Disney+ Rivals filming locations as steamy David Tennant drama is released

Filming locations for new drama Rivals includes a picturesque market town, stunning house and estate and a vibrant city centre.

Rivals, based on the novel by Jilly Cooper, delves into the cut-throat world of independent television during the late 1980s. The series follows the intense rivalry between ex-Olympic rider and Conservative MP Rupert Campbell-Black and TV station controller Lord Tony Baddingham (David Tennant) in fictional Rutshire.

With the future of Corinium Television hanging in the balance, the two are at odds, each determined to emerge victorious. The new Disney+ series based on Dame Jilly Cooper’s best-selling book is finally out, with all eight episodes available to binge-watch.

Filming took place across 2023 across the South West, but where are the filming locations and how can you visit them?

Where was new Disney+ series Rivals filmed?

Gloucestershire

Rivals was predominately filmed in Gloucestershire and the surrounding Cotswolds, with owner of Chavenage House in Tetbury opening the estate for filming. The estate was also used for Poldark, staring Adrian Turner.

Chavenage House near Tetbury is a traditional Cotswold stone Elizabethan Grade I listed house and has everything you want for a filming location.

Owner Caroline Lowsley-Williams, who is a fan of Dame Jilly Cooper, even assisted the crews in advising which homes would be suitable for filming. It is not clear who lives in Chavenage House, but the series will make viewers yearn for a dream home in the village.

After all, Dame Cooper has lived near Tetbury in Gloucestershire for over forty years and once said “Gloucestershire is so welcoming and the Cotswolds are so heartbreakingly beautiful, so home is definitely here.”

Wiltshire

Travelling over the Gloucestershire border is the cosy market town of Corsham. Film crews used its stunning streets and awe-inspiring countryside for further shots of Rutshire and where another key character lives.

Neston Park was reportedly used as a filming location, but it is unclear which character will live there.

Wales

Production moved via the M5 and M4 to film unspecified scenes in Monmouthshire. Local reports say the large country house and estate Woodbank House was one of the locations used for filming in the area.

Bristol

Rivals became the first production to use TBY2, a new state-of-the-art facility at The Bottle Yard Studios in Hengrove. It’s no wonder therefore that Bristol and its surrounding area was used to film the new series.

Bristol’s historic Old City formed the backdrop for a scene set at a glamourous red-carpet television awards ceremony, with the Harbour Hotel serving as the awards venue. During filming, Aidan Turner, David Tennant, Katherine Parkinson, Alex Hassell, and Emily Atack were all spotted wearing black-tie suits and dresses, alongside a 1980s-era BBC camera car and luxury vehicles.

The nearby Cosy Club on Corn Street was also used for filming.

Queen Square was partially transformed into a street in London, with fake road signs, newspaper stands. Danny Dyer was filmed driving a Sinclair C5 around the area.

Film crews used Concorde Alpha Foxtrot to film scenes set aboard the legendary supersonic airliner at Aerospace Bristol.

Somerset

Actor Aidan Turner commented in a Facebook post that Battleaxes pub in Wraxall in North Somerset was used for filming unspecified scenes. The pub had closed in 2020 and was transformed into a typical pub for the series’ 1980s setting.

According to various reports, other filming took place in Clevedon.

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