Alex Hassell as Rupert Campbell-Black in ‘Rivals’. Image: Disney
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‘Rivals’ Season 2 Execs On Jilly Cooper, David Tennant & New Cast
The “naughtiest show on television” is back,” and Season 2 is “150%” a tribute to the late, great Jilly Cooper, the author of the source material who was beloved by millions.
Cooper’s agent, Felicity Blunt, was one of five Rivals executive producers who delved deep into why the author meant so much to the world and how the show starring David Tennant, Aidan Turner, Danny Dyer and Katherine Parkinson pays tribute to her memory. She died suddenly aged 88 late last year and the Rivals set was subsequently visited by her good friend, Queen Camilla.
“Jilly always said that her job was to entertain,” said Blunt. “We all try and ensure that that is our North Star. So this season is 150% a tribute.”
That tribute is sweeping but can be found in numerous Easter eggs laid out for eagle-eyed Cooper fans, Blunt revealed. She cited one from Season 1 when Taggie, played by breakout Bella Maclean, loses a manuscript on a train, which famously happened to Cooper when she left her first draft of hit novel Riders on a bus.
“We take the language from the books and we make sure we use the precision of her dialog in our show,” added Blunt. “If you are a Jilly aficionado you will be able to point to certain scenes, beats or words that she uses.”
Having become possibly Disney+’s biggest hit outside of the U.S., and certainly one of its most expensive, Rivals Season 2 was given an extended 12-episode order and the story has now expanded far beyond the books.
“We are able to play out the repercussions of some of the bigger dramatic beats of series one, and I think we do that really effectively and still utterly in sync with Jilly’s voice and her storytelling practice,” added Blunt. “She read every script, celebrated all our choices and gave us complete permission to deviate from the text.”
Dominic Treadwell-Collins, a Cooper stan who spent 25 years trying to get her work to screen, said the author “held us to a very high standard, and we all hold each other to a very high standard.” “We give each other more notes than Disney does,” added Treadwell-Collins.
As writer and EP Laura Wade summarised: “Making a television show about television sets the bar quite high.”
In Season 2, the stakes are upped as the battle for the Central South West television franchise reaches a fever pitch, with the war between Corinium and Venturer entering a dangerous phase. More ruthless than ever, Tony Baddingham (Tennant) is determined to dismantle his rivals piece-by-piece, weaponizing scandal and manipulating those closest to him to maintain his grip on power.
“We’ve matured a bit as a show,” Treadwell-Collins, who runs ITV Studios-backed Rivals production outfit Happy Prince, said of Season 2. “We’ve been talking a lot this series about the consequences of actions.”
Season 2 was simpler in a sense, according to director Elliot Hegarty, as “last time around we didn’t know what we had, we were working in the dark,” while EP Alexander Lamb claimed the “storytelling is richer, we have a bigger breadth of emotion and we are sillier, darker and sadder.”
Rupert Everett, Hayley Atwell & Campbell-Black’s backstory
Rivals Season 1 saw actors like traditional hard-man Danny Dyer play roles against type, while Season 2 is about taking these characters in unexpected directions. The first season ended with Baddingham being hit over the head by former lover Cameron Cook (Nafessa Williams) and while it isn’t a spoiler to reveal Baddingham is still alive (see trailer for more), Hegarty said the “whack around the head dislodges something in his brain.” “He’s lost a bit of social grace, he’s a bit more bats**t,” added Hegarty.
Meanwhile, the audience will learn more about cad-ish hearthrob Rupert Campbell-Black’s (Alex Hassell) backstory, with the entrance of two starry new characters, his ex-wife Helen, played by Hayley Atwell, and her new husband Malise, played by Rupert Everett. “These familial connections are forever grounding the extremes of that character,” said Blunt.
Everett, who “brings just the right amount of twinkle,” was a fan who got in touch with the team to ask if he could be in the show, Hegarty reveals, while Treadwell-Collins described Atwell as bringing a “Dynasty pout” to proceedings.
The pair fitted into the ensemble like a glove, the team say, and will foreground Campbell-Black while some secondary characters such as Sarah, Paul, Charles and Gerald are handed meatier storylines.
“Cynical snobbery”
Prior to Season 1, Treadwell-Collins claimed that the “snobbery” of British TV had prevented Rivals from being adapted for so long, saying BBC and ITV executives “would look at me like I’d farted” when he pitched Cooper’s novels in years gone by.
