David Tennant was joined on set by a very familiar face while making the current season of Rivals.
The former Doctor Who star plays Lord Tony Baddingham in the hit Jilly Cooper adaptation, which returned for three new episodes earlier this week after a mid-season break.
And while Rivals has garnered a loyal following since its debut in 2024, even the most devoted of fans might not be aware of David’s real-life family connection among the cast.
He told The One Show earlier this year: “We get to know Tony’s two daughters in [season two], and one of them is played by my actual daughter, Olive, who has been acting for a few years now.”
“It was lovely for me to have her there,” he added, claiming that “looking in the eyes of my actual daughter” made shooting certain scenes even more “moving” on set.
He also told ABC News: “It’s kind of delightful for me [having live on set]. I love it. How brilliant.
“It’s a shorthand, if you’ve got to play father and daughter, if you’re looking into your actual daughter’s eyes. It’s great, I’m just so proud of her. It’s lovely!”
Besides Rivals, 15-year-old Olive has also appeared in the BBC comedy Avoidance, the Oscar-nominated Sir Kenneth Branagh drama Belfast and You, Me And Him, another project in which she shares the screen with her famous dad.
David met his wife Georgia Tennant on the set of Doctor Who in 2008.
The pair tied the knot three years later and welcomed four children, Olive, Wilfred, Doris and Birdie. In addition to this, Georgia had a child from a previous relationship, Ty, who he adopted in 2011, the same year his wife gave birth to Olive.
“My baby is almost a year old, and I adopted my wife’s boy last year as well, so I became a father twice in six months – that’s got to be some kind of record,” he later joked to Absolute Radio.
Like Olive, Ty has also pursued a career in acting, appearing in projects like House Of The Dragon and another of David’s shows, Good Omens.
