"Rivals" Renewed
Disney+ and Hulu Greenlight "Rivals" Season 3, Promising More Scandal and Rivalries
Key Points
Rivals’ early audience/critic reception is quantified on Rotten Tomatoes: Season 1 scored a 95% Tomatometer, with Season 2 even higher at 97%.
Disney+ EMEA Vice-President of Scripted, Lee Mason, tied the renewal to the show’s reception, saying: “The phenomenal response to Rivals is a credit to the bold, irreverent and endlessly entertaining world created by Dame Jilly Cooper… Expect more ambition, more romance, more rivalries and, of course, more scandal as we return to Rutshire for another irresistible chapter.”
Happy Prince leadership added a note about Dame Jilly Cooper herself: producers Dominic Treadwell-Collins and Alexander Lamb said they were “overwhelmed by the audience’s response” to Season 2, but their “one sadness” was that Jilly “didn’t get to witness the love for season two,” adding that she remains “very much with us in spirit.”
Season 2 is framed around the deepening television feud between David Tennant’s Lord Tony Baddingham (Corinium Television) and the rival station Venturer—setting up why the show’s rivalries keep escalating into Season 3.
The timing details for Season 2’s split run include a specific premiere date: the first half of Season 2 began with a May 15 premiere, before the remaining six episodes return in November.
Disney+ and Hulu have officially greenlit a third season of *Rivals*, ordering 12 new episodes of the hit black comedy drama, according to Disney+. The renewal was announced on June 16, 2026 — five months before Season 2 even wraps — making it one of the earliest pickups in the show's short history.
The series, based on Dame Jilly Cooper's *Rutshire Chronicles* novels and starring David Tennant and Aidan Turner, has been a rare streaming success story. Season 1 scored a 95% on Rotten Tomatoes. Season 2 is already sitting at 97%, per ComingSoon.net.
Season 2 Split Into Two Parts, November Return Ahead
Season 2 launched on May 15, 2026, with a three-episode premiere. Episode 6, the mid-season finale, dropped on June 5 and ended on a major cliffhanger. The remaining six episodes will not arrive until November 2026 — a five-month wait, according to TVCentral.
That gap has frustrated fans. On Reddit and X, viewers described the hiatus as "momentum-killing." Some threatened to cancel their subscriptions and wait until the full season is available in November. Disney+ and Hulu, meanwhile, frame the split as a way to "extend the scandal" and build hype.
Disney+ EMEA Calls It a Record-Breaking Hit
Season 2, Part 1 became the biggest-ever EMEA original premiere on Disney+ in the UK and Ireland, per Deadline. EMEA stands for Europe, Middle East, and Africa — Disney's key international market. The show has also earned International Emmy and BAFTA recognition.
Lee Mason, Disney+ EMEA's Vice-President of Scripted, tied the renewal directly to that reception. He said: "The phenomenal response to Rivals is a credit to the bold, irreverent and endlessly entertaining world created by Dame Jilly Cooper... Expect more ambition, more romance, more rivalries and, of course, more scandal as we return to Rutshire."
Producers Honor Dame Jilly Cooper's Legacy
Dame Jilly Cooper, who wrote the original novels and served as executive producer, passed away in October 2025 at age 88. She did not live to see Season 2 air. Happy Prince producers Dominic Treadwell-Collins and Alexander Lamb addressed her absence directly, per The People's Movies.
In a joint statement, they said they were "overwhelmed by the audience's response" to Season 2 but noted that "our one sadness is that Jilly didn't get to witness the love for season two." They added that she "remains very much with us in spirit."
Season 3 Expands the Rutshire Universe Even Further
Season 3 will order 12 episodes — the same count as Season 2, up from just 8 in Season 1. The show is expanding its scope. New cast members including Rachael Stirling, Rupert Evans, and Santiago Cabrera joined for Season 2, drawing from other Cooper novels like *Polo*, according to C21 Media.
No specific release date for Season 3 has been announced yet. The storyline will continue to center on the TV franchise war between David Tennant's Lord Tony Baddingham and rival station Venturer. Season 2 raised the stakes with the death of a core character. Season 3 promises more of the same, with new romances, fresh secrets, and deeper rivalries, per AOL.
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