Ann Skelly to Star in 'Killing Eve' Prequel 'Honey'
The 'Killing Eve' prequel no one wanted finally has a reason to exist, and that reason is Ann Skelly.
There are very few series that crashed quite so hard as Killing Eve did in its final season. The series launched on BBC America as the network's biggest hit since Orphan Black when it first debuted in 2018, buoyed by the chemistry between stars Sandra Oh as the titular Eve and Jodie Comer as her quarry Villanelle. However, showrunner and writer Phoebe Waller-Bridge only conceived of one season. When AMC Networks asked for more, she passed it off to Emerald Fennell, declaring the show a platform for up-and-coming women TV writers to gain experience on a major series.
Fennell's season wasn't a complete failure; it clearly functioned in conversation with the idea Waller-Bridge had set up. However, Season 3 seemed to lose the plot, only managing to scrape by on the luck of casting Harriet Walters as Villanelle's mentor. By the time the fourth and final season arrived, it was clear no one involved had any idea what made the show tick in the first place. The only goal seemed to be building up Fiona Shaw's character, Carolyn Martens, to create a prequel series starring a younger version of her hand-nosed MI-6 spy.
Killing Eve's finale was so ill-received that the promised spinoff AMC was touting seemed to disappear from the landscape completely. When it was finally announced, under the working title of Honey, the press release made zero mention of the show's link to the former BBCA series, as if by simply pretending none of that happened, fans would tune back in.
We were prepared to write off Honey. A spinoff about a side character no one cared much about until she was forced on us in Season 4, where it digs into "The Twelve," a shadowy conspiracy group that was never supposed to be more than a vague background threat? Sure, it was being written by Emma Moran, of the excellent comedy Extraordinary. But considering how badly Killing Eve ended, it seemed best to say, "No, thank you.
Then they cast Ann Skelly (House of Guinness) as the lead, and now we're all the way in again.
Here's the series synopsis:
East Berlin, 1982. Martha (pronounced Marta), 24, is a deep-cover agent for MI6. Surrounded by enemies and constantly under threat of her cover being blown, she tries her hardest to avoid detection by Friedrich, the new Stasi Head of Counterespionage against British Targets, Berlin Office. Finding herself caught between Friedrich and the reckless, arrogant (and incredibly attractive…) CIA operative Aaron Neeland (posing as Kurt Fischer), she is blind-sided by desire in this Cold War menage-a-trois.
The risk of being garrotted or incarcerated is nothing compared to the horrifying ordeal of falling in love. Allowing yourself to be vulnerable and bearing your heart and soul? She'd rather have her fingernails pulled out.
Skelly leads the cast as Martha Schmitt. She costars alongside Nate Mann (Masters of the Air) as Kurt Fischer, Jannis Niewöhner (Napoleon) as Friedrich Bauman, and Rory Kinnear (The Diplomat) as Graham Anderson.
The series will also feature Oliver Cudbill (My Lady Jane), Sonita Henry (The Chelsea Detective), Victoria Mayer (World on Fire), July Namir (The Lady), Sofia Oxenham (Poldark), Valentino Dalle Mura (Murder in the North), plus small-screen newcomers Julian Niedermeier and Daniel Zielinski.
Moran is the series's lead writer, splitting script duties across the show's six installments with Emme Hoy (Renegade Nell). Directors Toby MacDonald (Fifteen-Love) and Michelle Savill (Industry) will split helming duties. Executive producers include Sally Woodward Gentle and Lee Morris for Sid Gentle Films, and Christopher Hall is the producer.
Filming for Honey is now underway. The new series is expected to debut sometime in 2027.
