I just want to see my top lip again
In the rolling Cotswolds, a television production has grown into something larger than its origins — a glossy, gleefully misbehaving adaptation of Jilly Cooper's 1980s saga that has found, unexpectedly, a new generation of devotees. Season two of Rivals expands its canvas to twelve episodes, its ambitions to match, and its moral darkness to depths its cast describe with a kind of delighted horror. It is a reminder that stories rooted in excess and human frailty have a way of outlasting the eras that produced them.
- A seven-month shoot in a freezing Elizabethan manor signals that the production has moved well beyond the scale of its first season, with pyrotechnics, expanded crowd scenes, and elaborate set pieces raising the stakes considerably.
- Danny Dyer's moustache — grown for the role and now despised — has become an unlikely symbol of the personal costs of long-form television, with the actor's grandchildren no longer recognising his bare face.
- David Tennant promises a Lord Baddingham so morally degraded in season two that even he seems surprised by the character's capacity for despicable behaviour, deepening the show's comedic darkness.
- Gen Z audiences have claimed the Taggie-Rupert romance as their own on TikTok, transforming a potentially controversial scene into a mountain of yearning memes — proof that the show has crossed generational lines its creators did not anticipate.
- The late Jilly Cooper read every episode of season two and signed off on each one just weeks before her death, lending the production a bittersweet sense of authorial blessing and farewell.
- With eleven books in the source series still unadapted, the show's future feels expansive — though Dyer's most fervent hope is simply that a third season's timeline might finally liberate his top lip.
On a cold November night in Gloucestershire, Danny Dyer stood on the grounds of Chavenage House — an Elizabethan manor near Tetbury — preparing for a bonfire scene that exemplified the expanded ambitions of Rivals season two. The BBC adaptation of Jilly Cooper's 1980s saga had become an unexpected cultural phenomenon, and its second outing was determined to go further in every direction.
Dyer's chief grievance was personal: a moustache grown for the role that he had come to loathe over seven months of filming. His grandchildren, he lamented, knew him only as a moustachioed man. Standing beside Aidan Turner — who plays Declan O'Hara and had previously filmed Poldark at the same location — did little to ease his feelings. Turner, for his part, had negotiated the removal of a Poldark shrine from the women's toilets, though a commemorative sign in the men's room was permitted to stay.
Where the first season ran to eight episodes, season two stretches to twelve, with a production scale to match. Victoria Smurfit, playing Maud O'Hara, reached for the right word to describe the shift: bigger, bolder — and then, with evident satisfaction — bonkier. David Tennant, whose Lord Baddingham anchors the show's moral vacuum, promised a character far more despicable than before. On the night of filming, he was preparing to do something nefarious in some bushes — a description that, in this particular show, could mean almost anything.
Dyer's character, Freddie Jones, had been declared a sex symbol after the first season — something Dyer attributed not to his physique but to Freddie's essential decency. In a cast of scheming, self-serving characters, simple kindness had proven unexpectedly magnetic. Bella Maclean, who plays Taggie, noted that season two felt more heartfelt as well as more lavish. Her on-screen romance with Alex Hassell's Rupert Campbell-Black had become a TikTok phenomenon, with Gen Z viewers drawn to the idea that Taggie's open-heartedness might slowly reshape Rupert's deeply flawed worldview.
Lisa McGrillis offered a more tender note: six weeks before Jilly Cooper's death, the author had hosted the entire cast at a garden party, still full of life and mischief, having read and approved every episode of the new season. McGrillis delivered this tribute while wearing a costume so aggressively 1980s she described it as the decade vomiting on her character.
With eleven books in the Rutshire Chronicles still waiting, the show could run for years. Dyer's hopes, however, were more immediate: a third season would push the timeline into the early 1990s, and perhaps — finally — his character's moustache could come off. Rivals season two arrives on Disney+ on May 15.
On a November night cold enough to require double heat pads stuffed into boots, Danny Dyer stood on the grounds of Chavenage House in Gloucestershire preparing for another long shoot. The Elizabethan manor, nestled near Tetbury, was being transformed into the setting for a bonfire scene—one of the more ambitious set pieces planned for Rivals season two, the BBC adaptation of Jilly Cooper's sprawling 1980s saga that has become an unexpected cultural phenomenon.
Dyer, drawing on three decades of acting experience, knew what to expect from a freezing night of filming. What he did not expect was to spend the entire seven-month shoot wearing a moustache he had grown to despise. "I just want to see my top lip again," he said, his frustration genuine. His grandchildren, he lamented, now knew him only as a moustachioed man. The indignity was compounded by the fact that when standing next to Aidan Turner—who plays Declan O'Hara and who had previously filmed Poldark at the same location—the contrast was particularly stark. Turner, for his part, had insisted that a "Poldark shrine" featuring his face in the women's toilets be removed, though he allowed a sign reading "Poldark peed here" to remain in the men's room.
