The BBC's upcoming spy thriller, Honey, is shaping up to be one of November's most gripping shows.
Brought to life by the makers of Killing Eve and created by Emma Moran, the 1980s-set thriller explores the formative years of Carolyn Martens, originally played by Fiona Shaw in Phoebe Waller-Bridge's smash-hit show.
Deep undercover in Cold War East Berlin, 24-year-old MI6 operative Martha finds herself tangled in a dangerous love triangle between a CIA agent and a high-ranking Stasi counter-intelligence officer.
© BBCLeading the charge as Martha Schmitt is Irish actress Ann Skelly, known for her roles in The Nevers and House of Guinness. Ambitious and desperate to prove herself beyond basic honeytrapping duties, Martha is thrust into the shadowy world of counter-espionage.
"I think it's quite stylish, I suppose, is one comparison to Killing Eve," Ann tells HELLO! and other press ahead of the show's launch. "But I would definitely say that Emma Moran's writing has such a unique voice. It's a new bunch of characters in its own world."
Filming in icy conditions
Filming took place over five months in Vilnius, the Lithuanian capital doubling for Cold War-era East Berlin. "I think it was one of the coldest winters in 15 years or something, so it was just like thick, thick snow," says Ann, who stars alongside Nate Mann and Jannis Niewöhner.
"It was really fun, really crazy," says the 29-year-old. "The scripts are totally mad and funny."
© BBC/Sid Gentle Films LtdHer co-star Rory Kinnear (Black Mirror, James Bond) was equally thrilled to head north. "I've filmed in Lithuania before and love it. It's actually one of my favourite countries," shares the Olivier Award-winning actor, who plays Graham Anderson, a British Foreign Office press attaché and close friend of Martha's father desperately trying to keep the unruly recruit on a short leash.
"I didn't just say yes because it was filming in Lithuania, the scripts were excellent, but when the prospect of being able to go back there came up, I was very, very excited."
© BBC/Sid Gentle Films LtdBraving the elements in Europe's Baltic region required some serious layering up. "Filming in -15 outside threw up some complications," reveals Rory. "And maybe why we look three times our usual size in some of the scenes because we're wearing eight different layers of clothes. But it was all worth it."
Martha's 'crazy' disguises
The series follows Martha as she's thrust into compromising positions while acting as a honeytrap to extract information from targets. To carry out her missions, she adopts various disguises – which proved to be a particular highlight for Ann during the shoot.
"On the first day, it was me and Nate in these very uncanny and crazy disguises. It sort of dawned on me that day. I was like, 'Oh wow, the scripts and the job actually may be equally as fun.'"
American actor Nate Mann (Masters of the Air), who plays lone-wolf CIA operative Kurt, agrees. "There's all these moments in the show where we're interfacing with the public and we have to sort of protect our [identity] and not blow our cover."
"Emma gets so creative in the ways in which she does that," he continues. "It made the whole thing feel really exciting."
© BBC/Sid Gentle Films LtdFor German actor Jannis Niewöhner, who rounds out the central trio as the Stasi counter-intelligence lead, the show's unique genre blend was a huge draw. "The specific thing about this show is the mixture of the spy genre and the romantic comedy," he says. "I hadn't seen that before."
The real MI6 agent who inspired Ann
To help the cast research the rich history of espionage, executive producer Sally Woodward Gentle gave them Gordon Corera's book MI6: Life and Death in the British Secret Service. For Ann, one real-life spymaster immediately stood out: Daphne Park.
"I thought she was interesting because her way of getting intel from people was by being empathetic and very approachable," says the actress. "She used that as a point of leverage, rather than blackmailing."
© BBC/Sid Gentle Films LtdMeanwhile, Jannis learned much about this period through his upbringing in Germany. "We do have a lot of stories about the GDR (German Democratic Republic) because it's a very important chapter of our history," he says. "So I guess I was kind of familiar with what the GDR meant to people who lived there, who were in the Stasi or not, and how that felt."
Hopes for season 2
While viewers will have to wait to see who survives the season, the cast already have their sights set on a second outing.
"I would definitely love to come back," says Rory. "I think it's all set up for that to happen if people watch it."
"We'd absolutely love to do it again," Nate agrees. "There's so much, there's so much more we could do with it."
