#rivalsbts

[mizgnomer]

Behind the Scenes of Rivals - with David Tennant & friends

Excerpt from Caitlin Moran's The Time Magazine article (Sept 2024)

David Tennant — wearing a lavish, gold, silken man-blouse and sucking on a cigar — is furious. He is savaging a roomful of party people, all looking stricken — and all, incongruously, wearing swimwear. “How the f*** has this happened?” Tennant screams, as all the tits and legs fidget, gaudy piña coladas abandoned. “Get the f*** out there and sort this out! And why are you all wearing bikinis?” Tennant storms from the room, apoplectic with rage — and then sees me. “Oh, hello, darling,” he says, all sweetness and light. “CUT!” the director calls. Today, David Tennant isn’t, of course, David Tennant. He’s Tony Baddingham, the infamous, nominative-determinist baddie of Jilly Cooper’s Rivals. “So, is this fun?” I ask him. The last time I saw him on set, he was being the Doctor in Doctor Who, in a floor-length coat, trying to save the world from being exploded. Again. In the rain. In Wales. At 1am. “Oh yes,” Tennant says. “I mean, look at my blouse. It’s like my aunt’s! Actually, I think it might be hers — it closes right to left. Don’t men’s buttons close left to right? Am I wearing,” he asks the room at large, “a woman’s blouse?” “We need to go again, David,” the director says. “Back in a tick,” Tennant says, running back on set, sucking on his cigar. Getting ready to be really evil, and Eighties, again.

[mizgnomer]

Behind the Scenes of Rivals - with David Tennant & friends [ Part 5 ]

Excerpt from Esquire's interview with director Elliot Hegarty and costume designer Ray Holman:

RH: With Tony [ Baddingham, played by David Tennant ], Jilly [Cooper, author] described him as having seen a performance of Bugsy Malone - and he kind of believed it. I think he had three colours in his silk shirts. We got Mr Dometakis [ Andreas Dometakis, venerable London shirtmaker ] who has made shirts for the industry for years, to make Tony's shirts. They were all made in silk. And the rest were Savile Row. Everything for Tony was bespoke.

EH: We even made his signet ring. Our production designer designed a Corinium logo, and we got [ jewelry brand ] Alex Monroe to make a stone which is carved out with the logo. We decided that Tony is always trying to prove something. He wasnts to be better than everyone else. So, he wears everything all at once. The tiepins! His tie and his hanky sometimes don't match. You're not supposed to wear spots and stripes together. But that's the point. He's got too much money, and not necessarily enough taste. His wife is the person who has the taste.

RH: David [Tennant] loves clothes! We've worked together before [on Doctor Who] and his words to me were 'So, these are going to bespoke, aren't they?' Yes, that's the point!

Link to other parts: [ One ] [Two ] [ Three ] [ Four ]

[mizgnomer]

Behind the Scenes of Rivals - with David Tennant & friends [ Part 6 ]

Excerpt from The Mirror (6 Oct 2024):

The actor says an early scene where the pathologically competitive Tony leaps from his helicopter onto the croquet lawn is his favorite career moment so far. "That hole-in-one, I would like you to know, was probably the greatest day of my professional life," he laughs. Instructed by the director to "whack it" from 30 feet away he was told the cameras would keep running until he managed it. "I thought the crew are gonna hate me by take 402," he remembers. "And I nailed it on take four. I've never felt more pleased with myself than that moment. I felt like a sporting God."

Link to other parts: [ One ] [Two ] [ Three ] [ Four ] [ Five ]

[mizgnomer]

Behind the Scenes of Rivals - with David Tennant & friends [ Part 4 ]

Excerpt from a GBH Interview with Aiden Turner and Nafessa Williams (by Amanda-Rae Prescott) October 2024:

The audience will want to punch Tony in the face, but how was David Tennant on set? Aidan Turner: Nobody ever wants to punch David in the face. He’s the loveliest guy you’ll ever meet. Nafessa Williams: David is the sweetest, gentlest, most talented person to be on set with and to learn from. I liked observing him and how he moved on set. He’s very sharp at what he does, but he’s absolutely nothing like Tony. Although he can play it well and he comes off really scary, he’s not that guy in real life.

Link to [ Part One ] [ Part Two ] [ Part Three ]

[mizgnomer]

Behind the Scenes of Rivals - with David Tennant & friends [ Part 3 ]

Excerpt from Caitlin Moran’s The Time Magazine article (Sept 2024)

I’m interviewing Hassell, 44, and Tennant, 53, together. As a former Doctor, Tennant has, of course, a lot of experience in playing a role women find attractive. “Once you’ve made [Rupert Campbell-Black] flesh, I think a lot of people are going to find it difficult to interact with you, Alex,” he says, helpfully. It seems Hassell is aware of this. “Yes,” he says. “One friend, when I told her, said, ‘Oh, that’s a bean-flicker role!’ I said, ‘Ah, I see.’ ” “Huh. I don’t think I’ve ever had anyone come up to me and say, ‘I’ve masturbated thinking about you,’ ” Tennant says, thoughtfully. “David!” Hassell exclaims, hurt. “When we met, that’s the first thing I said.”

Link to [ Part One ] [ Part Two ]

[mizgnomer]

Behind the Scenes of Rivals - with David Tennant & friends [ Part 2 ]

Excerpt from Caitlin Moran’s The Time Magazine article (Sept 2024)

There is an emotional support dog on set - of course there is. An ice-cream van turns up at 2pm - burly crew members walk around the grounds eating tiny pink strawberry cones, looking delighted. And, for reasons I never fully discover, someone has a ferret on a lead. As I wander around the gigantic mansion, I bump into various cast members, who all seem overjoyed to be there. Claire Rushbrook, who plays Monica Baddingham - Tony Baddingham's posh, tolerant wife - is in the orangery, having her makeup done, eating a scone. "I mean, we are doing acting," she says. "I want to make that clear. But... it is also enormous fun." When it comes to the atmosphere on set, I later talk to David Tennant about this subject. "Yes - there was a lot of due diligence about only having... joyful people on set. Crew and cast," Tennant says, carefully. Dominic Treadwell-Collins [ producer ] is more forthright. "We had a very strict 'no arseholes' policy," he says. "We did a lot of research. On EastEnders, some of [the cast] were really unpleasant; rotten apples who ruined it. For Rivals, we talked to producers and agents off the record, and if they said, 'He's a marvelous actor - but also a wanker,' or 'He'll be amazing, but he did beat up a girlfriend ten years ago,' we just didn't cast them. Lots of people [in television] will put up with it. We were like, 'Life's too short.' Also, if you've got David Tennant on the call sheet, he's such a genuinely lovely, kind, decent man - and that flows down through everyone else.

Link to [ Part One ]

Please click to enlarge some of those group shots