Rivals star David Tennant says leading actor Bafta nomination was a ‘real shock’

Rivals star David Tennant has said his Bafta TV awards nomination for leading actor for his role in the series was a “real shock” to him.

The 54-year-old actor plays Lord Tony Baddingham in the Disney+ drama, which is adapted from a novel by Dame Jilly Cooper, and depicts the ruthless world of independent television in 1986.

Speaking about his nomination at a nominees party at London’s Victoria And Albert Museum, former Doctor Who star Tennant said: “It was a real shock, I was not expecting it and I’m very thrilled to be here.

“I’m going to make the most (of it), I’m coming to the party, I’m doing the works this year.”

The actor, who will appear as an interviewee on ITV’s The Assembly on Sunday, which sees celebrities interviewed by a group of autistic, neurodivergent and learning disabled people, said his wife had predicted Rivals’ success.

He added: “My wife was always very sure (of the show), she knew the book of old, and when she saw that it was being dramatised, and indeed when a script pinged through on an email, she went, ‘oh, this is going to be the biggest show of the year’.

“I’ve never read a Jilly Cooper book, I knew, sort of that they’d been big in the 80s, I knew that they were well known for certain things, I thought that (right?).

“But she was absolutely right, I mean, it just took off.

“It was brilliantly adapted, I think Dominic Treadwell-Collins (the show’s writer and producer) and his team, and all the writers they really got the tone of it, because it’s from the 80s, so it’s a period as well, so it’s a bit like doing a Dickens or a Trollope or something.

“It’s got all the texture of looking into the past, as well as all these extraordinary characters and all the twists and turns of it.

“So Georgia (Tennant’s wife) was right, very pleased to say.”

Rivals has six nominations across the Bafta TV awards, along with a nod in the memorable moment category, for the moment Rupert Campbell Black (Alex Hassell) and Sarah Stratton (Emily Atack) are caught playing naked tennis.

Netflix’s dark comedy series Baby Reindeer is the most nominated show at the 2025 awards, with eight nominations, while Rivals and ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office are the second most nominated series with six each.

The Bafta Television Craft Awards, hosted by Stacey Dooley, will take place on Sunday April 27, with the Bafta Television Awards, hosted by Alan Cumming, taking place on May 11, and broadcast on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.