Warning: This article contains spoilers for Rivals season 2 episodes 7-9.

A mid-season pause right after a catastrophic death is one way to keep your viewers on tenterhooks. But in the interim that Rivals hasn't been on our screens, it's paved the way for many fans to ideate just how Lady Monica Baddingham’s (Claire Rushbrook) shock exit could send shockwaves through Rutshire.

Aside from sparing a moment for poor Dame Enid (Selina Griffiths), who had kept her (very much requited) love for Monica a secret since their school days, fans' thoughts will quickly turn to how things will pan out for Monica's children and her expectedly guilt-ridden son Archie (Louis Landau) — but also, of course, husband Tony (David Tennant).

The second season of the hit Jilly Cooper adaptation series has shown a marked intensity with which Lord Baddingham has gone after retaining his control over British television. The head of Corinium TV has always been a controversial figure, with his propensity for pure evil and destruction clear from the show's first episodes. But if viewers were anticipating that his new widower status would soften his razor-sharp edges or blur his cutthroat tunnel vision for power, they'd be mistaken.

In fact, as he maniacally chuckles and raises a glass of champagne to being a widower, it's clear that we were never really going to be at a personality crossroads for Tony. It's merely a sob story that he can mine for personal gain – and we shouldn't have expected anything less.

Realistically, season 2 was never going to pick up with a drivelling, snotty-nosed Tony leafing through photo albums of Monica; the heartbroken clichés were never on the cards here. But his subsequent season 2 trajectory does cement him as one of current TV’s worst yet captivating characters.

Where many may have expected a gaping hole in Tony's life that would be prime for self-reflection, he instead steps into a much darker chapter, one fans may have not thought possible.

Tennant's long been a reliable and stellar actor on our screens, demonstrating an effortless ability to take on all kinds of personas. Where his high energy turn as Doctor Who's Fourteenth Doctor stands the test of time as a favourite of many, Tennant has no problem reaching into his bag of acting tricks to pull off staggering performances each and every time.

From embodying the grumpy yet dedicated DI Alec Hardy in Broadchurch, haunting us all as serial killer Dennis Nilsen in Des, delivering both charm and chill in Deadwater Fell, and recently captivating in Time, Tennant's stint as Tony Baddingham was always going to be scene-stealing just due to his talent. He has always shone in Rivals' stacked ensemble, but there's something even more enthralling this season as we witness the actor transform into a more evil version of an objectively already awful, irredeemable character.

In that seventh episode alone, he blames teenager Caitlin (Catriona Chandler) for Monica's death, is ready to have sex with his sister-in-law Araminta (Rachael Stirling) and kicks out every funeral guest from his home. His warning of "F**k off out of my house otherwise I’ll blow your f**king brains out" comes with Tennant's increasingly signature deadpan expression, delivered with such potency that as he loads his rifle, you know he means it.

While unexpected sympathy comes in the moments afterwards where Tony breaks down in his brother Bas's (Luca Pasqualino) arms in a way we've never seen before, it’s short-lived. Because lest I remind you: we simply must never trust Tony! As the episode closes and Phil Collins's iconic In the Air Tonight rings out, we see Tony kill Monica's most prized possessions: her peacocks.

Up until that point, viewers – like the residents of Rutshire – are left unsure of how Tony's coping in the face of Monica's death. But as that first returning episode proves, and as the subsequent ones that come after it prove, there's nothing more profound lying beneath the surface of Lord Baddingham.

When asked whether Tony will be nicer now he's a widower, Tony's secretary Joyce (Denise Black) plainly describes the CEO as having "lost his conscience" and says that he can, quite literally, do anything he wants now – and that he does.

Using Monica's death as the basis for his franchise presentation is a new low, but what follows is even more stomach-churning as Tony reacts to information that Corinium may have been usurped by Venturer. Having never done anything about production assistant Daysee's (Lara Peake) season 1 sexual assault, Tony uses it to blackmail rapist Reverend Fergus Penney (David Calder) in order to ensure Corinium wins the bid with his vote.

Perhaps it says something of us all that a figure as powerful, frightening and unpredictable as Tony is a guilty pleasure highlight of Rivals. But I posit that it's actually down to Tennant's sublime embodiment of the character that we're all transfixed by seeing what fresh hell he's ready to dish up for Rutshire and namely, Rupert (Alex Hassell) and Declan (Aidan Turner).

While many of us may be left still reeling from Monica's death, Tony remains unfazed and steadfast in revenge. Dare I say that it feels like we're in a new, unprecedented chapter of Tony's evil – and it may well be Rivals' most riveting villainous descent yet.

Rivals season 2 episodes 7-9 arrive on Wednesday 11 November on Disney+, with the remaining three episodes then arriving weekly. Sign up to Disney+ from £5.99 a month.

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