"Rivals" Returns as Season 2 Continues This November on Hulu

Hulu has unveiled first-look images and key art for the remaining episodes of the hit British drama based on Jilly Cooper’s Rutshire Chronicles.
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The drama in Rutshire is far from over. Hulu has announced that Rivals will return with the remaining six episodes of its critically acclaimed second season on November 11, giving fans their next dose of scandal, romance, ambition, and betrayal.

What’s Happening:

  • The Hulu Original will resume with a three-episode premiere on November 11 in the U.S., with the new episodes available to stream on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+. 

  • Hulu has also unveiled new first-look images and key art teasing what awaits the residents of Rutshire when the series returns.
  • Based on Dame Jilly Cooper’s bestselling Rutshire Chronicles novel of the same name, Rivals has quickly become one of Hulu’s standout British dramas. The series brings Cooper’s world of wealthy families, political maneuvering, television rivalries and complicated relationships to life against the lavish backdrop of the Cotswolds.

  • When viewers last saw the characters, they were left reeling from tragedy, scandal and betrayal. The upcoming episodes will pick up in the aftermath of the mid-season finale, with tensions between Tony Baddingham and Declan O’Hara reaching new heights as their battle for control of the Cotswolds television landscape intensifies.
  • Meanwhile, Rupert Campbell-Black will be forced to confront personal demons of his own as the consequences of his choices continue to catch up with him. The new episodes promise to push the complicated relationships at the heart of the series even further, with affairs, fractured alliances and long-held secrets threatening to upend the lives of the characters.

  • Taggie O’Hara will also find herself at the center of the drama as she attempts to find the courage to follow her heart. With the ongoing franchise war surrounding her family and those closest to her, the decisions she makes could have major consequences as the second season approaches its conclusion.
  • The remaining episodes will move through a particularly eventful stretch of the year, including hedonistic parties, Bonfire Night chaos, the Hampshire Hunt Ball and a turbulent Christmas. Against those lavish settings, the residents of Rutshire will continue navigating a world where power, wealth and desire frequently collide.
  • At the center of it all is the ongoing battle between Baddingham and O’Hara, whose professional rivalry has increasingly become personal. As the competition intensifies, the people caught between them must determine where their loyalties lie — and whether those alliances can survive the fallout.
  • David Tennant returns as Lord Tony Baddingham, alongside Alex Hassell as Rupert Campbell-Black, Aidan Turner as Declan O’Hara, Nafessa Williams as Cameron Cook and Bella Maclean as Taggie O’Hara.
  • The returning ensemble also includes Katherine Parkinson as Lizzie Vereker, Danny Dyer as Freddie Jones, Victoria Smurfit as Maud O’Hara, Claire Rushbrook as Lady Monica Baddingham, Oliver Chris as James Vereker, Lisa McGrillis as Valerie Jones, Emily Atack as Sarah Stratton, Rufus Jones as Paul Stratton, Luca Pasqualino as Basil “Bas” Baddingham, Catriona Chandler as Caitlin O’Hara, Annabel Scholey as Beattie Johnson, Gary Lamont as Charles Fairburn, Hubert Burton as Gerald Middleton, Gabriel Tierney as Patrick O’Hara, Lara Peake as Daysee Butler and Bryony Hannah as Deirdre Kilpatrick.
  • Season two also introduced several new faces to the world of Rivals. Rachael Stirling joins as Araminta Pemberton, Lady Monica Baddingham’s younger sister, while Rupert Evans plays erudite headmaster David Hawkley. Santiago Cabrera appears as Argentinian polo legend Alejandro Mendoza.
  • Hayley Atwell returns as Helen Gordon, with Rupert Everett also reprising his role as Malise Gordon.
  • Behind the scenes, the series continues to be led by its creative team at Happy Prince, part of ITV Studios. Dominic Treadwell-Collins serves as executive producer alongside Alexander Lamb, Felicity Blunt, Elliot Hegarty, Olivier Award-winning playwright Laura Wade and Jilly Cooper herself. Eliza Mellor returns as series producer.
  • Treadwell-Collins, Wade, Sophie Goodhart, Sam Hoare, Mimi Hare, Clare Naylor, Sorcha Kurien-Walsh and Dare Aiyegbayo make up the writing team, with Hegarty, Jamie J Johnson and Dee Koppang O’Leary directing.

  • The return of Rivals gives fans six more episodes to see how the season's increasingly tangled relationships and professional battles unfold, and, perhaps most importantly, to find out who will actually get their happy ending.

  • All episodes from the first season and the first six episodes of Season 2 are currently available to stream on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+. The final six episodes of Season 2 arrive November 11.

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