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Disney+'s Rivals: A guide to all the characters and the cast who play them
There's a lot of them
The countdown is finally over, as the long-awaited adaptation of one of Jilly Cooper's most famous novel Rivals is landing on Disney+. Set in the fictional county of Rutshire, the eight-part series tells the story of the rivalry between Lord Tony Baddingham and Rupert Campbell-Black amongst the world of Corinium TV. There's a whole host of characters in this upper class TV society, and even if you've read the book, it's easy to get characters confused, so we've devised our quick character guide to give you the low-down on the main players of the series. Oh, and of course all the details on the pretty iconic cast who play them too.
Tony Baddingham
Tony Baddingham is the managing director of Corinium Televesion and is a ruthless ruler. He sees Rupert Campell-Black as his biggest rival and is constantly in competition with him.
David Tennant
David Tennant, 53, plays the role of Tony, who you'll best know his role as The Doctor in Doctor Who. Over the years he's had many other iconic roles too, including Broadchurch, Jessica Jones, Good Omens, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, DuckTales and many many others.
Monica Baddingham
Monica is Tony's wife, who much prefers the company of her dogs than her husband and the rest of their society friends.
Claire Rushbrook
Claire, 53, plays Monica and she's been on our TV screens for years. You might best know Claire for her role as Rae's mum in My Mad Fat Diary, or as Roxane in Secret & Lies. She's also appeared in Doctor Who, Mutual Friends, Home Fires, Requiem, Enola Holmes, and A Very Royal Scandal.
Rupert Campbell-Black
Rupert is a retired Olympian show jumper and a notorious womaniser. He works as a Tory MP and sports minister, and is struggling from the breakdown of his marriage, however the arrival of the O'Hara family puts a certain spring in his step...
Alex Hassell
Alex, 44, plays Rupert, and is most known for his work on the stage. He's also known for this roles on TV including series such as His Dark Materials, The Boys and The Miniaturist.
Declan O'Hara
Declan O'Hara is a BBC journalist known for his tough interview style. He moves his family to Rutshire after Tony offers him a job at Corinium to have his own show. He is married to Maud and they have three children together - Patrick, Taggie and Caitlin.
Aidan Turner
Aidan, 41, plays the role of TV host Declan and you'll most likely know Aidan for playing Poldark. He's also known for his roles in the Hobbit films as Killi. He's also appeared in The Mortal Instruments, Being Human and many other roles too.
Maud O'Hara
Maud is Declan's wife, who was a rising actress and the toast of Dublin before she met Declan. But after the birth of their first child Patrick, she lost her career. Now, while Declan dedicates so much of his time to work, she carries out numerous affairs.
Victoria Smurfit
Victoria, 50, plays Declan's wife Maud. She's been acting since the mid 1990s and is best known for her roles in Once Upon a Time as Cruella De Vil, Bloodlands, Ballykissangel, About a Boy and Marcella.
Taggie O'Hara
Taggie is Declan and Maud's middle child, and struggles to find her place in family, and easily has the best morals of the characters in Rivals. When they move to Rutshire she wants to set up a catering company to capitalise on her cooking skills.
Bella Maclean
Bella, 23, plays the role of Taggie in Rivals. You'll most likely recognise Bella from her role on Sex Education, where she played Jem who helped Adam connect with the horses on her farm. She's also been in two episode of Silent Witness.
Cameron Cook
Cameron is an American TV producer who Tony meets in New York and brings her over to work for Corinium, where she works on Declan's chat show.
Nafessa Williams
Nafessa, 34, plays the role of TV exec Cameron. She's been acting since 2010 and is perhaps best known for her role in the series Black Lightning where she played Anissa Pierce. Nafessa has also starred in Black and Blue, Twin Peaks, and Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody.
Freddie Jones
Freddie Jones is a working-class man who has become a self-made successful electronics businessman. Thanks to his impressive fortune he's moved with his family to Rutshire and starts socialising with the upper class. While he and wife Valerie have a sexless marriage, if anyone disrespects his wife, that's the end of his relationship wtih them.
Danny Dyer
Danny, 47, is playing the role of Freddie, and is perhaps best known for his roles in Eastenders, The Football Factory and Human Traffic. Oh, and of course for being the dad of Love Island 2018 winner Dani Dyer.
Valerie Jones
Valerie is Freddie's wife and she is a notorious social climber, who is obsessed with being part of Tony's clique. She constantly criticises Freddie's weight and is very prudish.
Lisa McGrillis
Lisa, 42, plays Freddie's wife Valerie. She's been acting since the mid 2000s and is best known for her roles in Last Night in Soho, Deadwater Fell, Inspector George Gentley and of course as Otis' aunt Joanna in Sex Education.
Bas Baddingham
Bas is Tony's younger half-brother and he owns the local bar Bar Sinister, and gets on well with Rupert and Declan.
Luke Pasqualino
Be still our beating teenage hearts, for Skins' Freddie, aka Luke Pasqualino, 34, is back on our screens as Bas in Rivals. As well as knowing Luke from Skins, he's also been in Snowpiercer, Our Girl and Shadow and Bone.
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