Rivals Helped David Tennant Play a Ruthless Boss Who Sees No Villain
David Tennant says his Rivals character, a ruthless media executive named Tony Baddingham, does not see himself as a villain. He spoke in a recent video call as the Jilly Cooper adaptation returns to Hulu for the second half of Season 2.
Rivals helped David Tennant add another ruthless character to his run of dark roles, and the actor says he never plays any of them as a villain. He made the case in a recent video call as the series returns to Hulu. Spoilers for the first half of Season 2 follow.
Tennant has played a real-life serial killer in "Des" and a predator who can control people's minds in "Jessica Jones." His latest is Tony Baddingham, a merciless media executive in Thatcher's Britain.
"The thing with all these characters," Tennant said, "is that none of them are regarding themselves as villains." He said Tony "is just pursuing his super objectives very clearly, and very ruthlessly."
Climbing the class ladder
Tony wants to claw his way to the top of every circle he moves in. Professionally, that means television broadcasting. Socially, it means the well-heeled, well-liquored countryside set first introduced in the "Rutshire Chronicles," Jilly Cooper's best-selling romance series and the basis of the show.
Like the novels, the series offers plenty of raunch and horse-riding. It also takes a sharp-eyed look at British class.
Tony did not inherit a country pile, unlike his wife, Monica (Claire Rushbrook), or his media business bête noire Rupert Campbell-Black (Alex Hassell).
Tennant sees that outsider status as the engine of the character. "He has a very keen sense of injustice about how the world is structured and how unfair that is, and the glass ceiling of class," he said.
A widower with fewer limits
Overseas, the show runs on Disney+. It has been the No. 1 show on the platform in multiple countries and has inspired gushing coverage in Britain.
Viewers last saw Tony midway through the second season. Monica had just died in a car accident after discovering one of his many affairs.
The new episodes open at her funeral. One guest says fearfully that now that Tony has "lost his conscience, he can do what he likes."