Things have changed, but Lamb believes that snobbery has simply transformed into “cynical snobbery.” “They see that we’ve made something quite successful and want to jump on board, but I’m not sure they see the heart,” he said.
Blunt, who occupies a rare space in being both the agent of the source material’s author and an EP on the show, said there are lots out there currently pitching Cooper shows and many have asked her for the rights. “I think Jilly had this [snobbery] for years,” she added. “She was put in this place that was called ‘Bonkbuster’ and actually she just didn’t care. She would just say, ‘Literary writers would rather have my sales’. I think she taught us not to care.”
She also taught the team to think big. Treadwell-Collins has grand ambitions now that Rivals is so well established.
“The world is filled with lots of OK television but we keep talking about wanting to make people’s favorite television,” he added. “We want people to come back to this as their favorite show.”
Rivals launches Friday on Disney+ internationally and Hulu in the States.
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SPOILER ALERT! This post contains details from Tuesday night’s episode of Dancing with the Stars.
It’s another exciting night in the ballroom as 13 contestants are still eyeing the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy during Week 3 of Dancing with the Stars.
Last week, the judges reinforced just how tough they are going to be this season, once again declining to score anyone above a 7. Still, three couples — Jenna and Val, Ezra and Daniella, and Amber and Pasha — walked away tied for the top of the leaderboard with 21 points. We also said goodbye to Alan Bersten and chef Giada De Laurentiis.
Week 3 is Yacht Rock night, so the remaining couples are performing to hits from artists including Fleetwood Mac, The Doobie Brothers, and Luther Vandross.
Here is how the night went.
Olympian Amber Glenn with Pasha Pashkov danced a Foxtrot to “Hold the Line” by Toto. SCORE: 24
Actress Julia Stiles with Ezra Sosa danced a salsa to “I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do)” by Daryl Hall & John Oates. SCORE: 19
Late-night sidekick Guillermo Rodriguez with Whitney Carson danced a Foxtrot to “Escape (The Piña Colada Song)” by Rupert Holmes. SCORE: 15
Actress Tatyana Ali with Jan Ravnik performed a Quickstep to “Maneater” by Daryl Hall & John Oates. SCORE: 21
Actor Harry Shum Jr. with Jenna Johnson performed a jive to “You Make My Dreams Come True” by Daryl Hall & John Oates. SCORE: 24
Musician Taylor Hanson with Britt Stewart danced a Foxtrot to “What a Fool Believes” by The Doobie Brothers. SCORE: 18
Reality star Maura Higgins with Mark Ballas danced a Quickstep to “Turn Your Love Around” by George Benson. SCORE: 22
Reality star Ciara Miller with Brandon Armstrong performed a Cha Cha to “Never Too Much” by Luther Vandross. SCORE: 18
Savannah Bananas midfielder Jackson Olson with Emma Slater performed a paso doble to “Easy Lover” by Philip Bailey and Phil Collins. SCORE: 18
Comedian and podcaster Connor Wood with Rylee Arnold danced a Foxtrot to “Everywhere” by Fleetwood Mac. SCORE: 20
Actress Jenna Dewan with Val Chmerkovskiy danced a samba to “Africa” by Toto. SCORE: 21
Reality star Tyler Cameron with Sharna Burgess danced a jive to “Still the One” by Orleans. SCORE: 17
Paralympian Ezra Frech with Daniella Karagach danced a Foxtrot to “Just the Two of Us” by Grover Washington Jr. featuring Bill Withers. SCORE: 21
Who goes home?
The competition is now down to 12 as Taylor Hanson and Britt Stewart were sent home. Next week is all about Mariah Carey, so the couples will perform a variety of the pop superstar’s biggest hits.
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Another hockey book adaptation has entered the chat.
Netflix is currently building out its cast for the series adaptation of Hannah Grace’s Icebreaker book that kicks off the Maple Hill series. This in addition to their show The Sticks that is also currently in the works.
For everything we know about Netflix’s Icebreaker book adaptation so far, read on.
When will Netflix’s Icebreaker series adaptation come out?
A release date has not yet been set. The show has begun to assemble its cast.
Who will lead the Icebreaker show at Netflix?
Daisy Jelley (Poser, How To Have Sex) will portray Anastasia “Stassie” Allen, and Connor Simos (Subversion) will portray Nate Hawkins in the college hockey drama series.
Who else is in the cast of Netflix’s Icebreaker adaptation?
