By
14 hours ago
Jilly Cooper's masterpiece is back on the small screen
It’s time to re-enter the Jillyverse with the long-awaited arrival of Rivals season two. Whisking us back to the 80s with all of its garish colours, strange hors d’oeuvres and extravagant hairstyles. We rejoin our coterie of Rutshire residents as Tony Baddingham (David Tennant) fights to keep control of Corinium, rivalled by unlikely allies Rupert Campbell-Black (Alex Hassell) and Declan O’Hara (Aiden Turner) and their new station, Venturer, while Cameron Cook (Nafessa Williams) is in the conflicted middle.
Of course, we all know Rutshire is a thin veil for the Cotswolds, the British area of outstanding natural beauty with a footprint straddling six English counties: Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire, Somerset, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. Rivals was filmed here too – over a whopping 10-month shoot.
But where exactly? And what went into creating each character’s idiosyncratic country pile? Here’s everything you need to know.
Bella Maclean as Taggie and Alex Hassell as Rupert Campbell-Black in Rivals season 2. (Disney)
Rivals was filmed in the Cotswolds, utilising real properties as well as a nearby sound stage at The Bottle Yard Studios in Hengrove, Bristol. Filming for the first season kicked off in March 2023, followed by the second season two years later, commencing in May 2025. Key locations include Tetbury and Corsham, two quintessential Cotswoldian towns. Tetbury will seem most familiar: it stands in as the fictional Cotchester, the nearest town to everyone in the series. We’re also told Berkeley Castle will play a role in season 2.
At the centre of Rivals are the houses: this is where dinner parties see clashing personalities collide, affairs unfold and sorrows are drowned. ‘All these different houses have such different personalities,’ production designer Dominic Hyman tells C&TH. ‘From the physical houses that we actually found through the location department, to the way that we then painted them, built into them, decorated them, dressed them. You’re building characters with architecture that are significant to the storytelling – but must never overwhelm the storytelling. We find the balance, the sweet spot, where you’re propelling the story, but you’re not overwhelming it.’
We step inside those houses with Hyman below.
Aidan Turner as Declan O’Hara and Danny Dyer as Freddie Jones in Rivals season 2. (Disney)
When the O’Hara family – Declan (Turner) and Maud (Victoria Smurfit) and their children Taggie (Bella Maclean), Caitlin (Catriona Chandler) and Patrick (Gabriel Tierney) – up sticks from London to relocate to Cotchester, their new home is the Priory, a kind of crumbling gothic behemoth played by a real Elizabethan Tetbury property, Chavenage House.
‘It was always meant to be this crumbling, 11 bedroom mansion [the family] couldn’t afford to keep the roof on,’ Hyman says. ‘As Maud asks, “Why have you brought me to this gilded prison? Why have you taken me from West London, where all my Thespians are?”’
So Hyman and his team worked to give Chavenage that feeling. ‘Chavenage has always had the quality of an ancient, overgrown, tumble-down place and that was wonderful. So we leaned into that Elizabethan feeling for the Priory kitchen and the sitting room and so forth [which were separately built on a sound stage],’ Hyman says.
Ironically, this isn’t the first time Aidan Turner has filmed at Chavenage House. Back in the day, Poldark was filmed here too.
Claire Rushbrook as Monica and David Tennant as Tony Baddingham in Rivals season 2. (Disney)
Tony and Monica call the grand Falconry home. And to match Tony’s ego, ‘it needed to be magnificent,’ Hyman shares. But there’s an intriguing balance to be struck: Monica’s family are genuinely aristocratic and patrician, whereas Tony is more of a self-made new money man.
‘He’s a grammar school boy whose father made a fortune in armaments,’ Hyman says. ‘So although the house was always meant to have been through Monica’s family, we wanted to get this sense of it being Tony’s Nero’s Palace, his own golden temple.’
The real property the production team landed on is Neston Park, a Grade II* listed private country house in Wiltshire near Corsham, nestled in a 2,000-acre private estate. Outside, soaring Romanesque pillars immediately introduce that palatial feel.
‘There are the big pillars out front, that big pediment and the raised steps as you come into the house,’ Hyman describes. The team then added ‘Roman statues in the hallway, and that deep, blood red carpet that goes up the stairs’.
‘It’s very patrician, very Romanesque – and in a way, classic,’ Hyman says. ‘We are trying to talk about power and that, in the context of Tony and his red Rolls-Royce, all kind of works together.’
