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Posh toffs bonking on Concorde jets and plotting the demise of their enemies, all set to a bonkers 80s soundtrack with a stacked cast of British acting legends. We. Are. SOLD.
Disney has gone all ‘country set’ with Rivals, the latest series to prove that the streaming service is more than animations and capes.
Based on the 1988 novel of the same name by Jilly Cooper, Rivals explores the seedy world of the British elite, with the drama unfolding in some of England’s most picturesque and idyllic country estates.
Here’s the lowdown on Rivals, from filming locations to what critics are saying.
What is Rivals about?
Rivals tells the story of the ‘ruthless world of independent television in 1986’. There, two powerful men – rakish ex-Olympic rider and Tory MP Rupert Campbell-Black and his ambitious TV station controller Lord Tony Baddingham – vie for control over Corinium Television.
Rivals is a ‘joyously mischievous rollercoaster ride, steamy in its love stories and packed with larger-than-life characters,’ runs the Disney synopsis. ‘Yet beneath the spectacle and fun, the series brings a 2020s lens to the 1980s, offering a raw exploration of a complicated moment in British history when class, race, sex, wealth and sexual liberation meant that, for the very privileged few, there were no limits to what they could achieve.’ Steamy and sensitive, then.
Where was Rivals filmed?
Rivals is set in the fictional town of Rutshire, located in the Cotswolds, playground of the British elite.
Much of the series was filmed on location, including several spots in Gloucestershire and Somerset.
Bristol
Aviation museum Aerospace Bristol is home to Alpha Foxtrot, the last Concorde to take to the skies. This aircraft was used to film a champagne-fuelled flight of vice in Rivals’ opening episode.
Queen Square, a Georgian square between the bustling city centre and the Harbourside area, is one of Bristol’s most popular parks. In Rivals, the location was transformed into ‘Russet Street’, a fictional area of London.
Cosy Club, a restaurant in central Bristol, was also used as a filming location. The venue is set within the majestic surroundings of a former banking hall designed by Bristolian architect WB Gingell in 1864.
Corn Street in Bristol’s Old City was used for a glamorous awards ceremony, with the cast seen filming their red carpet arrivals outside the Harbour Hotel.
Check out the clip below for a behind-the-scenes peek at filming in the heart of Bristol.
Much of the interior shots were filmed at Bristol’s state-of-the-art Bottle Yard studios, which was also used for TV greats Poldark, Sherlock and Wolf Hall.
Chavenage House, Tetbury
Chavenage House, an Elizabethan Grade I listed property in the picturesque Cotswolds town of Tetbury was used for The Priory, residence of Declan O’Hara (Aidan Turner), the TV host in the midst of the power struggle between execs.
Coincidentally, the actor has already spent a lot of time at the location. Period drama Poldark is among the many TV shows to have used the historic house.
Wilton House, Salisbury
Located in the historic town of Wilton, near Salisbury, Wilton House appears in Rivals.
Wilton House has previously served as a key location on screen in The Crown, Pride & Prejudice, and Bridgerton.
Wraxall, Somerset
Battle Axes, a pub in the Somerset town of Wraxall was used as a filming location, with the Tudor-style drinking hole having first opened in 1881.
However, fans hoping to visit for a pint and some decent pub grub will be disappointed. The boozer shut its doors in 2020 during the pandemic and hasn’t reopened, with plans currently afoot for the site to be transformed into offices.
Corsham, Wiltshire
Corsham High Street was transported back to the 1980s, with Wiltshire Times capturing images of the film set in July 2023.
Neston Park is a nearby Grade II listed estate that will also feature in Rivals, having previously been used for BBC period drama Larkrise to Candelford. The grand property dates back to 1790 and retains many of its original features.
Rivals on Disney+ cast.
Alex Hassell leads the cast as Rupert Campbell-Black, the former athlete turned politician who competes for control of a regional TV network with Doctor Who legend David Tennant, playing Lord Tony Babbington.
Aidan Turner takes on the role of TV megastar Declan O’Hara, at the heart of the TV power struggle. His daughter, Taggie, played by Sex Education star Bella Maclean, strikes up a romance with Campbell-Black, despite a significant age difference.
Danny Dyer, meanwhile, is swapping Eastenders for the countryside to play Freddie Jones, a noble-minded self-made electronics millionaire who, along with his wife Valerie (Lisa McGrillis), finds himself victim of Rutshire snobbery.
Nafessa Williams, who played Robyn Crawford in Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody, is Cameron Cook, a talented American TV exec brought to Corinium by Baddingham to produce Declan O’Hara’s new talk show.
Claire Rushbrook (Sherwood) is Lady Monica Baddingham, Tony’s posh, dependable wife, while Emily Atack (The Inbetweeners) is Sarah Stratton, the ambitious new wife to Deputy Prime Minister, Paul Stratton (W1A actor Rufus Jones).
How to watch the steamy TV series.
The drama will air on Disney+, with all eight episodes arriving on Friday, October 15.
Check out the trailer below for a taste of what’s to come.
Reviews for Rivals so far.
In a word? Glowing. ‘The most fun you’ll have watching a TV show this year,’ raves BBC Culture. ‘Like a perfect cross between Carry On and Eurotrash,’ says The Guardian.
Other critics praised the show’s ability to explore themes of the period including the rise of the AIDS pandemic and misogyny within the workplace. ‘The show manages to touch on these important themes while never feeling weighed down or as if it’s trying to do too much in too casual a way, retaining its comedic value but having surprisingly darker moments that make it a series you never quite want to tear your eyes away from,’ writes Radio Times.
How true to Jilly Cooper’s book is the Disney+ adaptation?
On the whole, it seems like the Disney+ adaptation is very faithful to the original novel, albeit with some slight tweaks for modern audiences.
Rivals author, Dame Jilly Cooper, served as an exec producer of the series, with all script changes being sent to her for approval.
The original novel had introduced female characters by referencing their weight, with this being among one of the changes that critics have picked up on.
‘The stark body shaming has gone, for television, but the mood music remains. At a buffet, we will be given a closeup of what a character puts on their plate, seemingly in an invitation to judge them on it. Only now this treatment is meted out, equal opportunities style, to men as well as women,’ notes The Guardian.
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