Gabriel Tierney (Rivals, Enola Holmes 2), Auliʻi Cravalho (Moana), newcomer and professional athlete Peter Berry, Chaneil Kular (Best of the Best, Sex Education), Devin Craig (Sex Lives of College Girls, Maize) and Aidan Shaw (We Were Liars, Heated Rivalry, Finding Her Edge) have joined the ensemble cast.
Tierney will play Aaron; Cravalho will portray Lola; Berry is Robbie; Kular will play JJ; Craig will portray Henry and Shaw is Russ.
What is Hannah Grace’s Icebreaker book about?
Stassie is a transfer athlete gunning for Olympic gold. Nate is the campus star chasing the NHL. When an accident forces their teams to share one rink, Anastasia Allen and Nate Hawkins collide—and discipline gives way to obsession, because the only thing more dangerous than wanting to win is wanting each other.
Who else is behind Netflix’s Icebreaker series?
Jade Halley Bartlett (Road House, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Miller’s Girl) created and executive produced the series. Amanda Lasher (Gossip Girl, The Bold Type, Togetherness) serves as showrunner, writer and excutive producer. Grace also executive produces along with Alex Cooper, Matt Kaplan and Mina Lefevre for Cooper’s Unwell Productions.
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One of the biggest executive questions about Paramount following its pending acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery — who will lead streaming — may have been answered.
Cindy Holland is leaving Paramount where she was Chairman of Direct-To-Consumer since the Skydance-Paramount merger having served as an advisor to Skydance CEO David Ellison prior to that. She announced her departure in a company memo, which you can read below.
The move leaves HBO’s Casey Bloys as the likely streaming head of the combined Paramount-WBD.
“Cindy is one of the most exceptional executives in our industry — a force of nature whose impact on Paramount over the past year has been significant,” Paramount CEO David Ellison said. “Under her leadership, P+ reached new heights, Pluto TV underwent its most significant transformation in a decade, and we strengthened our content and sports portfolio – all while the business exceeded the ambitious goals we set. Just as importantly, she built an exceptional team and a strong foundation for the future. Cindy has been a trusted partner to me and so many others, and I couldn’t be more grateful for her leadership, her relentless drive and everything she’s done for our company.”
Here is Holland’s memo:
When I joined David’s team in January 2025, we proceeded to set three goals: i) advise on the Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition, ii) integrate and transform Paramount+ & revive Pluto TV, and iii) build an unparalleled team in this industry. In just over 12 months, I’m proud to say we accomplished all three and it’s been a joy to work closely with all of you.
Together with the Product team, we drove significant strategic and organizational change across DTC — building a new foundation for growth on both services, while investing in greater depth and breadth of programming and delivering strong revenue, profit, and subscriber growth for the division.
As David readies for the next phase of his vision, we’ve discussed my role and the future of the combined businesses. David is optimizing for HBO stability as we move into this next chapter, and I fully support that. I know this team has the leadership and expertise to manage through the transition and the next phase of the company, and to this end today will mark my last day here.
As I reflect on my time here and all that we’ve built together in this short time, what stands out most to me is this team. I have never been more proud of a group of people. What we’ve accomplished together is remarkable — landing quarter after quarter while navigating extraordinary uncertainty and change with resilience, focus and ambition. We grew Paramount+ to an all-time subscriber high, delivered the best retention in the service’s history, and drove double-digit growth in both engagement and revenue. We built an extraordinary content pipeline, greenlighting more than 40 new and returning series and setting all-time records with Landman, the most-watched series in Paramount+ history, and Dutton Ranch, the service’s biggest original series debut ever. We transformed live sports into a powerful streaming growth engine, securing landmark agreements with UFC and Zuffa Boxing and expanding our WNBA and UEFA Champions League rights – with UFC Freedom 250 becoming the largest-ever audience for an exclusive live event on Paramount+ and UFC 329 setting a new platform record for peak concurrent streams for an exclusive live event. And we undertook Pluto TV’s biggest product transformation in a decade, dramatically increasing registered viewing and VOD consumption while delivering strong financial performance across the business. These are extraordinary accomplishments – but what makes me proudest is how we achieved them: together, with an unwavering commitment to our audiences, our creative partners and one another.
I joined Paramount because I believe in these businesses, and because I believe wholeheartedly that the combination of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery serves the best interests of artists and audiences worldwide. I’m looking forward to seeing what you all accomplish together in this next, momentous chapter.
Cindy
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