Alex Hassell as Rupert Campbell Black in Rivals season 2. (Disney)
‘We wanted Penscombe, Rupert Campbell Black’s family seat, to have a similar scale, stepped up again, but this time in a much more relaxed, patrician way,’ Hyman says. ‘It is effortlessly elegant and full of real history – and maybe austere, as well, in the way that we feel Rupert maybe wasn’t loved enough by his parents. They were never there. He was brought up by nannies. He went to boarding school.’
The real house the production team settled on is Ammerdown House in Kilmersdon, Somerset, which features ‘beautiful, elegant rooms that go on and on,’ Hyman says. Built in 1788, it is a Grade I listed building; only the very best and most exclusive for Rupert Campbell Black. The real house is occupied by Lord Hylton (Raymond Hervey Jolliffe) and his wife, as well as his eldest son and his family. Since the 1970s, the estate has operated as a Christian retreat centre helmed by Lord Hylton, offering 40 en suite bedrooms for up to 68 guests at a time. Ammerdown has been in the same family since it was built – a particularly fitting home for aristocratic Rupert.
‘We wanted to get that sense of history across – which the house naturally had already – so when Rupert walks in and out and around the house, you can feel the 250 years of history before him,’ Hyman says. ‘Inside we have portraits of ancestors looking down at him. He is surrounded by these rather solemn looking faces with wigs – but ancient, going back to the 18th century.
Ammerdown ‘felt bedded into the landscape,’ Hyman adds. And on screen, ‘you can feel that Rupert knew every inch of it.’
Lisa McGrillis as Valerie Jones in Rivals season 2. (Disney)
Now for the new money residents of Cotchester: the self-made, early tech mogul Freddie Jones (Danny Dyer) and his socially ambitious wife Valerie (NN). In season 1, desperate to enter the social enclave, Valerie hosts dinner parties at their new Rutshire home, Green Fields, having relocated from London. But in season 2, they have a fancy new abode to enjoy, complete with a swimming pool.
‘They have this house called Bella Vista, which is a new build in an architectural mash up of styles,’ Hyman says, ‘Bella Vista’ simply meaning ‘nice view’ in Italian. ‘There’s something rather Viennese about it, mixed with something slightly Georgian and something a little bit of Spanish.
‘It’s Valerie’s dream come true – but it’s a new build,’ Hyman says. Terrifying words for old money to hear, and Bella Vista is indeed a behemoth. ‘It’s the biggest [house] of all of them, because Valerie wanted that. You walk in and there’s a staircase in the hall that’s fit for a 1940s Hollywood epic, where Valerie could imagine parties where she walks down and makes her entry. And of course, that’s exactly what she does at parties: she makes her entrance.’
There’s nothing subtle about Valerie, and Bella Vista reflects that in both its size and its furnishings. Behind the scenes, Hyman and the team enjoyed the opportunity to make everything ‘heightened’. ‘We got the colours a little bit wrong, the drapes are bigger than they should be, the pinks are pinker than they should be, there’s a bit more gold than we really would like… But it’s done with love, not in a way that mocks Freddie and Valerie. She’s thrown her heart into the decorating of this place and we go with them on that journey, so we are happy for them. But then also, it’s satire, so we feel the tragedy as well.’
‘I feel like their new house is a storyline in itself,’ McGrillis recently said in an interview, confirming the real Bella Vista is a private property just over the border in Wales. ‘It was really interesting: a mother and daughter watched the show and loved it, and the daughter said to her mum, “we need to get our house in Rivals,” and then contacted Rivals and [the location team]! They are the most amazing hosts, as well. They just loved the show being in their house!’
The swimming pool in question, however, isn’t at the Wales house. Instead, it was found at a separate property around 50 miles away – a real pool house totally made over for Rivals. You would hope so, too: ‘We painted it pink. We had extraordinary nets and drapes made for all the windows. I wanted it to feel like a Las Vegas funeral parlor. That was my reference for it, hitting those mint green colours. We painted the lounges and the dining furniture in that green that kicked off the pink in there. And then, of course,there’s the overwhelmingly glorious foliage: the banana palms, the kentias, the birds of paradise, it’s all there.’
Emily Atack as Sarah Stratton, Katherine Parkinson as Lizzie Vereker & Rufus Jones as Paul Stratton in Rivals season 2. (Disney)
The Strattons, like the Baddinghams, are another blend of old and new money, MP Paul Stratton (Rufus Jones) being the old and his second wife and former mistress Sarah Stratton (Emily Atack) being the new. In episodes 2 of Rivals season 2, an ensemble sequence takes place in the Stratton kitchen, which was built inside a real house just outside of Bath.
