An already-announced show will reportedly be the long-awaited prequel toKilling Eve. The original series, which ran for four seasons from 2018 through 2022 and was created by Phoebe Waller-Bridge based on the Luke Jennings novelCodename Villanelle, followed the complicated relationship between British intelligence investigator Eve Polastri (Sandra Oh), and the assassin Villanelle (Jodie Comer). While theKilling Eveseason 4 endingwas conclusive, a spin-off was announced to be in development in 2021, with a 2022 update clarifying that it was to be a prequel to the Emmy-winning series.
PerDeadline, the upcoming Cold War-set dark spy comedy showHoney, which was announced by BBC and ZDF at Series Mania in late March, will actually be a prequel toKilling Eve. They report thatthe prequel series is set to follow the character Carolyn Martens, the head of MI6’s Russia Section who was portrayed by Fiona Shaw in the original show. As previously announced,Honeycomes from creator Emma Moran (Extraordinary) and will be produced by Sid Gentle Films (Killing Eve) with Fifth Season. The six-part series will be set in 1980s Berlin. Read the official synopsis below:
East Berlin, 1982. 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 Bauman, the new Head of Counter Espionage for the Stasi. Finding herself caught between Friedrich and the reckless, arrogant (and incredibly attractive…) CIA operative Aaron Neeland, 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.
What This Means For Honey
Its Killing Eve Prequel Status Offers Major Insight
Ultimately, it makes sense thatHoneywill be in some way connected to theSandra Oh TV show.Its premise and tone are quite similar to that ofKilling Eve, combining dark comedy and romance with spy thrills in its depiction of a potentially deadly affair. The fact that Carolyn’s early years in the spy world put her in a similar situation to that of Eve could also offer some insight into her behavior more than three decades down the road.
[Fiona Shaw] could be tapped to narrate the series…
The setting of the show ultimatelymakes it unlikely that Fiona Shaw will return, as theKilling Evestaris 66 years old at the time of writing and her character will be 24. However,it is entirely possible that she could be tapped to narrate the series, as bringing original cast members back in a voiceover capacity has been an increasingly popular method of connecting prequels to their flagship series. This has taken place across genres, with Jim Parsons narratingYoung Sheldon, Michael C. Hall narratingDexter: Original Sin, Mark Harmon narratingNCIS: Origins, and more.
Our Take On The Killing Eve Prequel Announcement
Honey Seems Promising
By being set so far in the past,Honeycould separate itself fromKilling Eveenough to stand on its own. While the shows have one overlapping character,neither Eve nor Villanelle is old enough to play into the Cold War storylinein any capacity. This will allow the world of the franchise to open up in a major way, without feeling obligated to explain every last detail of the goings-on in the beloved series.