The second season represents a significant expansion of the show's ambition. Where the first season contained eight episodes, season two stretches to twelve. The production scale has grown visibly: more elaborate set pieces, more extras, more pyrotechnics lighting the Cotswolds sky. Victoria Smurfit, who plays Maud O'Hara, described the shift with precision. "It's bigger, bolder," she said, pausing to find the right word to complete the alliteration. "Bonkier!" she settled on, with evident satisfaction.
David Tennant, whose character Lord Baddingham serves as the moral center of the show's moral vacuum, spoke about the darker turn his role has taken. In the first season, he felt his character was already badly behaved. In season two, he promised something far worse. "I do terrible things," he said. "I mean really despicable." On the night of filming, he was preparing to do something "slightly nefarious in some bushes," a description that, in a show like Rivals, could mean almost anything. Tennant seemed to relish the role's capacity for dubious behavior, leaning into the comedic conspiracy of playing a man whose every action seemed designed to undermine those around him.
One unexpected outcome of the first season was Dyer's character, Freddie Jones, being declared a sex symbol. Dyer found this amusing, attributing it not to his appearance but to his character's essential decency. "He's very kind," Dyer explained. "There's not a lot of kind people in this show." Despite being powerful, multilingual, and wealthy, Freddie remained working class at heart, trying to do the right thing in a world designed to punish such impulses. "It can't be my belly and breasts," Dyer joked, "especially when you stand next to Aidan Turner."
The show's appeal has extended far beyond its original audience. Bella Maclean, who plays Taggie, the innocent love interest to Rupert Campbell-Black, noticed the increased scale and emotional depth of season two. "It feels more luxurious, it feels bigger and larger, but also more heartfelt," she said. "It just feels more Rivals." Alex Hassell, playing Rupert, revealed that the on-screen relationship between his character and Taggie has become a phenomenon on TikTok, particularly among Gen Z viewers. His nieces and nephews had shown him countless videos of the couple's yearning for each other. Before the first series aired, there had been concern about how a scene in which Rupert gropes Taggie—taken directly from Cooper's novel—would play with modern audiences. Instead, young viewers seemed drawn to the idea that Taggie's open-heartedness might help transform Rupert's deeply misguided worldview. The result was a mountain of memes.
Lisa McGrillis, who plays Valerie, shared a poignant detail: six weeks before Jilly Cooper's death, the author had hosted the entire cast at a garden party. "She was still so full of life and mischief," McGrillis recalled, "and she was so excited about the second series. She was completely across it. She read every single episode, signed it all off." Cooper would have appreciated the irony that while McGrillis delivered this tribute, she was wearing a garish bright pink ski suit—a costume so aggressively 1980s that McGrillis described it as looking like "the 80s sort of vomits on Valerie."
With eleven books in Cooper's Rutshire Chronicles series still waiting to be adapted, the show has the potential to run for years. Dyer, however, held out hope for his own future. If a third season came to pass, the timeline would push into the early 1990s, and perhaps—finally—his character's moustache could come off. "Honestly," he said, "I just want my head back." Rivals season two arrives on Disney+ on May 15.
Citas Notables
It's bigger, bolder, bonkier—the increased ambition for the new season is noticeable.— Victoria Smurfit, who plays Maud O'Hara
I do terrible things in series two. I mean really despicable.— David Tennant, on his character Lord Baddingham's arc
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why does a show about 1980s television executives and their affairs matter enough to expand from eight episodes to twelve?
Because it's tapping into something that transcends the period setting. The characters are vivid, the stakes feel real, and there's genuine darkness underneath the glamour. People are responding to the relationships—not just the scandal, but the possibility of change within flawed people.
The TikTok phenomenon around Taggie and Rupert is interesting. What do you think Gen Z sees in a relationship that begins with a grope?
They're not endorsing the grope. They're responding to the arc—to the idea that a woman with an open heart might actually transform a man who's been shaped by privilege and entitlement. It's about potential, not acceptance of the initial harm.
Danny Dyer seems genuinely miserable about the moustache. Is that real frustration or performance?
It's real. Seven months is a long time to wear something you hate, especially when it's glued to your face every day. But there's also something funny about it—the way he's made peace with the absurdity of the situation. His grandchildren only know him this way. That's genuinely disorienting.
Jilly Cooper died before seeing the second season. Does that change how the cast approaches the work?
It adds weight. They're not just adapting her book anymore; they're honoring her vision. She was involved, she approved everything, and now she's gone. That responsibility sits differently on the set.
What does "bonkier" actually mean in this context?
It's playful—a nod to Cooper's own language. The show is leaning into its own absurdity, its excess, its refusal to apologize for being fun and messy and over-the-top. It's bigger in scale but also bigger in spirit.