As soon as I walked into the room to speak with Danny Dyer and Katherine Parkinson about the second season of Rivals, I was immediately enveloped by a wave of warmth. 'Watch your nut on that mic,' Danny cautioned kindly as I ducked to avoid hitting the boom microphone with my head while settling into my seat for our Metro interview. Our conversation quickly shifted to my bright pink blazer, complete with 1980s shoulder pads. But as much as I would have loved to continue chatting with them both, as if I were with my closest friends, we had pressing matters to address: the highly anticipated second season of their brilliant show.
Rivals is brimming with copulating couples, steamy trysts, and salacious gossip. Yet amidst all the gasp-inducing raunchiness, their characters Freddie and Lizzie bring a different element to the rolling hills of Rutshire: tenderness. 'That's what makes it interesting. It's two decent human beings who are in sort of loveless marriages, who are not treated very well, who find their soulmate at the wrong point of their life, but they can't help but act on it,' Danny, 48, explains.
Fans of the television show might adore watching Freddie and Lizzie's slow-burning romance heat up, with each grazing of the finger and lingering look making pulses race. However, there are some people in Danny and Katherine's lives who cannot bear to watch: their families. While the relationships in Rivals are treated sensitively both on and off screen, one can only imagine what it is like for the friends and family of the actors to see their loved ones in a show that has been dubbed a 'bonkfest'.
'Well, my daughters are very much going, "Dad, I need time codes,"' Danny admits, referring to his daughters Dani Dyer, 29, and Sunnie Jo Dyer, 19. Danny also shares a 12-year-old son, Arty Dyer, with his wife Joanne Mas. Katherine, whose character Lizzie appears to draw parallels with the late, great Dame Jilly Cooper, author of the books, has two daughters with her husband, actor Harry Peacock.
The IT Crowd star says she 'completely respects' her father not wanting to watch her in the series. 'My brothers haven't watched it. Completely respect that. My brother's wife loves it,' she continues. 'I think my husband really respects it. And said, "Go for it" in the first series, but he doesn't want to watch those scenes, and I, again, completely respect that. I would not want to watch if the shoe was on the other foot, but I think to honour their storyline and to feel free in the moment to tell stories is great.' 'Of course, it's an odd job we do. I love it,' Danny summarises. 'You've got to commit to these things.'
As much as fans love Lizzie and Freddie's storyline, Katherine stresses: 'It's not us.' While this might sound like an obvious thing to say, it is still an important reminder. 'I read an interview with an actress who said she'd feel unfaithful to her husband, and I disagree with that, because it's acting in the same way that if I played a murderer, I wouldn't feel like I've murdered someone.'
In the first season of Rivals, self-made electronics businessman Freddie and romance author Lizzie resisted their connection for a while. However, in the end, they could not deny their magnetic attraction, with their flirtations building to a crescendo and the pair finally sleeping together. Despite them cheating on their respective partners, Val (Lisa McGrillis) and James (Oliver Chris), the audience roots for them to do so. The affection they have for one another is genuine, and they give each other happiness that they otherwise lack in their lives.
'I think there's a stage where she thinks there's hope in her marriage still,' says Katherine, 48, whom I spoke to days after her win at the Bafta TV Awards. 'But I think when you use the word tenderness, that's what it is. It's a tender dynamic. From those first early meetings, when I asked him what he loves most about his job, and he says, "What a lovely question." And on the train, when she accidentally says an innuendo, and he laughs at her. It's gentle, and it's wholesome, and it's tender, and I think really makes it feel like its own thing in this show.'
Danny chimes in: 'In this show full of beautiful people – I'm not saying we're not beautiful, because I think we are very attractive people. We are the underdog in that. We're not people that dress up, peacocking and giving it big. So our little moments, our tender moments, are right there where there's something quite real and vulnerable. As it goes on, they become a lot more confident with each other and their sexuality.'
At the end of season one, Freddie and Lizzie had their happy ending… but the story does not end there. They both have spouses and children, and they are at opposite ends of the Corinium versus Venturer TV network rivalry. It is all well and good for viewers to want Freddie and Lizzie to get together – especially because Lizzie has endured her husband James continually neglecting her and cheating on her with his TV co-host Sarah Stratton (Emily Attack) – but they also have to face the consequences.
'I think it tells the story of an affair really well, because it's like, sort of trying to fight it, enjoying it, and then the ugly consequences of it,' Katherine says. 'People were rooting for infidelity, but there are people involved in this, and we have to delve into that a little bit more,' Danny adds.
'The children – my [on-screen] children are of an age of, I think one's 16, one's 17. So they're young adults, and they love their dad. They struggle with Val a bit because she's not very maternal. She just gets it wrong. She's always thinking about herself. So the idea of their dad leaving – that's what Freddie's torn with. Will I swan off with the love of my life, leaving Val with the kids? No.'
'Although we got a happy ending in the first series, what happens after the happy ending? That's kind of what we deal with,' Katherine shares. Rivals is available to stream on Disney Plus, with season 2 episodes being released on Fridays.
