'Rivals' Will Stream on Hulu This Fall

Hulu has confirmed that Rivals, a scandalous, soapy drama bursting with all the scandal and excess that 1980s England can offer, will officially be coming to the streamer this Fall. 

The series, which adapts Dame Jilly Cooper's bestselling novel of the same name, follows all the sex, romance, and betrayal happening among the upper-class families in the fictional British county of Rutshire. At the center of it all is a longstanding feud between two aristocratic family scions: charismatic former Olympian turned Tory MP Rupert Campbell-Black and his Rutshire neighbor, the ambitious television executive named Lord Tony Babbington.

Babbington runs Corinium Television, an independent franchise framed as a potential competitor of the BBC, and frequently butts heads with Campbell-Black over everything from staffing decisions to personal relationships. David Tennant (Good Omens) stars as Babbington, in a role that's the sort of delightfully sleazy playing against type that's always a blast to watch. (In Cooper's original novel his character is actually named Lord Baddingham, if you want a clearer idea of what to expect from this role.) 

Alex Hassell (The Tragedy of Macbeth) plays Black, who makes up for his questionable business acumen with an apparently insatiable libido, and his life is seemingly overflowing with flirtations, affairs, and scandals of various stripes. (It's not an accident that our one promotional image of this character thus far features him partially shirtless, is all I'm saying.)

Although we still don't know when fans on either side of the pond will be able to see Rivals for themselves, the fact that Hulu has already slotted the series into its Fall line-up basically confirms that American viewers should be able to watch the series in a timeframe that's at least fairly close to its U.K. Disney+ debut. 

Here's the series synopsis. 

Set against the backdrop of the drama, excess, and shocking antics of the power-grabbing social elite of 1980s England, “Rivals” delves headfirst into the ruthless world of independent television in 1986.

Alongside Tennant and Hassel, the show’s sprawling ensemble cast also features Aidan Turner (Poldark), Danny Dyers (EastEnders), Nafessa Williams (Twin Peaks), Katherine Parkinson (Doc Martin), Bella Maclean (Sex Education), Claire Rushbrook (Sherwood), Annabel Scholey (The Sixth Commandment), Victoria Smurfit (Bloodlands),  Oliver Chris (The Crown), Lisa McGrillis (Deadwater Fell), Emily Atack (Dad’s Army), Rufus Jones (Four Lives), Luke Pasqualino (Shadow & Bone), and Catriona Chandler (Pistol). 

The series is written by Dominic Treadwell-Collins (A Very English Scandal) and Laura Wade (The Riot Club), backed by a full writers’ room that includes Sophie Goodhart (Sex Education), Marek Horn (Wild Swimming), Mimi Hare & Clare Naylor (The Accidental Husband), Dare Aiyegbayo (The Dumping Ground), and Kefi Chadwick (Avoidance). The lead director is Elliot Hegarty (Ted Lasso), with Dee Koppang O’Leary (The Crown) and Alexandra Brodski (Somewhere Boy) also helming episodes. Treadwell-Collins, Wade, and Hegarty are listed as executive producers, along with author Cooper, Alexander Lamb, Felicity Blunt, and Lee Mason for Disney+.

All eight episodes of Rivals will arrive on Hulu this Fall.