Behind the scenes on Rivals season two: 'It's bigger, bolder, bonkier!'

Key developments are emerging from the global stage. Behind the scenes on Rivals season two: 'It's bigger, bolder, bonkier! '7 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on GoogleColin PatersonEntertainment correspondentJulius Peacock/BBCDanny Dyer: "My grandchildren only know me as a moustached man, and that depresses me"On a freezing November evening in the Cotswolds, Danny Dyer is calling on more than 30 years' experience as an actor to prepare himself to cope with the night of filming ahead. "You got to put them heat pads in your trotters," he says, gesturing towards his feet.

"I've got two double ones for me toes," he continues, "and Long Johns obviously. "We have been invited to the set of Rivals, the adaptation of Jilly Cooper's bonkbuster, which has generated exactly the kind of heat the cast and crew could do with tonight. The show's first season even won the International Emmy Award for best drama in the hours before we arrived.

The Details

The location is Chavenage House, near Tetbury in Gloucestershire, where a bonfire scene is to be filmed for season two. Julius Peacock/BBCPoldark actor Aidan Turner's character, TV presenter Declan O'Hara, also sports an impressive moustacheIn the series, the Elizabethan manor house is the residence of TV presenter Declan O'Hara, played by Aidan Turner. In an act of serendipity, he's lived here in a previous incarnation - this was also the home of Poldark, his breakthrough role.

"I don't think anyone knew until my first day shooting here and then word got around and they wondered if they'd made a mistake," the actor laughs. "But actually, they've dressed it so differently I don't recognise it as the place I used to shoot in. "He did, however, insist on the "Poldark shrine" in the women's toilets being taken down.

"It was just a big picture of my face looking at everyone who went to the bathroom. "In the men's, there was a sign that said 'Poldark peed here'. That was quite funny, though.

What Experts Say

"The pre-existing Poldark tours of the establishment will now surely be augmented to incorporate Rivals, such has been the success of the show. 'I do terrible things in series two'DisneyDavid Tennant portrays the "badly behaved" Lord Tony BaddinghamPerched on a desk in a room that acts as a 1980s TV company office is David Tennant, whose character Lord Baddingham provides the moral vacuum at the centre of Rivals. Surrounded by Filofaxes, fax machines and VHS recorders, he shares his theory of why the first series was such a hit.

"The characters are delicious, the stakes are so high and the scenarios we find ourselves in are so juicy," he says. Tennant is excited by what series two has to offer Lord Tony. "I thought he was quite badly behaved in series one, but I do terrible things in series two.

I mean really despicable. "Adopting a comedic conspiratorial tone, he leans in to reveal: "The scene I'm filming tonight, I'm doing something slightly nefarious in some bushes outside. Which could mean anything in this show, frankly.

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.