Disney+ has renewed Rivals for a third season. The renewal was confirmed Tuesday, continuing the streamer’s investment in the drama series, which has built a dedicated audience since its debut. According to Variety, Season 3 will run 12 episodes, matching the expanded second season.
Rivals is based on Dame Jilly Cooper’s beloved 1988 novel of the same name, set in the cutthroat world of British television broadcasting in the 1980s. The show follows a cast of ambitious, larger-than-life characters, led by David Tennant, Alex Hassell, Aidan Turner, and Danny Dyer, competing for power, prestige, and love in the fictional county of Rutshire. It has been praised for its sharp writing, glamorous production design, and a cast that fully commits to Cooper’s gloriously over-the-top source material.
A Hit For Disney+
The renewal signals strong confidence from Disney+ in the series, arriving before the second half of Season 2 has even premiered. The first six episodes of Season 2 made the show Disney+’s biggest EMEA original ever to premiere in the UK and Ireland, with the remaining six episodes arriving in November. “Expect more ambition, more romance, more rivalries and, of course, more scandal as we return to Rutshire for another irresistible chapter,” said Lee Mason, VP of scripted at Disney+ EMEA, in the renewal announcement.
The Rutshire Chronicles Universe
Cooper’s Rutshire Chronicles span multiple novels, meaning there is no shortage of source material for Disney+ to draw from if the show continues to perform. Rivals is actually the second book in the series, following Riders, which means the show already had strong narrative groundwork to build on. Cooper’s novels are known for their sprawling ensemble casts, operatic storylines, and a wry, deeply British humor that the Disney+ adaptation has captured well according to critics.
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