David Tennant teases 'saucy' adaptation of Jilly Cooper's Rivals

David Tennant at the Baftas
(Image credit: Photo by Rowben Lantion/BAFTA via Getty Images)

David Tennant has teased that the upcoming adaptation of Jilly Cooper's Rivals is "a little bit saucy", which will no doubt delight fans of the original 1980s "bonkbusting" novel.

The eight-part drama, which is coming to Disney Plus, follows the rivalry between two ambitious men, Rupert Campbell-Black (Alex Hassell) and Lord Tony Baddingham (David Tennant).

There promises to be lots of romantic dramas and plenty of sex! The cast also features ex-EastEnders star Danny Dyer and David revealed he had a great time working with Danny, who plays Freddie Jones, a self-made electronics millionaire.

He told This Morning: "Wait until you see Danny. He's brilliant. We're having a right old laugh. It's lots of fun." 

Teasing the plot, the makers previously said: "The story is set against the backdrop of the drama, excess, and shocking antics of the power-grabbing social elite of 1980s England.

"The series dives headfirst into the ruthless world of independent television in 1986. In the fictional county of Rutshire, a long-standing rivalry between two powerful men is about to boil over..."

David Tennant stands in front of the TARDIS in The Power of the Doctor.

(Image credit: BBC Studios)

Meanwhile, David also spoke about his return as the Time Lord for the Doctor Who 60th anniversary specials. "Hopefully it was a bit of a surprise when I showed up — when Jodie Whittaker regenerated into me. But Catherine Tate's back, so it's a bit like 15 years never happened to be honest." 

Asked whether showrunner Russell T Davies had got in touch to talk about his comeback plans, David replied: "It sort of gradually kind of evolved as an idea and we really thought maybe he could let us do a one-off for old times sake. And then suddenly it became a bit more than that. We did three."

The Doctor Who 60th anniversary will be marked with a special miniseries this November on BBC One, starring David.

The next Doctor, played by Ncuti Gatwa, will then take control of the TARDIS, with his first episode airing over the festive period in 2023.

This Morning airs weekdays from 10 am on ITV1 & ITVX.

David Hollingsworth
Editor

David is the What To Watch Editor and has over 20 years of experience in television journalism. He is currently writing about the latest television and film news for What To Watch.

Before working for What To Watch, David spent many years working for TV Times magazine, interviewing some of television's most famous stars including Hollywood actor Kiefer Sutherland, singer Lionel Richie and wildlife legend Sir David Attenborough. 

David started out as a writer for TV Times before becoming the title's deputy features editor and then features editor. During his time on TV Times, David also helped run the annual TV Times Awards. David is a huge Death in Paradise fan, although he's still failed to solve a case before the show's detective! He also loves James Bond and controversially thinks that Timothy Dalton was an excellent 007.

Other than watching and writing about telly, David loves playing cricket, going to the cinema, trying to improve his tennis and chasing about after his kids!