David Tennant’s 80s-Set Disney+ Comedy Rivals Roars Back With a Perfect 100% on Rotten Tomatoes

If you love your TV with a side of chaos, big hair, and backstabbing, you’ll probably want to check out 'Rivals' Season 2. The Disney+ (and Hulu) series just dropped its new season, and the early buzz is wild—in a good way. The show is basically a gloriously messy cocktail of 1980s drama, power struggles, and characters who clearly never heard the phrase 'too much.' David Tennant returns to chew the scenery (which he does very, very well), and as of now, critics are way into it—like, perfect Rotten Tomatoes score into it. But there’s a bit more going on here than the usual splashy hype, so let’s dig in.

Second Season: Louder, Wilder, and Still Set in the Excess-Soaked 1980s

The setup: David Tennant is back as Tony Baddingham, the kind of charming, ruthless guy who probably loses sleep if everyone in the room doesn’t know he’s in charge. The story’s set in Thatcher-era England, where media moguls and ambitious upstarts are all tangled in a game of one-upmanship that’s about equal parts scandal and slap-fighting. The cast still includes Alex Hassell, Aidan Turner, and Nafessa Williams, so the drama is fully stocked.

According to people who’ve actually seen the second season, things are even wilder this time. Collider’s Therese Lacson actually called this run 'a resounding win'—apparently, just about everything that worked in Season 1 is ramped up now. Another reviewer, Amelia Harvey from Movies We Texted About, described it as 'trashy TV for grownups,' which is a compliment (I think?)—she points out that, sure, it’s campy, but it’s also sneakily smart about all the ego and greed of the ‘80s.

Not Everyone's Completely Sold

Of course, not all critics are ready to crown this the best thing since Dynasty—some take issue with its pacing, especially when the show gets bogged down in TV industry subplots. Financial Times critic Rebecca Nicholson said the show could use more physical comedy ('more slapstick', if you want the buzzword) to keep the tone light, and the Daily Telegraph’s Ed Power summed it up as something like 'a Mexican telenovela meets a po-faced BBC period drama.' So, depending on your taste, that’s either a big selling point or a polite warning.

The Rotten Tomatoes Situation

Regardless of a few nitpicks on plot or tone, critics seem to agree on one thing: 'Rivals' Season 2 is hitting all the right notes for now. As of this writing, it’s sitting at a rare 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes—truly, the unicorn of TV scores. That’ll probably change as more reviews drop, but for the moment, it’s rubbing shoulders with the big leagues.

The Vibe: All-In on the ‘80s

• Soundtrack: Yes, they splurged—the music features David Bowie, Sade, and Shocking Blue, among others. Metro’s Rebecca Cook singled that out as a huge plus.
• The Look: Over-the-top clothes, massive hair, and what Cook calls 'deliberately tacky' set design. Imagine an '80s theme party where everyone’s fighting for a promotion.

So if you’re in the mood for something that’s all about big risks, bigger personalities, and the kind of retro excess that only TV can do, 'Rivals' might be your next binge. Here’s one of those rare cases where the buzz matches the bonkers energy on screen.

'Trashy TV for grownups, but it’s smarter than it looks, thanks to how sharply it digs into the ego and greed of the 1980s.'