David Tennant teases what to expect from Tony Baddingham in Rivals Season 2: “I do some terrible things”

When Tony Baddingham returns in Rivals season 2, things will probably get messier, uglier, and pettier, according to David Tennant’s recent comments about the show’s second season.

From Disney+, the 1980s-set comedy-drama series brought the Doctor Who star, Tennant, in a role that is not nearly as likable. He played Tony Baddingham, a ruthless TV executive, competing with a rival in the highly competitive independent television industry. The show was based on Jilly Cooper's black comedic novels of the same name.

Its first season arrived online in October 2024. Later, in December, the network greenlit the show’s second season. That means Baddinghim will return to the fray to make matters worse for his rivals in Rivals season 2. It will also offer Tennant fans another chance to see him chew the scenery with his soapy and calculated performance.

While Rivals season 2 will take at least a year to return to the screens, Tennant shared some insights on what to expect from his character. While speaking with Collider at a FanX Salt Lake Comic Convention panel, he said:

"All I can tell you about Season 2 of Rivals is that I do some terrible things. Terrible things! Much worse than last time!"

Rivals Season 2 shows Tony Baddingham returning for another TV war in the late 1980s

As said before, Tony Baddingham is not a conventionally likable character as Tennant has previously played in Doctor Who. He is perceptive but cunning, and over the course of the first season, viewers get to see more shades of his personality.

While speaking about Rivals season 2 with Collider, David Tennant also mentioned that his character, Tony, is:

"Not awful, he's just trying to do the best for himself and his family. Or himself, he doesn't really care about his family."

Before this, the Scottish star spoke highly about the role in a conversation with Variety in November 2024, saying:

"I’ve been very fortunate — it’s happened a handful of times to me when I’ve ended up in something which becomes bigger than it is, and becomes a kind of public conversation about not just the piece of work itself, but about what the repercussions of that might be societally."

He added:

"And it definitely feels like ‘Rivals’ has broken through in that way. People just seem to be loving it."

Tennant had also been just as vocal about his appreciation for Jilly Cooper's writing style and how it finds a tonal balance between different forms while addressing human nature. In the Variety interview, he noted:

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"There probably is, or was, a snobbishness towards Jilly’s writing. I hope the success of this adaptation has gone some way to redressing that, because actually you can kind of write off a ‘bonkbuster’ — or whatever adjectives you want to apply to these books — that can minimize how successful they are. But clearly, Jilly has an understanding of human beings."

Tennant returns in Rival season 2 alongside his former co-stars, Alex Hassell, Nafessa Williams, and Bella Maclean, among others. In August 2025, Deadline reported that Hayley Atwell and Rupert Everett are also joining the cast. Although an exact premiere date has not been revealed, reports suggest that it is expected to debut in 2026.

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