Hayley Atwell, Rupert Everett and More Join 'Rivals' Season 2 Cast

Filming is currently taking place on the highly anticipated second season of Hulu's Rivals, the addictive soap based on the popular Rutshire Chronicles novels by Dame Jilly Cooper. The throwback-style 1980s drama was so successful in its first outing that Season 2 landed an additional four-episode order, making it clear that the show's going to continue to expand its world and story in its sophomore outing, adding multiple new faces to the series' roster, many of which will be very familiar to Anglophiles.

The series ostensibly follows the titular rivalry between former Olympian turned Tory politician Rupert Campbell-Black (Alex Hassell) and ambitious television executive Lord Tony Baddingham (David Tennant). But the series ultimately took some liberties with its source material, fleshing out multiple secondary characters and adding some unexpected narrative swerves along the way. Its first season ended with drama of the professional, journalistic, and romantic variety, and leaves plenty of intriguing questions for its second to deal with (and which I will not spoil for you here).

Hayley Atwell (Heartstopper) has been tapped to take over the role of Helen Gordon, Rupert's ex-wife and the mother of his two children, Marcus and Tabitha. Rupert Everett (The Serpent Queen) will play her husband, Malise Gordon, who also happens to be Rupert's former show-jumping coach and mentor. Never let it be said that relationships in Rutshire aren't messy as hell.