First look images from the second part of the Rivals series two have revealed a stony faced Tony Baddingham mourning at the funeral of his wife Monica following a major mid-season cliffhanger.
The initial half of the second series concluded with episode six, which saw Monica crushed by a tree while driving in a brutal storm.
The newly unveiled photographs preview the fallout from her death in the fictional county of Rutshire, ahead of the show's return to Disney+ later this year.
The first three episodes of the six-part second half will drop on November 11. The remaining three episodes will follow in weekly releases.
Caitlin survived the hurricane crash as a passenger in Monica's car. The two women were travelling together so Monica could confront Tony about his affair with Maud O'Hara, played by Victoria Smurfit.
Before her sudden death, Monica had planned to finally leave her philandering husband. Rupert Campbell-Black, played by Alex Hassell, later broke the news to Tony that his wife had been killed.
The new images show former Doctor Who star David Tennant, who plays the ambitious Corinium Television boss Tony, attending the funeral alongside Monica's friends and family.
Rutshire tragedy aftermath
The residents of Rutshire are left reeling from tragedy, scandal and betrayal in the upcoming episodes. The bitter battle for the Cotswolds broadcasting crown between Tony and his television rival Declan O'Hara, played by Poldark star Aidan Turner, will reach fever pitch.
Declan is a volatile television presenter who was previously poached from the BBC by Tony, sparking a fierce professional rivalry that dominates the local landscape.
Meanwhile, Rupert is forced to confront his own personal demons. The notorious rake and former Olympic showjumper is a central figure in the local high society. The series' main story thread of Tony's affair with Declan's wife Maud came to a head against the backdrop of the hurricane weather that displaced key characters around the local mansions and manors.
The preview snapshots also tease romance for Freddie Jones, played by former EastEnders actor Danny Dyer, and Lizzie Vereker, played by Katherine Parkinson of The IT Crowd. The pair have finally agreed to stop fighting their feelings for each other and begin a passionate affair.
Following a conversation with Monica before the crash, Lizzie realised she did not want to spend the rest of her life trapped in an unhappy marriage to her husband.
She approaches Freddie and tells him: "I can't be without you. I mean, I don't want to." One image shows the pair staring intensely at each other, indicating their romance will continue.
Fractured alliances and rivalries
Elsewhere, Basil Baddingham is still pursuing Declan's daughter Taggie O'Hara. The two characters look cosy on Bonfire Night in one of the preview images, though Taggie has long had her sights set on Rupert. Viewers will discover if Basil can prove enough of a distraction to keep her away from temptation.
The new episodes will unfold against a backdrop of parties, Bonfire Night chaos, the Hampshire Hunt Ball and a turbulent Christmas, as affairs unravel, alliances fracture and rivalries intensify.
Release schedule reactions
The cliffhanger ending left viewers facing a frustrating wait for the resolution. Some fans complained on social media about the decision to split the 12-episode run.
"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," one viewer wrote.
Another fan added: "I would rather wait for a late summer release instead of waiting for 6 months between the two parts."
However, others welcomed the abundance of episodes. "My unpopular opinion is that people are massively overreacting about the rivals season split," one viewer pointed out. "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!"
Five-star series reviews
Based on Dame Jilly Cooper's bestselling 1988 novel from her Rutshire Chronicles series, the comedy-drama debuted on Disney+ in October 2024. The books focus on the scandals, power struggles and romantic entanglements of the British upper classes in the 1980s.
The eight-episode first series became an immediate hit and was quickly renewed for a second outing.
Critics who previewed the first four episodes of the second series unanimously praised the return, with a string of five-star reviews heralding its arrival last month.
Sarah Dempster awarded the show five stars for The Guardian, asking: "how best to reward such exquisitely knowing escapism? Ten stars? Ten thousand stars? Rivals is beyond earthly praise."
Benji Wilson agreed with another five-star rating in The Telegraph. He declared that "Rivals continues to refresh the parts that other television cannot reach: a heady mix of guilty pleasure, trenchant satire, rambunctious comedy and out-and-out trash."
Writing for The Times, Carol Midgley noted that "despite its deliberate corniness, this is also gloriously uplifting television. It is unashamedly celebratory and perhaps even better than the last series".
Critical reception
Lacy Baugher of Den Of Geek praised the "sprawling cast" who "remain thoroughly excellent throughout".
She highlighted former Inbetweeners star Emily Atack, "who steals much of this run of episodes, and makes her Sarah feel indispensable to the larger world of Rutshire in ways few of us likely expected".
Rebecca Nicholson of the Financial Times was one of the few critics to withhold top marks, awarding three stars instead.
"Some of the storylines, particularly those about the TV industry, drag a little," she wrote. "Rivals needs more slapstick, more of those capers, to keep things as light as they need to be for it to really work... Rivals is at its strongest when it embraces its silly side, and accepts its lot as a jolly old romp."
Nick Hilton knocked one star off for The Independent, but found plenty to celebrate in the performances.
"There is a sense, across the cast, that everyone is enjoying themselves immensely, whether they're romping on a pony or romping on a staircase," he wrote.
Hilton added: "That's what makes Rivals such a rare treat in today's television landscape. It is well-written and well-acted, but it aspires to nothing more than being fun. Real, associable human emotions are kept at arm's length in favour of stylised bucolic horniness."
The first six episodes of Rivals series two are available to stream now on Disney+.
