Killing Eve


Killing Eve is a British spy thriller television series produced in the United Kingdom by Sid Gentle Films for BBC America and BBC Three. The series follows Eve Polastri, a British intelligence investigator tasked with capturing psychopathic assassin Villanelle. As the chase progresses, the two develop a mutual obsession. Based on the Villanelle novel series by Luke Jennings, each of the show's series is led by a different female head writer. The first series had Phoebe Waller-Bridge as the head writer, the second series Emerald Fennell, the third series Suzanne Heathcote, and the fourth series Laura Neal.
The first series premiered on BBC America on 8 April 2018, and on BBC iPlayer on 15 September 2018 through BBC Three. The third series premiered on 12 April 2020 for BBC America, and on 13 April 2020 for BBC iPlayer, and concluded on 31 May 2020. The fourth series premiered on 27 February 2022 on BBC America, 28 February 2022 on BBC iPlayer and 5 March 2022 on BBC One and concluded on 17 April 2022.
The first two series were critically acclaimed, but the last two series received more mixed reviews. The fourth series, and its final episode in particular, drew significant backlash from critics and audiences. The show broke weekly ratings increase records, and received several accolades, including British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Series. Both Oh and Comer were praised for their performances, winning the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama and the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, respectively. Comer and Fiona Shaw also received British Academy Television Awards for their performances.

Synopsis

In the first series, Eve is bored with her protection role in MI5 and, after brashly investigating the behind-the-scenes murder of a witness she is handling, she is fired. However, her passion for female assassins later leads to her joining an undercover division within MI6 whose task is to pursue and locate Villanelle, a ruthless international assassin who works for a secret organization called The Twelve. When Eve and Villanelle cross paths, they begin a cycle of obsession which leads them away from their individual missions and closer to each other.
In the second series, after a violent encounter at the end of series one, Eve and Villanelle resume their obsessive relationship while continuing their separate missions. Eve works to solve kills set by The Twelve while Villanelle continues to kill for The Twelve; however, after a new killer appears on the scene, the focus changes for The Twelve and MI6, as both women are pitted to work with each other. A dangerous mission leads Eve and Villanelle to Rome where their own lives are at stake.
The third series picks up six months after the fallout of the mission in Rome. Eve, traumatised by her near-death experience at the hands of Villanelle, quits MI6 and begins living a low-profile existence, whilst Villanelle attempts to discover new ways of earning a living after she stops killing for The Twelve. However, the unexpected arrival of her former Twelve trainer leads Villanelle to question who she really is and if killing is what she's made for, whereas Eve begins looking into The Twelve again after they murder someone close to her, leading both women to cross paths once more.
The fourth and final series picks up soon after the third with Eve now desperate for revenge on The Twelve whilst Villanelle is eager to change for Eve. However, due to their different outlooks on their personal missions, Eve and Villanelle begin to clash leading them off into their separate directions but both eventually aiming for the same goal, destroying The Twelve.

