Honey on BBC One: Darkly comedic Cold War thriller is a "flirty, slick and dangerous" prequel to Killing Eve
It explores the backstory of Fiona Shaw's character Carolyn Martens
Honey is the perfect BBC One series for fans of Killing Eve, combining the comic darkness, with romance, tongue-in-cheek thrills, and plenty of action.
A prequel to the huge Jodie Comer hit Killing Eve, which aired from 2018 to 2022, this new spin-off goes back in time with the character Carolyn Martens.
Fans of the dark comedy will know that it wasn’t just about the two leads Villanelle and Eve. Fiona Shaw’s Carolyn Martens won our hearts as ruthless Head of the Russia Desk at MI6.
We knew very little about her early life. Just that as a young agent on the ground in Moscow in the 80s, she “cultivated one of MI6’s most valuable assets and has since saved the world at least three times”.
Fiona Shaw received the 2019 BAFTA TV Award for Best Supporting Actress for the role. And the character remains one of the most iconic on the small screen. So it’s only right that she gets her own series…
Here’s everything you need to know about new BBC One dark comedy Honey, including plot, cast, start date, and filming locations.
Is Honey a prequel to Killing Eve?
Darkly comedic Cold War thriller Honey is a prequel to the ridiculously popular Jodie Comer series Killing Eve. Although none of the cast return, as it’s set many years before.
Remember fan favourite character Carolyn Martens, played by the always brilliant Fiona Shaw? This spin-off is her origin story and, like Eve, Carolyn’s rather partial to a love triangle, too.
BBC One describes Honey as a “tender and flirty, slick and dangerous, new darkly comedic Cold War thriller”. It goes deep undercover in 80s East Berlin to explore a “shadowy world of counter-espionage and risky but irresistible relations”.
Lead writer Emma Moran, the woman behind superpower comedy Extraordinary, explained how she came up with the idea of Honey. She said: “The starting point for the series really was just wanting to do a rom-com. I’m such a big rom-com fan and I wanted to do a Bridget Jones style love triangle, with a messy woman in her twenties struggling with her career and boys.
“Adding that spy thriller element on top, weirdly felt quite natural. It didn’t feel like I had to squeeze the pieces together: that subterfuge, and whether someone is saying the truth to me or not, is kind of the same dynamic as, do they like me? Do they know I like them? Do they know that I know that they like me? It all felt quite natural.”
Emma Moran has also previously written additional material for topical panel show Have I Got News for You. So we know we’re in very good hands. She’s also adapting the bestselling book How to Kill Your Family, with Anya Taylor-Joy in the lead role.
What’s the plot?
The series takes us to East Berlin in 1982. Martha is just 24, and already up to her neck in a very dangerous job – working as 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 ménage à trois”.
The synopsis tells us: “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.”
When is the start date for BBC dark comedy Honey?
Honey premieres in the UK on Saturday, November 14, 2026 on BBC One and iPlayer. Episode 1 airs at 9pm that night, with episode 2 following at 9.45pm.
Episodes will then follow weekly, and will not drop as a boxset.
Who’s in the cast?
Irish actress Ann Skelly leads the cast of Honey, playing Martha Schmitt. She’s best known for playing Rachel Reid in Red Rock, the crime drama based around a busy Dublin Garda station. Ann is also famous for portraying Hannah Baylor in Playground, Penance Adair in The Nevers, and Nuala in The Sandman. Last year, the actress starred as Adelaide ‘Dodo’ Guinness in House of Guinness.
And anybody else think she looks very much like a young Fiona Shaw? No relation though!
US actor Nate Mann stars as Kurt Fischer in the series. Although he’s only been on our screens for six years, he’s certainly made quite the impression. After playing a teenage Ray Donovan in the Liev Schreiber drama of the same name, he went on to play Simon Barrington in Apples Never Fall, and Lt. Robert ‘Rosie’ Rosenthal in Masters of the Air.
German actor Jannis Niewöhner portrays Friedrich Baumann. He’s best known for hie roles in Munich: The Edge of War, and Napoleon.
Rory Kinnear, son of Roy and just as much of a legend, portrays Graham Anderson. You’ll probably know him best for playing John Clare (aka The Creature) in Penny Dreadful, Stephen Lyons in Years and Years, and Frank Kitson in Say Nothing. He’s played Nicol Trowbridge in all four seasons of The Diplomat. Like his dad, he’s also adept at comedy and has played Dave in Bank of Dave, Robert in Quacks, and Dan in Vexed.
How many episodes is it?
Honey is six episodes of 45 minutes each.
Executive Producer Sally Woodward Gentle explained the origins of the series came because “we are slightly obsessed with spies and the Cold War”.
She added: “I also like things that are a little bit funny and have a bit of edge. I was very aware that there were a lot of shows set during the Cold War and in East Berlin. But the big breakthrough came when we involved Emma Moran. She’s the most genius writer, and once she got hold of it, that’s when it really took off.”
What filming locations were used for BBC One’s Honey?
Although the action is set in East Berlin in 1982, cast and crew did not film there.
Instead, production travelled to Lithuania, a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It actually became the first Soviet republic to declare independence from the U.S.S.R. in 1990.
Read more: Why Jodie Comer’s character Kate Parks won’t be returning to BBC One thriller Doctor Foster for series 3
