The Barbican in London played host to one of the most glamorous evenings of the SXSW London season, as the premiere of Rivals Season 2 brought the glittering, scandal-soaked world of 1980s British television back to the big screen. Based on Dame Jilly Cooper’s beloved novel and adapted by showrunner Dominic Treadwell-Collins and Olivier Award-winning playwright Laura Wade, the series stars David Tennant, Alex Hassell, Aidan Turner, Nafessa Williams, Bella Maclean, Katherine Parkinson, Danny Dyer, Victoria Smurfit, Claire Rushbrook, Oliver Chris, Lisa McGrillis, Emily Atack, Rufus Jones, Luca Pasqualino, Catriona Chandler, Annabel Scholey, Gary Lamont, Hubert Burton, Gabriel Tierney, Lara Peake, Bryony Hannah, Hayley Atwell and Rupert Everett; it is directed by Elliot Hegarty, Jamie J Johnson and Dee Koppang O’Leary.
Rivals Season 2 will be available on Disney+ from 15th May 2026.
Colin Hart and Abigail Shii were on the red carpet, here are their interviews.
Rivals Season 2 SXSW London Premiere Interviews
Plot:
As the battle for the Central South West television franchise reaches boiling point, Lord Tony Baddingham grows more ruthless than ever — weaponising scandal and manipulating those closest to him to maintain his grip on power. Set against the shimmering excess of 1980s Britain, marriages fracture under ambition, illicit affairs threaten to detonate families, and long-buried secrets ignite with devastating consequences. Loyalties bend, hearts splinter, and the question hangs in the air: what is the true cost of war?
