Disney+ has confirmed that Rivals, its upcoming series based on the novel by Dame Jilly Cooper, will debut on October 18th.
Featuring a cast of what Cooper has called “some of the best acting talent that the British Isles has to offer,” the series is set in the ruthless world of 1980s independent television.
In a decade that changed British TV forever, a long-simmering power struggle between Tory MP Rupert Campbell-Black (Alex Hassell) and Lord Tony Baddingham (David Tennant) threatens to boil as the two men lock horns over the future of Corinium Television.
The cast also includes Aidan Turner, Nafessa Williams, Bella Maclean, Katherine Parkinson, Danny Dyer, Victoria Smurfit, Claire Rushbrook, Oliver Chris, Lisa McGrillis, Emily Atack, Rufus Jones, Luke Pasqualino and Catriona Chandler.
Rivals is executive produced by Dominic Treadwell-Collins and Alexander Lamb, Felicity Blunt, Laura Wade, Jilly Cooper, and Director of Scripted Content for Disney+ EMEA Lee Mason, and has been written by Treadwell-Collins and Laura Wade.