RIVALS Season Two coming to Disney+
The champagne corks are popping in the Cotswolds as Disney+ officially greenlights RIVALS for a second season, with cameras already rolling as of May 2025. Jilly Cooper’s scandalous adaptation proved irresistible to viewers, transforming from a modest eight-episode debut into an expanded twelve-episode sophomore season that promises even more backstabbing, bedroom politics, and British upper-class debauchery.
The timing couldn’t be more perfect for the show’s breakout star. After years of bouncing between supporting roles in films like THE GENTLEMEN and television appearances that never quite captured the public imagination, this Cotswolds romp has become the career-defining moment that fans have been waiting for. The razor-sharp wit and aristocratic charm that made him a household name decades ago now feels perfectly calibrated for the ruthless world of 1980s British television, where power brokers circle like sharks in Savile Row suits.
Season one’s explosive finale left Lord Tony Baddingham’s fate hanging in the balance, while the simmering tension between Rupert Campbell Black and Taggie O’Hara reached a fever pitch that had viewers refreshing their Disney+ feeds for renewal news. The show’s success lies not just in its lavish period detail or the rolling hills of its countryside setting, but in how it captures the particular brand of cruelty that only the British elite can perfect, wrapped in enough sexual tension to steam up a Bentley’s windows.
The casting coup continues with Hayley Atwell and Rupert Everett joining as Helen and Malise Gordon, adding fresh blood to an already intoxicating mix of ambition and betrayal. These aren’t mere additions to fill episode time; they’re strategic moves that promise to deepen the show’s exploration of how power corrupts and how the wealthy play games with other people’s lives as their favorite pastime.
What started as a nostalgic trip back to shoulder pads and excess has evolved into something more substantial, a meditation on class, privilege, and the particular way that British society packages its cruelties in good manners and better tailoring. The show understands that behind every perfectly manicured estate lies a web of secrets that could destroy reputations, marriages, and entire empires with a single well-placed whisper at the right dinner party.
With filming underway and an early 2026 release window taking shape, RIVALS has positioned itself as the prestige drama that doesn’t apologize for being entertaining, proving that sometimes the most revealing stories about power come wrapped in silk scarves and served with a perfectly chilled glass of champagne. The second season won’t just continue where the first left off; it will dig deeper into the moral quicksand that lies beneath every perfectly pruned hedge in this glittering world where everyone has something to hide.
Michael Fassbender is trading the big screen for Netflix royalty!
The Irish-German powerhouse is set to play Joe Kennedy Sr. in KENNEDY, an 8-episode drama diving deep into America`s most mythologized family. No release date yet, but with Fassbender leading, this one`s already on our watchlist. 👑
More at irishfilmtv.com.
🔥 The feud that stopped a nation.
SAIPAN brings the explosive 2002 World Cup confrontation between Roy Keane and Mick McCarthy to the big screen—and it`s not about football glory, it`s about ego, standards, and two men whose rivalry became bigger than the game itself.
Watch the new trailer at irishfilmtv.com.
Pierce Brosnan is trading martinis for mountains.
The legendary Irish actor stars in the CLIFFHANGER reboot as Ray Cooper, a seasoned mountaineer running a luxury chalet in the Dolomites with his daughter.
More at irishfilmtv.com.
Brendan Gleeson is bringing all the feels in H IS FOR HAWK 🎬🦅
Playing the beloved father in this beautiful 2025 drama based on Helen Macdonald`s bestselling memoir, Gleeson delivers a performance that`s both tender and powerful.
More at irishfilmtv.com.
Netflix`s BALLAD OF A SMALL PLAYER has an amazing new trailer!
Colin Farrell plays an Irish fugitive hiding in Macau`s neon underworld as "Lord Doyle," gambling desperately to outrun his past.
The film opens in theaters Oct. 15 and starts streaming Oct. 29 on Netflix.
Watch now via link in bio.
Saoirse Ronan is heading back to the `60s! 🎸
The four-time Oscar nominee is reportedly set to play Linda McCartney in Sam Mendes` wildly ambitious THE BEATLES project—four separate films, each following a different Beatle.
She`ll star opposite Paul Mescal (her FOE co-star) as Paul McCartney, with Barry Keoghan as Ringo, Joseph Quinn as George, and Harris Dickinson as John.
More at irishfilmtv.com.
Cillian Murphy just confirmed THE IMMORTAL MAN drops in 2026 and Tommy Shelby is coming back with a vengeance. 🔥
Fresh off STEVE hitting Netflix, Murphy spilled the tea on The Graham Norton Show that the Peaky Blinders film has wrapped.
Watch now at irishfilmtv.com.
Graham Norton isn`t going anywhere!
The BBC has locked in three more series of THE GRAHAM NORTON SHOW - with 2.9 million viewers tuning in and clips going viral weekly, Norton continues to prove why he`s the gold standard for celebrity interviews.
More at irishfilmtv.com.
Cillian Murphy isn`t chasing blockbusters—he`s back in the classroom.
The Irish actor`s latest role in Netflix`s STEVE sees him playing a struggling teacher at a last-chance reform school, proving once again that he`s more interested in transformation than validation.
Watch Cillian`s TODAY interview via link in bio.
🖤⚡️ JESSIE BUCKLEY IS COMING BACK TO LIFE! ⚡️🖤
Ireland`s Irish powerhouse transforms into a Gaga-esque flapper brought back to life as the companion of Christian Bale`s creature in Maggie Gyllenhaal`s electrifying new take on THE BRIDE!
New trailer at irishfilmtv.com.
🌟 From THE WITCHER to DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS to EVERYTHING NOW.
Dublin`s @niamhhmccormack_ has been quietly building one of the most impressive portfolios in Irish acting.
Don`t miss her in HOUSE OF GUINNESS, now streaming on @netflix.
More at irishfilmtv.com.
🌊 When Oscar-nominated Stephen Rea (THE CRYING GAME, MICHAEL COLLINS, V FOR VENDETTA) lends his legendary voice to a haunting tale of shipwreck and survival, you know something magical is about to happen.
📍 @irishculturalcentre, Hammersmith
🗓️ November 8-9 ONLY
🎭 Don`t miss this exclusive London run!
More at irishfilmtv.com.
🎬 Cillian Murphy is absolutely unstoppable right now!
Three incredible performances in a row: Oscar winner OPPENHEIMER ✨ SMALL THINGS LIKE THESE 💫 and now STEVE - a powerhouse drama about a school headteacher fighting his own demons while saving troubled kids.
More at irishfilmtv.com.
THE WEIR is haunting London`s Harold Pinter Theatre until 6 Dec, and it`s pure magic. Brendan Gleeson makes his West End debut alongside an incredible cast in Conor McPherson`s modern masterpiece - with the playwright himself directing for the first time!
"It`s already a classic in the canon of world theatre," says Seán McGinley, and honestly? We believe him. Sometimes the most powerful stories happen over a pint, in the space between words, where kindness becomes community.
More at irishfilmtv.com.
🏆 IRISH TALENT TAKES TORONTO!
Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal just won BIG at TIFF with HAMNET - snagging the People`s Choice Award that`s basically an Oscar crystal ball ✨
More at irishfilmtv.com.
