All We Know About David Tennant’s New Romance Series, Rivals

So far this year, we’ve had Zendaya’s movie Challengers hit cinemas and the third season of Regency romance drama Bridgerton both of which have gotten plenty of publicity for their raunchy scenes and plot. And if that’s your thing, then Disney+’s new series Rivals, coming later this year, is one for you.

Adapting the Jilly Cooper book of the same name, the show is set to star David Tennant (Good Omens), Aidan Turner(Poldark) and Katherine Parkinson (The IT Crowd) in a tale of lust and excessive wealth. Here’s what to to know:

What Is Rivals About?

Disney+ isn’t known for its more “adult” content, but Rivals looks to change that. It’s set in a fictional English county of Rutshire, and sort of sounds like Downton Abbey, if it was set in the 1980s and featured a lot of sex scenes. Alex Hassell (His Dark Materials) stars as the wealthy Rupert Campbell-Black, a prominent resident and aristocrat working in the TV industry. His principal rival in life is the suitably posh-sounding Lord Tony Baddingham, played by Tennant, who is the managing director of the Corinium TV company.

Their fighting for prestige and power starts to exacerbate as both men become more and more ambitious.

Their fighting for prestige and power starts to exacerbate as both men become more and more ambitious, so much so that it begins to envelop the rest of the county as well. Enter Declan O’Hara, played by Turner, a smart and charismatic TV presenter who fancies himself a ladies’ man, but has a serious temper. Such an attractive talent is just what Lord Baddingham has been looking for, and so O’Hara is recruited to become the newest member of the Corinium team. But as promises appear empty and his grievances with the station mount, O’Hara becomes stuck in the middle of the rivalry between Baddingham and Campbell Black.

What else do we know?

Rivals was announced to be heading to the Disney+ last year, but now we’ve finally got some first glimpse photos of the series, including both Tennant and Turner in action. Tennant’s character, Baddingham, is seen sporting sunglasses and a flat cap, and appears to be holding a hunting shotgun. Turner’s O’Hara meanwhile is on-set in his show-within-a-show, clutching cue card, while Alex Hassell is holding onto the leashes of several dogs, apparently on the grounds of his estate. Additional cast members include Parkinson, playing Lizzie Vereker, a romantic novelist and Nafessa Williams (Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody) as TV exec Cameron Cook, alongside Emily Atack (The Emily Atack Show), Bella Maclean (Sex Education), Danny Dyer (Eastenders) and Rufus Jones (Wonka).

There’s no release date yet, but we’ll keep you up to date with the latest info- it’s set to drop sometime later this year.