The Witcher and Call the Midwife stars join Danny Dyer and David Tennant's Disney+ drama
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Former EastEnders star Danny Dyer and David Tennant are among those leading the cast of Disney+ drama Rivals – and now, further cast members have been announced.
The Witcher's Anthony Byrne and Call the Midwife's Bryony Hannah are among a host of names added to the cast list for the eight-part drama, Variety reports.
Rivals is based on the book of the same name by Jilly Cooper, which is set in the cutthroat world of independent TV in 1980s England.
Tennant and The Boys' Alex Hassell star as the embittered, titular rivals – Corinium Television controller Lord Tony Baddingham and his archenemy, Tory MP and former Olympian Rupert Campbell-Black. The two also happen to be neighbours.
Byrne has been cast as Rupert's ruthless 'enforcer' Ginger Baines, while Hannah will play TV researcher Deirdre Kilpatrick.
Related: EastEnders' Danny Dyer has medieval makeover for first role since soap exit
Dyer, who was seen on set recently in black tie with a moustache, is playing a self-made millionaire named Freddie Jones who feels like an outsider among Rutshire's super-rich – until Rupert and Tony approach him with a business proposition...
Further new cast additions include Downton Abbey's Brendan Patricks and Back's Olivia Poulet as Henry and Hermione Hampshire, as well as Annabel Scholey (The Split) as ruthless journalist Beattie Johnson.
Former Coronation Street and Emmerdale star Denise Black plays Tony's steadfast secretary Joyce Madden. Maggie Steed (Ten Percent) is Independent Broadcasters' Association chair Lady Gosling, with David Calder as her "dogmatic right-hand man" Fergus Penney.
Meanwhile, Boiling Point's Gary Lamont is also set to star as Charles Fairburn, described as a "dryly funny TV controller", while Milo Callaghan (FBI International) is Seb Burrows, a "clean-cut young producer pretending to know what he's doing".
Living's Hubert Burton plays Gerald Middleton, Rupert's besotted personal aide, Enola Holmes 2's Gabriel Tierney is Patrick O'Hara, an aspiring playwright, and Mood's Lara Peake also joins the cast as PA Daysee Butler.
Related: The Full Monty series gets first trailer for Disney+ show
Previously-announced cast members include Poldark's Aidan Turner as Declan O'Hara, an intellectual TV presenter with a quick temper who gets caught up in Tony and Rupert's rivalry. Victoria Smurfit (Bloodlands, Once Upon a Time) plays Declan's wife, Maud O'Hara.
The huge ensemble also includes Black Lightning's Nafessa Williams as ambitious TV producer Cameron Cook, with Skins' Luke Pasqualino as Tony's younger brother Bas, who owns a bar, and Sherwood's Claire Rushbrook as Tony's wife, Lady Monica Baddingham – who couldn't care less about all the drama at Corinium.
Humans' Katherine Parkinson plays romance novelist Lizzie Vereker, who feels overshadowed by her TV presenter husband James (played by The Crown's Oliver Chris).
Maternal's Lisa McGrillis also stars as Freddie's wife Valerie, while Emily Atack and W1A's Rufus Jones are playing Sarah Stratton and deputy prime minister Paul Stratton.
Rivals, based on Jilly Cooper's book of the same name, will air on Disney+ in the UK. No release date has been announced as of yet.
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