Was it possible for Tony Baddingham to get even darker? Well, Rivals season 2 certainly marks a new darker era for the character after the cliffhanger ending of season 1 left fans questioning whether or not David Tennant would even be returning for anymore episodes.
It seems being clubbed over the head with a TV award wasn’t enough to get rid of him and now, Tony is back for revenge – and he has his sights set firmly, as ever, on his rivals at Venturer.
But did it feel as though Tennant was inhabiting a darker version of his character this time round? When asked by Radio Times in an exclusive chat for Rivals season 2, Tennant said: “Definitely! It definitely felt like, post his injury, he gets back up to fighting fit relatively quickly, but it’s like he’s not all quite back. The guardrails are off.
“What filters he had seemed to have evaporated on the floor of his office in a pool of blood.
“So, there’s something slightly unhinged about him, slightly more unhinged about him.”
Tennant continued: “There’s something – he’s kind of off the chain and that becomes sort of an issue between Monica and Tony as well because she’s been good at containing him. She’s been good at giving him so much rope, but not enough.”
Monica Baddingham actress Claire Rushbrook added: “He’s been good at containing himself, and you know, this injury and all the other fervour that he’s feeling means that he’s less, you know, able at that to do.”
Read more:
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As we see in the premiere episode of Rivals season 2, Cameron (Nafessa Williams) continues to play both sides as Tony seeks to kiss and make up. It’s a strange turn of events, with Tony clearly plotting something wider but Cameron does confront him about her true feelings for her.
He may have proposed to her at the end of season 1 and vowed to divorce Monica, but Cameron states that Tony doesn’t actually love her and simply just wants to beat Rupert Campbell-Black (Alex Hassell).
When asked if he thinks Tony actually loves Cameron, Tennant told Radio Times: “I think there are moments when he absolutely believes he does, but he’s an opportunist and he lives very much in the moment.
“He’s slightly psychopathic, so I don’t know that it necessarily would mean the same to Tony as it might to somebody looking at it objectively, including Cameron.”
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Rivals is available to stream on Disney+. Season 2 premieres on Friday 15 May 2026. Sign-up to Disney+ from £5.99 a month.
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