Rivals ending explained: Is [SPOILER] really dead?

The series, which is based on Jilly Cooper's famously sexy novel series, revolves around Lord Tony Baddingham (David Tennant) as he takes on his arch-nemesis Rupert Campbell-Black (Alex Hassell) and former employee Declan O'Hara (Aidan Turner) in a fight to get their hands on Rutshire's TV franchise.

And the tension only continued to rise between our three power-hungry leads as we headed into the Rivals finale.

While Corinium bagged an award on the night, tensions continued to fizz as Lady Monica (Claire Rushbrook) could sense something between her husband and producer Cameron Cook (Nafessa Williams) – and she was certainly right.

In fact, things got a lot more serious between the pair as Tony vowed to be all Cameron's.

Tony managed to get under Rupert, Declan and Freddie's (Danny Dyer) skin by planting a seed of doubt in their minds about how successful Venturer actually will be. But in amidst the second-guessing, Rupert's brainwave of bringing Cameron on board as a Controller of Programmes sees the ultimate test of loyalty start to unfold.

The plot twists didn't stop there as Tony proposed to Cameron but even so, she made the decision to join Venturer – even if that means angering the man who is hopelessly in love with her. So, as we said, very high stakes going into the finale meaning there's a lot to break down from that final episode.

Read on for a full explanation of the final episode of Rivals.

Rivals ending explained

After plenty of knocking on doors and getting their founding team together, it's the day that Venturer has been waiting for – a fateful face-off with Corinium Television.

Although Lord Tony has the control over the Central South West currently, a public televised meeting between the two companies will decide whether Venturer can contend against Corinium for the franchise.

But before it gets going, Tony is full of suspicion as he underlines once again that if he finds out anyone in Corinium has been working for Venturer, they will never have a job in the TV industry again. Tony fires Seb (Milo Callaghan) publicly and then directs his line of questioning to Cameron, who he quizzes about spending time with Declan's son Patrick (Gabriel Tierney).

Managing to alleviate his suspicions – at least, for now – both sides prepare to take to the stage to fight for their own companies. Joining the side of Corinium is new talkshow co-host Lizzie (Katherine Parkinson), who walks to meet her husband in his dressing room but hears him having sex with Sarah Stratton (Emily Atack).

Flustered and choosing not to confront him about it before the debate gets underway, Katherine tries to remain as composed as possible. Both sides of the battle prepare to pull out the nasty and emotional stops to impress the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA), as well as the viewers in the audience and watching at home.

Speeches and quips about the other side are made and so are announcements, including Tony's commissioning of a new scandalous gossip show headed up by Sarah and Beattie Johnson (Annabel Scholey). It's an announcement that takes both Sarah and Cameron by surprise as neither had been informed of Tony's new plans.

It's enough to make Cameron suspicious and although the live TV show debate doesn't end well for Corinium, her fears surround Tony knowing about her work with Venturer. She talks to Rupert about it, not quite knowing whether Tony may know something or not. But quelling her worries, Rupert says that no matter what happens with Corinium vs Venturer, he will "look after" her no matter what.

Left to lick his wounds in his office, things grow worse for Tony's personal life as Lady Monica pays him a visit. Having seen how he interacted with Cameron on TV at the BTA's, Monica doesn't outrightly call Tony out on his cheating but does remind him of her loyalty.

She explains that even her "stoicism has a limit", telling Tony to "be careful" and that he is to come home that evening so they can talk otherwise she will take the children and leave.

At the same time, Sarah is having an emotional breakdown in the office toilets and her husband Paul (Rufus Jones) asks Lizzie if she could go in and help her. Even though she now knows Sarah's sleeping with her husband, Lizzie goes in and comforts her as they talk about how men hold the power in their worlds.

Something strikes a chord in Lizzie who dashes off after the conversation, but it's also worth noting that when Lizzie entered the toilets, Sarah was throwing up – clearly suffering from morning sickness after finding out she was pregnant that same morning.

Could the TV presenter actually be pregnant with James's (Oliver Chris) child?