‘I wanted it to be a kitchen that was unlike the O’Hara kitchen, which is the heart of that house with that feeling of warmth, intimacy and emotional honesty,’ Hyman says. ‘The Stratton kitchen I wanted to feel more like something out of a catalogue, as if Sarah had this idea of blue scumble glazed walls like the Mediterranean, Casa Pupo china lemons (very 80s), and yellow drapes to just to hit off the blue perfectly. Sarah can’t cook, never intended to cook, not, not interested. So it needed to reflect a kitchen that’s never used.’
Bishopstrow Hotel & Spa
Original period features and contemporary design combine at this honey-hued, Baddingham-worthy Georgian hotel set on a 30-acre estate near Warminster. Among the vast grounds is a no-dig kitchen garden, which provides The Garden Grill restaurant with much of its produce, and an 18th-century walled garden with a summerhouse. This summer marks the unveiling of a reimagined spa: a holistic wellness haven designed to restore and revive.
ADVERTISEMENT
Calcot & Spa
Set in 220 acres of rewilded Cotswolds countryside, Calcot Manor offers timeless architecture and pure Cotswolds charm. There are 37 thoughtfully decorated, cream-hued rooms: those in the main house are designed with couples in mind, while family rooms and suites occupy converted cottages and barns. A stone’s throw from Tetbury, you can stroll the familiar streets of Cotchester like you are a Rutshire resident yourself.
ADVERTISEMENT
Dormy House
Standing proud on the 500-acre Farncombe Estate is Dormy House. Overlooking the picture-postcard village of Broadway, this 17th-century farmhouse turned boutique retreat boasts cosy corners, open fireplaces and flagstone floors. Its 39 Cotswold-chic bedrooms and suites may not appeal to Valerie Jones, but they are the exemplar of quintessential country living with a touch of Scandinavian style.
Ellenborough Park
Ellenborough Park sits within 90 acres of grounds, just moments from Cheltenham Racecourse. The beautifully restored 15th-century manor house was once home to the Earl of Ellenborough, who was also governor general of India in the 1840s. Unlike Rupert’s austere manor, Ellenborough has been elevated to contemporary glory with country house character throughout, plus an award-winning spa with hot tub, sauna, ice bath and treatments including a Japanese head spa.
ADVERTISEMENT
Lucknam Park
Surrounded by 500 acres of listed parkland, Lucknam Park occupies a mellow 17th-century mansion with gracious reception rooms and stylish bedrooms in the house and former stables. It’s impeccably run, with attentive yet discreet service. Chef Hywel Jones holds his Michelin star in the formal restaurant, sourcing seasonal flavours from the sprawling hotel grounds any Rutshire resident would envy, while the spa includes a sleek indoor and outdoor pool, a sauna and salt room.
The Manor House
Set in the 12th-century Cotswolds village of Castle Combe, this honey-hued countryside manor is part of Exclusive Collection, the first UK hotel group to become B Corp certified. Ivy-clad, it has something of the O’Hara’s Priory about it. It offers an idyllic escape from the riverside drive to Italian gardens, croquet on the lawns, and curling up with a book in one of the nooks. Chef Robert Potter creates seasonal dishes in Michelin-starred restaurant Bybrook.
ADVERTISEMENT
The PIG – In The Cotswolds
Part of The PIG litter, this honey-hued 17th-century, Grade II-listed gem sits in the Cotswolds village of Barnsley, four miles from Cirencester. Spread across the main house, the honey-stone Stableyard house and the gardens, the 26 bedrooms are all wonderfully eclectic, with rich fabrics, super comfy beds, reclaimed textures and roll-top baths. One of the big draws here is the ornamental Arts and Crafts-style gardens by the late celebrated landscape designer Rosemary Verey, complete with a laburnum walk and Tuscan temple.
Thyme
A paradise in the glorious Cotswolds countryside, Thyme offers botanically inspired bedrooms in a collection of stone houses and cottages. Each is decorated with Bertioli by Thyme fabrics and wallpapers handpainted in-house by founder Caryn Hibbert. Family-run and with a sustainable ethos, the food is its raison d’être, overseen by culinary director Charlie Hibbert, with first-class chefs, a highly regarded cookery school and produce from its own farm and kitchen gardens.
ADVERTISEMENT
For more country piles like this, consult our Great British & Irish Hotels Guide 2026/27, packed with the nation’s greatest stays.
