Rivals cast used fake cigarettes due to Wales smoking ban

Rivals cast used fake cigarettes due to Wales smoking banImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Oliver Chris, who plays James Vereker, said the cast were confused when they were handed plastic cigarettesByMaria CassidyBBC WalesPublished47 minutes agoThe cast of the Disney+ hit show Rivals were confused when given fake cigarettes while filming in Wales due to a smoking ban in the work place, one of its stars has said. Oliver Chris, who plays self-centred TV presenter James Vereker in the show, said it was a pleasure to play someone who was "unremittingly horrible all the time". The series, based on the second novel of Dame Jilly Cooper's Rutshire Chronicles, features an all-star cast including Danny Dyer, David Tennant and Emily Atack."I remember everyone being very confused when they were handing us these odd plastic numbers," Chris said.While the series is based on the fictional Cotswolds countryside town of Rutshire, the cast filmed scenes in Wales for both series.Llanhennock House, a seven-bedroom country house in Monmouthshire, was used as a set in the first season while Foxfield, a £8m mansion equipped with pond and tennis court, was home to Danny Dyer's character Freddie in the second series. Speaking to Behnaz Akhgar on Radio Wales, Chris recalled filming in Freddie's house in Wales. "In Wales it's illegal to smoke in the work place, and that includes TV sets. "So in Rivals where everyone is smoking all the time, we all had to have e-cigarettes when we filmed in the house. "If you go back to those episodes, everyone is smoking fake cigarettes and I don't know if they digitally changed them afterwards. "But I remember everyone being very confused when they were handing us these odd plastic numbers," he said. Image source, Dave Benett/Getty ImagesImage caption, Dame Jilly Cooper reached a whole new audience when her novel Rivals was turned into a hit Disney+ TV seriesChris plays Vereker, wh...