The release date for a new original series, based on the best-selling novel by Gloucestershire-based author Jilly Cooper, has been revealed.
Disney+'s Rivals, starring David Tennant, Danny Dyer, Luke Pasqualino, Emily Atack and Aidan Turner, hits subscriber screens on Friday 18 October 2024 — and it promises drama by the bucketload...
The series, made up of eight episodes, follows the excess and antics of the 'power-grabbing social elite of 1980s England.'
Alex Hassell takes the lead as ex-Olympian, Tory Member of Parliament and 'dangerously charismatic' Rupert Campbell-Black, while David Tennant plays Rupert's 'ambitious and egotistical' neighbour Lord Tony Baddingham, controller of fictional network, Corinium Television.
The series focuses on the long-simmering power struggle between the two men, as it threatens to boil over as they fight over the future of Corinium — with TV presenter Declan O'Hara, played by Aidan Turner, caught in the crossfire.
Jilly Cooper, who also executively produced the show, said: 'I’m utterly enchanted to be able to announce our all-star line-up for Rivals.
'Featuring some of the best acting talent that the British Isles has to offer, I couldn’t have dreamed of a better ensemble cast.
'The minute we met with Alex we knew he’d perfectly embody my all-time hero, the iconic, racy, ruthless and devastatingly handsome Rupert Campbell-Black. Viewers are in for a treat!'
Jilly has written over 10 romance novels alongside Rivals, with most being best-sellers. Her latest release Tackle!, published in 2023, is a contintuation of Rupert's story.
Though born into a Yorkshire family in Essex, Jilly now lives in the Cotswolds village of Bisley — she recieved an honorary doctorate at the University of Gloucestershire in 2009, a CBE in the 2018 New Year Honours list for her services to literature and a damehood in the 2024 New Years Honours for her services to literature and charity.
