The Disney + series adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s popular 1980s family feud novel Rivals has been praised for its lavish costumes, sets and performances for good reason. The team behind it worked hard to get everything right.

Initiated by Dominic Treadwell-Collins, executive producer at Happy Prince (owned by ITV Studios), who bought the rights to Cooper’s book and wrote the pilot episode, he was determined to make this adaptation successful.

One of the first key decisions was to take over two of the three stages at the newly built TBY2 (The Bottle Yard Studios 2) in Bristol, the perfect hub for building period sets and exploring the surrounding Cotswolds locations where the story is set.

“We were the first people to go into the studios, and we took over the offices while they were still putting the finishing touches to the bespoke stages, which have a heavy sustainable nod thanks to the solar panels on the roof,” explains Joel Holmes, supervising location manager on the series.

The stages proved ideal for constructing some of the key locations where the clashes between main characters, Conservative MP Rupert Campbell-Black (Alex Hassell) and Lord Tony Baddingham (David Tennant) take place, including the interior of the Corinium television station (control room, corridors etc).

Finding a building to represent the exterior of the Corinium building proved more challenging. “It had to be appropriate for the period, but also adaptable to turn it into our suite of offices for the television studio,” says Holmes. “Fortunately, North Somerset Council offered us one of their own buildings, Castlewood, in a charming town called Clevedon [where I had worked previously on Broadchurch], constructed in the 1980s and only partly being used. So we were able to shoot the exterior and on the second floor. We just had to co-exist with the other building users, which included constructing a soundproof partition between us and them, and only shooting exteriors at night when council employees had left.”

But it is the big Cotswolds houses, garish clothes and excessive, sexually charged performances that really steal the show. So getting them right proved crucial. The impressive cast assembled, including some of British TV’s biggest names, like Tennant, Aidan Turner (who plays dashing Declan O’Hara) and Katherine Parkinson, certainly ticked one box. “They were a Christmas chocolate box selection, somebody for everyone,” enthuses Eliza Mellor, series producer.

As for the houses, “they had to be appropriate for the characters and the creative brief, and distinct from one another,” explains Mellor. “The O’Hara’s house was an Elizabethan Grade 1 listed Cotswolds property near Tetbury called Chavenage House, which is on screen a lot. Fortunately it’s a very film-friendly house owned by the Lowsley-Williams family, who were very supportive.”

Mellor’s concern was that she had already used it for the popular BBC series Poldark, also starring Turner. But the director (and everyone else) loved the house and so it was chosen. However, the kitchen interior shots were actually filmed at TBY2 because one of the family members is a caterer, so the kitchen at Chavenage House was in constant use.

For the Baddingham family home, they used Neston House, near Corsham in Wiltshire – referred to as ‘The Falconry’ in the story. “It needed to be ostentatious and reflect Tony’s character, and Neston fitted the bill, not only in looks, but because it was also film friendly, and private, so we didn’t need to work around a schedule of visits or events,” says Holmes. “We just had to arrange with the owners to keep some of our temporary changes to the property in place (as was the case with the other houses too) for the duration of the shoot. But they were very amenable. We managed to shoot some exterior scenes there too, including helicopter landings and a hunt sequence.”

The team also used Tetbury as a double for the main fictional town of Cotchester, where all these houses and the television studios are set. “We used a section of the high street, including shop fronts and the exterior of a hotel, which doubled for Bar Sinister, run by Basil ‘Bas’ Baddingham, where a lot of the characters socialise,” says Holmes. “The challenge was adapting the historic high street to the 1980s, which took a fair amount of dressing, and dealing with the public, so stopping modern cars and passers-by. It was complex, but fortunately successful. Then when we needed to expand the world of Cotchester, we filmed in the quaint market town of Corsham too.”

But it is the opening, sexually explicit sequence on a concorde that really set the tone for the series, and proved to be the stand-out location. “We got to film in the last concorde that ever flew, which is at the Aerospace Bristol museum,” enthuses Mellor. “They even had a platform in place for easy access to get our equipment in. We had to work with their curation team to change things, including the upholstery of the seats, and set up huge lighting rigging, but it was definitely worth it and such a privilege.”  

Throughout filming, the production team received support from local screen agencies, including Filming in England and the Bristol Film Office, who “provided their databases of locations and introductions to relevant local authorities”, says Holmes.

Sustainability was also key, especially as ITV studios is part of the BAFTA albert (Sustainable Production Certification) scheme. Aside from the solar panelled studio roof, the team also used eco pods (refuse trailers), sustainable generators, and are keeping the sets to be reused. “We’re also planning to use power grids should there be a second series,” concludes Holmes.

Images: Rivals streaming now on Disney+

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