The Venturer team return to Declan's home to have a party and await the results of the bid but it's quickly obvious that Maud (Victoria Smurfit) isn't enjoying herself and hasn't been successful in getting her husband's attention. She explains her emotions to Declan as she prepares to leave for London, telling him that she's put her dreams of returning to the stage on hold for long enough.

While neither Taggie or Declan want her to leave, her decision is ultimately made as, when she's about to say goodbye, Declan receives the fateful call from the IBA and chooses to take it.

As she walks out of the house, Maud hears the house explode into cheers, meaning that Venturer has been successful in their franchise bid after all.

What happens between Lizzie and Freddie?

Earlier in the afterparty, Valerie (Lisa McGrillis) makes her excuses for leaving and tells Freddie she's taking the kids home. But not before surprising her husband with an unexpected show of affection and telling him how proud she is of him with his work on Venturer.

The spirits are most certainly high as the party gets underway and after having a revelation about her own marriage after finding out James is sleeping with Sarah, Lizzie approaches Freddie confidently.

The pair walk through the grounds surrounding the O'Hara home and eventually kiss, having avoided doing so for some time. Lizzie and Freddie then have sex, thereby consummating their will they/won't they spark and starting up the affair that Lizzie has rethought her ideas on.

At the same time, Charles (Gary Lamont) tells Gerald (Hubert Breton) that he would like for them to be friends but Gerald says he has found a woman he can "bare" to be married to in order to advance his political career. He tells Charles they can continue their secret relationship as he can't live without him, which Charles seems happy about.

What happens between Lord Tony and Cameron?

After Rupert invites Cameron to the Venturer get-together, Cameron is about to leave the Corinium offices when she is stopped in her tracks by Tony. Standing in the dark and waiting for her, he asks her to come to his office.

But there, he confronts her and asks her how long she's been sleeping with Rupert. Although Tony's onto the truth, Cameron brushes it off as simply trying to get information from the competition but Tony doesn't believe her. He starts to plead with her, telling her that he'll even bring in a solicitor the following day to draw up his divorce from Monica so that he and Cameron can be together.

But he'll only do that if Cameron states that she won't ever let Rupert touch her again, petulantly saying: "Let me have this one, please."

Cameron refuses and it sends Tony into a tailspin, with Tony threatening to sack Cameron which will thereby jeoparise her working visa.

Cameron is unfazed, though, as she states she'll simply marry Rupert to remain in the country and it's this statement that is Tony's complete undoing as he slaps Cameron round the face. The pair get into a violent tustle and as Tony lunges at Cameron, she picks up the only thing near her – the weighty gold Spanish TV award – and hits Tony in the head.

Do Rupert and Taggie get together in Rivals?

Having exchanged stolen glances throughout the party – and of course, the entire series – Taggie seems determined to corner Rupert about something. Seeing that he's gone into the kitchen, Taggie also enters to chat to him but Rupert starts to leave.

On his way out, he comments that Seb (Milo Callaghan) seems to be a great match for Taggie but Taggie simply says that Seb isn't Rupert. Surprised by her comment, Rupert comes back into the kitchen and embraces Taggie. Rupert admits that similarly, Cameron isn't Taggie but he's trapped because of the franchise. He then admits to Taggie that he can't breathe without her.

Finally admitting their feelings for one another, Rupert and Taggie kiss – but what will this spell for their relationships and also, Rupert's working partnership with Taggie's father Declan?

Is Tony actually dead at the end of Rivals?

After being clubbed over the head with the award, we see Tony lying motionless on the floor of his office with a pool of blood forming around his head. Cameron is shocked and stands still not knowing what to do as we see Tony draw his last shaky breaths.

Footage of Tony's earlier speeches during the day play in the background on his various TV screens, providing some eerie background noise and we see Tony take one last breath before closing his eyes.

It's too soon to say whether or not Tony could actually be dead, but it certainly looks that way from the final short glimpse. However, it could also be possible that Cameron could snap into gear and call for help before it's too late or that even, Tony may actually be alright and use the violent incident as blackmail over his former lover.

Either way, it's certainly a corker of a cliffhanger to leave Rivals on!

Rivals is available to watch on Disney Plus. Sign up to Disney Plus now for £4.99 per month or £79.90 for a full year.

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