After five long months of waiting, the remaining six episodes of the second series of Rivals drop on Disney+ today.
We left the characters of this outrageous, raunchy adaptation of the Jilly Cooper novel on a colossal cliffhanger as the first half of the series ended in June.
On 11 November, fans can dive back into the lives of the upper-class elite as we follow their antics around the charming fictional county of 80s Rutshire.
Based across Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Warwickshire, England’s largest National Landscape, crews sent cameras rolling in the Cotswolds to capture the countryside romp.
With chaotic dinner parties, boozy polo matches and helicopter chases on the itineraries, these old-world landscapes of rural England are far from sleepy.
From country estates to polo clubs, here are the lavish locations we have spotted in the first 14 episodes of this hit “bonkbuster”.
Read more: You can play your own game of Traitors at this Cotswolds getaway
Where was Rivals season one filmed?
England
Tetbury, Gloucestershire
Tetbury was the scene of the fictional village of Cotchester. Signage was replaced and shopfronts were reimagined, including banners welcoming the then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. In real life, the Cotswolds civil parish is not far from Highgrove House, the former residence of King Charles and Queen Camilla.
Chavenage House, Tetbury
In this series, journalist Declan O’Hara moves wife Maud and daughters Taggie and Caitlin into their new home of classic Cotswolds stone – Chavenage House, aka “The Priory”. The Elizabethan estate, built in 1576, has previously been seen on screen in Poldark and is open for visitors via reservation for £12 per person.
Find out more on the Chavenage House website
Berkeley House, Tetbury
The house of major character, Cameron Cook, an American television producer, was shot at a property in Tetbury. Grade II-listed Berkeley House, 16, The Chipping, served as “Hamilton Terrace”. The three-storey Georgian townhouse boasts a large front drawing room, cellar and landscaped gardens.
Neston Park, Wiltshire
The grade II-listed home of David Tennant’s character, Lord Tony Baddingham, dates back to around 1790. “The Falconry” is the host of garden parties, helicopter landings and punch-ups across the series. The estate in Neston is not currently open to the public.
Corsham, Wiltshire
The fictional village of Cotchester was also staged in Wiltshire’s Corsham, a stone market town of historic buildings and quaint coffee shops.
Battleaxes at Wraxall
According to IMDb, scenes for the show were filmed at Battleaxes at Wraxall, a Grade II-listed Tudor-style gastropub in place of a fictional Rutshire restaurant. The 1882 watering hole closed for pints in 2019, reopening in 2025 as The Temperance House, a high-end business retreat used for corporate events, room hire, business meetings and overnight accommodation.
Find out more on the Temperance House website
Cranmore Station, Somerset
Cranmore, the main railway station of the preserved East Somerset Railway, is where lovers Freddie and Lizzie (Danny Dyer and Katherine Parkinson) filmed their rail-side encounter. The station is open every Wednesday and weekends for heritage steam train rides, while passengers can also explore the waiting room replica musuem at the end of the platform.
The railway also hosts special journeys such as onboard afternoon teas, Christmas rides and Thomas the Tank Engine-themed trips for children.
Find out more on the East Somerset Railway website
Bristol, England
From the southwest countryside to a southwest city, Bristol is the backdrop to several scenes in Rivals, with the Castlewood office in Clevedon featuring as the Corinium TV headquarters, the media corporation that the show centres around.
The first series opens with our main characters aboard a Concorde flight, including that famous romp. While Concorde aircraft no longer flies, the scenes were shot inside an actual Concorde aircraft preserved at the Aerospace museum in Bristol.
Corn Street cosplayed the capital for London street shots of the Harbour Hotel and club scenes at The Cosy Club.
Rivals was also the first project to make use of TBY2 at Bristol’s The Bottle Yard Studios, including the replica 80s TV studios for Declan O’Hara’s chat show.
Spain
Much of episode six of the steamy series takes place in Spain, where Cameron and Rupert wind up staying in the same hotel.
It’s at the five-star Grand Hotel Las Dunas in Estepona where the star-crossed lovers first exchange gazes across their Andalusian-style balconies.
Find out more on the Las Dunas website
Elsewhere during their Spanish rendezvous, the unlikely couple take a walk through the ornate Calle San Agustin, the Plaza del Obispo and drink on the terrace of Casa de los Bates Restaurant in the historic centre of Malaga.
Where was Rivals season two filmed?
Beaufort Polo Club, Tetbury
The Beaufort Polo Club, one of the UK’s most prestigious, was used for close-ups of the Rutshire Cup sequence seen on screen in episode one. Established in 1872, summer weekday matches are typically free to watch for Rivals fans looking to pitch up at the polo.
Find out more on the Beaufort Polo Club website
Berkeley Castle, Gloucestershire
The crew also created their own polo pitch in the grounds of Berkeley Castle for much of the match in series two. The historic castle, built in 1153, remains the home of the Berkeley family today, with castle entry, tours, a cafe and gift shop open to the public.
Find out more on the Berkeley Castle website
Ammerdown House, Somerset
Campbell-Black’s country abode, Penscombe Court, welcomed Cameron Cook in the first instalment of the second series. The house in real life is called Ammerdown House, found in Kilmersdon the 1788 Grade I listed building. It’s currently occupied by Lord Hylton and his family and not open to the public.
Bristol Marriott Royal Hotel
Declan and Maud O’Hara stay at the 150-year-old grade II-listed Bristol Marriott Royal Hotel in episode one. Extensively refurbished in 2019, the Marriott sits close to the harbourside, cobbled Denmark Street and the Bristol Hippodrome Theatre.
Find out more on the Bristol Marriott Royal House
The final episodes of Rivals season two will be released on Disney+ on 11 November
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