Rivals returns: New trailer teases Danny Dyer's bedhopping and grieving David Tennant's steamy affair as the residents of Rutshire enter a debauched party season

Rivals returns on November 11 for the final episodes in its second series, and the residents of Rutshire are seeing out the season in style and scandal.

A trailer teases episodes 7-12, which will pick up after the mid-series finale and the tragic death of Monica Baddingham (Claire Rushbrook).

Lady Monica's husband Tony (David Tennant) is far from the grief-trodden widower, as the trailer shows the furious TV boss amping up his franchise war against Declan O'Hara (Aidan Turner).

'Your wife died in my arms, broken by your games,' Rupert Campbell-Black (Alex Hassell) tells him, only for Lord Tony, shotgun in hand, to declare 'well she's not here anymore. I've got nothing left to do but fight.' 

Maud O'Hara (Victoria Smurfit) questions if Monica's death is 'all our fault' but her fiery affair with Tony shows no sign of stopping. 

In other affairs of the heart, Danny Dyer's Freddie Jones is still balancing his affair with Lizzie Vereker (Katherine Parkinson) with his marriage to Valerie (Lisa McGrillis).

The country set's slowest burning love affair between Taggie (Bella Maclean) and Rupert teases a happy ending at least, as the trailer concludes with the two leaning in for a firework night kiss. 

All these rivalries and romance are set against the backdrop of 1987 party season with glimpses of Bonfire Night chaos, the Hampshire Hunt Ball and a turbulent Christmas.

New cast members are also set to join the series return, with Rachael Stirling introduced 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. 

The first three episodes of six will drop on November 11, with weekly releases of the remaining three episodes following after.   

Rivals viewers have had a frustrating wait after the midseason finale concluded with a major cliffhanger.

Set against the backdrop of hurricane weather, the series' main story thread of Tony's affair with Maud, the wife of his nemesis Declan finally came to a head.

As the stormy weather displaced key characters around the mansions and manors of Rutshire the episode ended with the shock death of Lady Monica, who had plans to finally leave her philandering husband Tony.

Sharing their frustrations at the time, viewers said: 'Rivals release schedule is terrible. they're gonna kill the momentum of the show and I doubt they will do a lot of promo during the break.'

'I would rather wait for a late summer release instead of waiting for 6 months between the two parts,' said one fan on social media.

Others welcomed the decision to split the series though, with one viewer pointing out: 

'My unpopular opinion is that people are massively overreacting about the rivals season split. wdym people won't care? it ended on a cliffhanger last time and we were gagging for s2. 12 episodes is a lot for a british show — it's like getting two seasons in a year!' 

Ahead of the midseason break critics had declared that series two more than lives up to its opening run, with a string of five-star reviews heralding its return to screens.

Based on Dame Jilly Cooper's 1988 novel, the comedy-drama debuted on Disney+ in October 2024 and immediately became a huge hit. The eight-episode first series ended in October 2024 and was soon renewed for a second outing.