Jilly Cooper drama Rivals will return for a second season.
Based on Cooper’s novel of the same name, the series is set in the Rutshire Chronicles universe and set against the background of the drama, excess and power-grabbing 1980s socially elite England, in the world of independent television.
In the U.S., Season 2 will once again stream on Hulu, while going out internationally on Disney+.
Season 1 stars the likes of David Tennant, Aidan Turner, Alex Hassall, Danny Dyer, Katherine Parkinson and Emily Atack, and was produced by ITV Studios-owned Happy Prince, which will return to make the second.
Cooper, who is an executive producer on the project, said: “Nearly 40 years after my novel Rivals was published, I’ve adored seeing the world fall in love with my beloved characters – Rutshire’s finest. And it has been a fairytale come true working with Happy Prince and Disney+ on the first season. I’m orgasmic with excitement and cannot wait for the return of my superhero Rupert Campbell-Black and the rest of the characters in Season 2.”
Lee Mason, who was recently upped to Executive Director of Scripted Originals EMEA, at Disney+, said the show had become this fall’s “most talked about series” and added: “I can’t wait to get back to Rutshire and see what exciting drama the Happy Prince team have in store for Season 2 – bring on more romance, betrayal, and shoulder pads.”
Dominic Treadwell-Collins, Chief Creative Officer of Happy Prince and Alexander Lamb, Creative Director of Happy Prince said it had been “magical to receive the love back from viewers that we put into Rivals.”
He is exec producer alongside Alexander Lamb, Felicity Blunt, Elliot Hegarty, Laura Wade, Rivals author Cooper and Disney+ EMEA Scripted Content exec Jonny Richards.