Spoilers for Rivals season 2 episode 1 ahead.
There’s little I love more than an unexpected yet ingenious cameo in a TV show, and Rivals season 2 has absolutely nailed it.
In the first episode of the Hulu and Disney+ show’s new season, Declan (Aiden Turner) visits wife Maud (Victoria Smurfit) while out of town performing in a new play. The pair indulges in some steamy hotel shower sex shortly afterwards, but a fight leaves Declan kicked out of the room, completely naked.
At the same time, two older women step out of their room next door, baffled at the sight of a dripping wet Declan. “Is that Terry Wogan?” one says to the other as Declan retreats — and that, friends, is Pam St. Clement, a.k.a Pat Butcher.
As far as cameos go, this one is incredibly fitting. If Pat was a real woman, she’d slide straight into Rivals like a duck to water, bringing an unbelievable amount of drama along with her.
After speaking to executive producer Alexander Lamb, the links between the two shows are more obvious than you’d think.
‘This series takes you back to a place you remember… if you’re old enough’
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“We love Pam! We used to storyline for Pat on Eastenders, then we went away and they killed off,” Lamb explains, referring to himself and fellow executive producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins.
“We stayed in touch with her. And for this little cameo park, we needed an actress. So we said, ‘What about Pam?’ Pat was at her total peak in 1987 on TV. We were all and tuning in to see her ruin Pete and Kathy Beale’s lives on Eastenders. So it also feels that it’s a nice homage to 1987.
Two fictional worlds blur together into one joyous mess before your very eyes while watching. And while it’s undoubtedly the standout detail from Rivals‘ three-episode premiere, adding an authentic 80s touch to the show isn’t new.
“I think that’s always been important for us.. there’s actors and characters that also are of the time. The guy who plays the bishop was very famous for being an ‘Allo ‘Allo! in the 80s. The newsreader in episode 1 is Simon Parkin, who used to do children’s show Broom Cupboard around the same time. Now he’s a Bristol-based weatherman.
“I think that’s what one of the things that people really love about Rivals… takes you back to a place that you remember if you’re old enough.”
I was born in 1995, and all of this is still like magic to me. Can I request Angie Watts (Anita Dobson) next, please?
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