SEE FIRST IMAGES OF AIDAN TURNER, DAVID TENNANT, ALEX HASSELL IN DISNEY PLUS STAR STUDDED MINI SERIES RIVALS SET IN THE 80S

   FIRST RIVALS IMAGES  

FROM DISNEY'S STAR STUDDED SERIES

Disney Plus has released first images from their exciting new  RIVALS eight part series set against the backdrop of the excess and antics of the power-grabbing social elite of 1980s England and delving into the ruthless world of independent television in 1986. In the fictional county of Rutshire, along-standing rivalry between two powerful men is about to boil over. Alex Hassell plays dashing ex-Olympian, Tory Member of Parliament and incorrigible rake, the dangerously charismatic Rupert Campbell-Black. David Tennan is Ruperts ambitious and egotistical Rutshire neighbour Lord Tony Baddingham, controller of Corinium Television. A long-simmering power struggle between them threatens to boil over when the two men lock horns over the future of Corinium. Caught in the crossfire is TV presenter Declan OHara, (Aidan Turner). Fiercely intellectual, with an even fiercer temper, he is wooed to Corinium TV from the BBC by Baddingham himself, but feels he’s been swindled when Tony refuses to deliver on his promises. Furious with Tony, Declan vows to get his revenge. Victoria Smurfit is Maud OHara, a former actress and Declans bohemian, fickle wife. Bella Maclean is Declan and Mauds tender-hearted yet strong-willed elder daughter, Taggie. She holds the O Hara family together and keeps an eye on her younger and wilder sister Caitlin  (Catriona Chandler). Nafessa Williams is Cameron Cook, a ferociously talented American TV executive who is brought to Corinium by Tony to produce Declans new prime-time talk show. She soon finds herself caught between the two powerful men who deeply underestimate her at their peril. Katherine Parkinson is Lizzie Vereker, a romantic novelist consistently overlooked by her preening and self-centred TV presenter husband, James Vereker (Oliver Chris). Danny Dyer is Freddie Jones: honourable, loyal and lovable, he’s a self-made electronics millionaire. Freddie's got the money, but finds himself, along with his social-climbing wife Valerie (Lisa McGrillis), an outsider to Rutshires cliques. But when Rupert and Tony come to him with a business proposition, all that could change. Claire Rushbrook is Lady Monica Baddingham, Tonys dependable, upper-crust wife who has absolutely no interest in the dramatic goings-on within her husbands empire. Luke Pasqualino is the charming Basil Bas Baddingham, Tonys younger brother and the proprietor of Cotchesters hot spot, Bar Sinister. Emily Atack is Sarah Stratton, the new wife to Deputy Prime Minister, Paul Stratton (Rufus Jones). Sarah is ambitious and not afraid to use her looks to get to the top. Paul, on the other hand, is in the throes of a midlife crisis – everyone knows it.