DAVID Tennant is back on the small screen in a big way – but he revealed it was his wife who convinced him to star in this steamy new Disney+ series.
Prepare for a whole lot of sauciness featuring the likes of David Tennant, Danny Dyer, Aidan Turner and Emily Atack as a thrilling new adaptation Jilly Cooper’s epic 1980s novel hits our screens.
Set in the fictional countryside county of Rutshire, Rivals sees rich men at war over money, women and TV companies, and David – who plays Lord Tony Baddingham in the eight-parter – admits that it was his actress wife Georgia who begged him to be part of it.
“It wasn’t something I had a great previous knowledge of, but Georgia knew the books from her teenage years and knew that this was going to make sensational television,” the Doctor Who star, 53, reveals to The Sun’s TV Magazine.
“I play Tony, who owns Corinium Television, back in the day when ITV was split up into regional franchises, and each of those franchises would be renewed every few years.
“Tony is very well-connected, very rich, and is very interested in making sure that continues and indeed grows. But he doesn’t quite come from the upper echelons of society, so has a chip on his shoulder.”
He also owns a wardrobe full of handmade suits, and a helicopter, which David admits he was quite tempted to take as a souvenir from the set.
“But it would have to come with a pilot, wouldn’t it?” he laughs. “I mean, that would be quite a nice way of getting around the country, not great environmentally, so probably not something to be pursued, but you can see why Tony leans into it. Tony’s style is not my own, but it’s nice to live there for a while!”
David admits that being part of Jilly Cooper’s notoriously raunchy world – which sees Tony butt heads with a local MP – isn’t something that just his wife is looking forward to. It’s led to excitement elsewhere too…
“It’s caused a school-gate stir,” laughs the father of five.
“There was a couple of occasions where people would say: ‘What’ve you been doing?’ and I’d mention this, and mostly it’s a certain generation of women who go a little bit quiet and a little bit giddy at the thought that this has become a TV show.
“I only hope we can meet everybody’s fantasies!” he added.
Rivals, based on the novel by Jilly Cooper, delves into the cut-throat world of independent television during the late 1980s.
For U.K. viewers, the Starz Original series premieres on Disney+ on October 18.
All eight episodes will be available from the get-go so subscribers can binge-watch.
The narrative centres around the intense rivalry between charismatic ex-Olympian and Conservative MP Rupert Campbell-Black (Alex Hassell) and TV station controller Lord Tony Baddingham (David Tennant).
David Tennant has become one of the UK’s most prolific actors with countless films and TV shows under his belt.
Among one of his most notable roles is his portrayal of the tenth Doctor in Doctor Who in which he appeared regularly between 2007 and 2010.
Proving popular with fans, he returned in both 2013 and 2023 to play the character once again.
One of David’s most acclaimed and series roles was that of DI Alec Hardy in ITV’s crime drama Broadchurch.
The show ran between 2013 and 2017 and went on to be nominated, and win, a slew of top TV gongs.
In recent years, he appeared in three series of the show Staged before going on to portray Alexander Litvinenko in the ITV1 dramatisation Litvinenko.
With the future of Corinium Television hanging in the balance, the two are at odds, each determined to emerge victorious.
Poldark star Aidan Turner stars Declan O’Hara, a presenter for Corinium TV, alongside EastEnders alum Danny Dyer, who portrays lovable self-made electronics millionaire Freddie Jones.
The star-studded cast also includes notable names such as The Inbetweeners’ alum Emily Atack, Rufus Jones of W1A fame, Our Girl’s Luke Pasqualino and Bella Maclean from Sex Education.
This interview was conducted by The Sun’s TV Magazine, which is available for free on Saturday and Sunday in The Sun.
