Honey is a new spy thriller series set to air on the BBC, starring Ann Skelly, Nate Mann and Rory Kinnear.
The series follows Martha Schmitt (Skelly), a deep-cover agent for MI6 working in East Berlin in 1982.
Her mission becomes increasingly dangerous as she tries to avoid detection by Friedrich (played by Jannis Niewöhner), the new Stasi head of counter-espionage against British targets.
Caught between Friedrich and a reckless CIA operative named Aaron Neeland (Mann), who also goes by Kurt Fischer, Martha is drawn into a tense Cold War love triangle.
Honey also serves as a prequel to the hit spy series Killing Eve, with Martha Schmitt being the alias of Carolyn Martens, who was played by Fiona Shaw in that programme.
Discussing how she managed the connection between the two shows, writer Emma Moran told the Radio Times: "I wanted the tone to be like sisters, as opposed to making Killing Eve part two.
“I genuinely forgot about that show at points, because the goal was just to make something good that stands on its own, without trampling on the source material.”
Moran was also keen to humanise all the key players in the story, as she shared: "Friedrich, for example, is a nuanced character with wants and desires like anyone else.
"I tried to look at the Stasi as not this grey monolith, but more like the Microsoft of East Germany with annoying bureaucracy, inept co-workers, impenetrable hierarchies, office clowns…”
When asked to describe Honey, lead star Ann Skelly said: "It's really surprising how the series plays with familiar romcom tropes and characters and puts them into recent history.
"It's a series about very oppressive governments with very oppressive political ideology that try to control and infiltrate people's relationships and lives.
"But the nature of people and human nature is that we can't help but push through and Honey reflects the resilience of that effort."
Honey full cast list for Killing Eve prequel
- Ann Skelly as Martha Schmitt
- Nate Mann as Aaron Neeland/Kurt Fischer
- Jannis Niewöhner as Friedrich Bauman
- Rory Kinnear as Graham Anderson
- Sofia Oxenham as Greta Abstreiter
- Oliver Cudbill as Stefan Weiss
- Sonita Henry as Anne Anderson
- Victoria Mayer as Ingrid Schimmel
- Valentino Dalle Mura as Rolf Muller
- July Namir as Kamilla Akhmedova
- Julian Niedermeier as Otto Kowalski
- Daniel Zielinski as Tomas Klein
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When will Honey be on TV?
The first episode of Honey will air at 9pm on Saturday, November 14, with the second following immediately afterwards at 9.50pm.
After that, the remaining four episodes will air in the same pattern.
Episodes will also be available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
Will you be watching Honey when it airs on the BBC? Let us know in the comments.
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