Rivals star Bella Maclean has revealed she's "feeling the pressure" as the cast prepare to reunite to shoot season 2 of the Jilly Cooper adaptation, which turned into a monster hit.
Bella, who will again play a key role as heroine Taggie O’Hara, says the cast were wonderfully ignorant for series one, but now the pressure is on to match its gigantic success.
Talking to The Times, she says: "I just want to do it justice". The first series, which was arguably the most talked about show of 2024, ended on a big cliffhanger when Taggie and the much older Rupert Campbell-Black (played by Alex Hassell) shared a kiss.
Asked by the paper if she was worried about the age gap between the characters and how audiences would react, she replied: "Alex and I spoke about this a lot. I was worried about how my generation and the one below it would react, but it’s been really positive. The show doesn’t normalise it or sway away from the questionable nature of the Eighties … it tackles it. I think that’s why people loved that storyline, because it’s not something dirty, it’s something true."
Rather disappointingly for fans, you won't be getting Rivals season 2 for some time, with Bella indicating it will most likely be released next year. She commented that viewers will "have to wait a year".
As to where the plot will go that depends on how closely the makers stick to Cooper’s book. We may find out who Perdita is. Viewers of the first season saw Declan (Aidan Turner) burn the notes that he had on Rupert from his TV appearance, and the name Perdita was visible in the fire. Fans of the book will know that Perdita is Rupert's daughter, so there is a chance she could be introduced in the second season.
Plus many will be wondering if Tony Baddingham (David Tennant) will be in the show? After the Rivals season 1 ending saw him beaten over the head with a TV award as Cameron Cook lashed out in self-defense, could he be dead? While we don't know what direction the screenwriters will take Tony's character in, fans of the novel will know that Tony is very much a part of the second half of the book, so there is hope that he will survive. In fact (spoiler alert!), in the book Tony has a fling with Declan's wife, Maud, so that could well be in the second season, too.
Rivals season 2 begins filming in May 2024. It’s expected to be released in 2026. The first series of Rivals is available on Hulu in the US and Disney Plus in the UK.
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