Rivals hasn’t even returned with the second half of its second season, and Disney+ has already renewed the jaw-dropping series for a third season. We’re only barely into the months-long hiatus until the last six episodes of Season 2, so this news is more than welcome. Rivals is taking from Dame Jilly Cooper’s book (SPOILER ALERT!), namely in killing off Monica Baddingham in the midseason finale. So, it’s a real relief that we can head into the next episodes knowing that there is more to come. This isn’t the end–it’s only the beginning.
“The phenomenal response to Rivals is a credit to the bold, irreverent and endlessly entertaining world created by Dame Jilly Cooper, our cast, creative team and production partners at Happy Prince. We’re delighted to be bringing audiences a third season on Disney+/Hulu. Expect more ambition, more romance, more rivalries and, of course, more scandal as we return to Rutshire for another irresistible chapter,” Lee Mason, Vice-President, Scripted, Disney+ EMEA, said in a statement, per Deadline.
The extra great news is that Rivals is sticking to its super-sized seasons. The third season, like the current one, will consist of 12 episodes. However, it’s unclear if there will be such a large hiatus between halves of the season again. Unexpectedly, Disney+ has released a rather vague description for Season 3.
“As the dust settles post the scandalous revelations in Season Two, we see the stakes become higher and the alliances more fragile, with nothing staying buried for long. New romances blossom, old flames rekindle, and shocking secrets will be spilled in this third series, which takes everyone’s favourite rivalries to the next level. In a world of power, passion and betrayal, everyone has something to lose.”
Mind you, the details reveal that all of those rivalries and romances don’t have to be in Cooper’s Rivals book. The second half of Rivals Season 2 is set to introduce Rachael Stirling as Araminta Pemberton, Lady Monica Baddingham’s vampish younger sister, Rupert Evans as erudite headmaster David Hawkley, and Santiago Cabrera as Argentinian Polo legend Alejandro Mendoza. Araminta doesn’t have a book counterpart, but David is from the fourth of Cooper’s Ruthsire Chronicles books, The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous.
Meanwhile, Alejandro first appears in the third book, Polo, as does Holly Cattle’s Perdita, whom Season 2 introduces. So, it seems like Rivals is really blending the Rutshire Chronicles as it moves forward. As a fan of Cooper’s books, that choice makes me very eager to see what Season 3 does with this expansive world. First, though, the countdown remains until Season 2 returns in November.
Catch up on our Rivals Season 2 review (so far) below:
- Rivals Season 2, Episode 1 Review: Playing Games with the Heart
- Rivals Season 2, Episode 2 Review: Daughters and Dinner Parties
- Rivals Season 2, Episode 3 Review: Uncensored Discoveries on Election Day
- Rivals Season 2, Episode 4 Review: Life Becomes A Midsummer Night’s Dream
- Rivals Season 2, Episode 5 Review: Who Will Win The Golden Gauntlet?
- Rivals Season 2, Episode 6 Review: The Storm That Changes Everything
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