene for the follow-up series. Anyone expecting to see “full Danny” may be surprised to learn that a lot of thought went into the scene to ensure that it didn’t cross the line. “Let’s just say there’s a lot of strategically placed bubbles from a bubble bath! So it’s not…full Danny!” executive producer Dominic Treadwell Collins told The Sun . “We’ve been really cautious about not being gratuitous. All the way through there’s a line with the show where you could be watching it and feel a bit uncomfortable. A bit like you are intruding. “The whole point is you are with our characters. You are in the bedroom with them. We’re very careful in the edit, if suddenly the scene goes too far or gets too explicit, we pull back.” Danny Dyer and Katherine Parkinson's characters' relationship is one of the most tender parts of Rivals That iconic EastEnders cameo wasn’t totally random EastEnders legend Pam St Clement wouldn’t have been in our first hundred guesses for celebrity cameos in Rivals season two, but it turns out the show’s executive producer boss Dominic knew her from his days as a story editor on the soap. “There was this little cameo part and I miss Pam, we’ve stayed in contact since we both left EastEnders,” he explained . There are plenty more Rivals cameos where that came from, too Dominic didn’t stop at Pam, and shared that series two is packed with little easter eggs and cameos to keep fans guessing. “It felt like the perfect little cameo treat for our audience and we drop them all the way through the show,” he revealed . “Little treats to keep you on your toes!” That dinner party scene was filmed in a single take One of the most memorable scenes in series two takes place when Sarah Stratton and her husband, Paul, throw a dinner party for nefarious reasons. In a comedy of errors that gives The Bard himself a run for his money, it’s 10 glorious minutes full of mishaps, near run-ins and deliciously catty comments, and the team filmed it all in a single take. Emily explained : “It was a really surreal moment in my life. I’ve never done a scene like that, ever… Adrenaline’s so high, everyone’s just feeding off each other’s energies. You cannot put a foot wrong, though - then it all crumbles down.” Emily Atack is back for Rivals' second season During production, there was a royal visit to the set Apparently Queen Camilla and Dame Jilly Cooper went way back, so much so that the royal visited the Rivals set in Bristol during the filming of season two, to get shown around and meet the cast and crew. One cast member who was present for the visit was Alex Hassell, with Dame Jilly previously revealing his character Rupert is partially based on Queen Camilla’s ex-husband Andrew Parker-Bowles . Despite her sudden death, Dame Jilly Cooper was very much involved in Rivals season 2 Dame Jilly died suddenly in October 2025 after a fall , but with the scripts already approved by the author and production for series two underway at the time of her death, her stamp of approval is safely printed on the follow-up season. In fact, Lisa McGrillis, who plays Valerie in the series, shared how the cast all gathered for a garden party at Dame Jilly’s house just weeks before she died. “She was still so full of life and mischief, and she was so excited about the second series,” Lisa told the BBC . “She was completely across it. She read every single episode, signed it all off.” Rivals series two is streaming now on Disney+. MORE RIVALS: Rivals Season 2's Drama, Chaos And Brilliant Bonking Is The Escapism We Need Right Now How Jilly Cooper's 'Fingerprints Are All Over' Rivals Season 2 Danny Dyer's Biggest Hope For Rivals Season 3 Is To 'See His Top Lip Again'
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