Cast and characters

Main

  • Sandra Oh as Eve Polastri, an analyst with MI5 who becomes tirelessly preoccupied with a notorious assassin and is recruited on an off-the-books basis to the foreign intelligence agency MI6
  • Jodie Comer as Oksana Astankova / Villanelle, a psychopathic and skilled assassin, who becomes obsessed with the MI6 officer who is tracking her
  • * Comer also plays "Jesus Christ", with Penny Ashmore as her body double
  • Fiona Shaw as Carolyn Martens, head of the Russia Section at MI6
  • * Imogen Daines as Young Carolyn / "Janice"
  • Kim Bodnia as Konstantin Vasiliev, Villanelle's handler
  • * Louis Bodnia Andersen as Young Konstantin / "Karl"
  • Owen McDonnell as Niko Polastri, Eve's English-Polish husband, a maths teacher and bridge player
  • Sean Delaney as Kenneth "Kenny" Stowton, Carolyn's son, an ex-hacker who has been recruited by MI6. He later becomes a journalist for Bitter Pill.
  • Darren Boyd as Frank Haleton, Eve's supervisor at MI5
  • David Haig as Bill Pargrave, Eve's MI5 associate who comes with her to MI6
  • Kirby Howell-Baptiste as Elena Felton, Eve's assistant
  • Nina Sosanya as Jess, an experienced MI6 agent now working as a part of Eve's team
  • Edward Bluemel as Hugo Turner, a wealthy Oxford graduate, who is working as a part of Eve's team at MI6
  • Henry Lloyd-Hughes as Aaron Peel, the heir to a tech company following the assassination of his father, mogul Alistair Peel
  • Adrian Scarborough as Raymond, a member of the Twelve and one of Villanelle's former handlers
  • Adeel Akhtar as Martin, the British Intelligence expert on psychopaths
  • Raj Bajaj as Mo Jafari, a new MI6 agent working for Carolyn
  • Turlough Convery as Bear, Kenny's colleague at Bitter Pill
  • Steve Pemberton as Paul Bradwell, an MI6 supervisor
  • Danny Sapani as Jamie Hayward, Kenny's boss at Bitter Pill
  • Harriet Walter as Dasha Duzran, a hard-bitten one-time Olympic gymnast turned spy, Villanelle's former trainer and mentor
  • Gemma Whelan as Geraldine Stowton, Carolyn's daughter and Kenny's older sister
  • Camille Cottin as Hélène, a high-ranking member of the Twelve
  • Anjana Vasan as Pamela "Pam" Palmeira, Hélène's newest assassin recruit who works at a funeral home
  • Robert Gilbert as Yusuf, Eve's associate
  • Laurentiu Possa as Vladimir "Vlad" Betkin, Carolyn's Russian associate
  • Ingvar Sigurdsson as Lars Meier, a member of the Twelve who has ties with Carolyn
  • * Siggi Ingvarsson as Young Lars / "Johan"
  • Marie-Sophie Ferdane as Gunn, a seasoned assassin for the Twelve

    Recurring

  • Sonia Elliman as Madame Tattevin, Villanelle's neighbour at her apartment building in Paris
  • Billy Matthews as Dominik Wolanski, a young bridge player
  • Olivia Ross as Nadia Kadomtseva, an assassin for the Twelve and Villanelle's former love interest
  • Susan Lynch as Anna, Villanelle's former languages teacher and love interest
  • Yuli Lagodinsky as Irina Vasilieva, Konstantin's young daughter
  • Shannon Tarbet as Amber Peel, Aaron's sister
  • Emma Pierson as Gemma, a teacher colleague of Niko's
  • Jung Sun den Hollander as Jin / The Ghost, a rival assassin hired by Aaron
  • Ayoola Smart as Audrey, Kenny's girlfriend and a co-worker at Bitter Pill
  • Alexandra Roach as Rhian Bevan, a rival assassin for the Twelve
  • Steve Oram as Phil, a vicar
  • Zindzi Hudson as May, Phil's daughter
  • Manpreet Bachu as Elliot Palmeira, Pam's brother and boss at the funeral home
  • Anyastassia Melehes as Chloe, Hélène's daughter
  • Monica Lopera as Fernanda, Lars' ex-wife and Hélène's ex-lover
  • Anna-Maria Everett as Benita, Carolyn's temporary caretaker in Havana, Cuba
  • Josh Zaré as Darren, a carnival worker who falls for Pam

    Guest

  • Remo Girone as Cesare Greco, a target of Villanelle's
  • Charlie Hamblett as Sebastian, a neighbour of Villanelle's with whom she begins a friendship
  • Edward Akrout as Diego, a know-it-all assassin working with Villanelle
  • Ken Nwosu as Max Sanford
  • Julian Barratt as Julian, an older man who lets Villanelle stay with him
  • Zoë Wanamaker as Helen Jacobsen, a senior British Intelligence official and Carolyn's boss
  • Dominic Mafham as Charles Kruger, the accountant for the Twelve
  • Rebecca Saire as Bertha Kruger, the wife of Charles
  • Evgenia Dodina as Tatiana, Oksana's mother
  • Predrag Bjelac as Grigoriy, Tatiana's new husband

    Production

Sally Woodward Gentle, of Sid Gentle Films, optioned Luke Jennings's Codename Villanelle in 2014, saying that "the notion of a female assassin was not unique", but that Jennings's take was "fresh, intelligent and tonally much bolder than others", adding that she was particularly interested because "It wasn't exploitative. We really enjoyed the character of Villanelle and the inventiveness of her kills, but we were particularly engaged with the mutual obsession between the women". Jennings's story began as a four-part novella published between 2014 and 2016. Following the stage success of Fleabag, Phoebe Waller-Bridge was recruited to write the show, which was then commissioned by BBC America in November 2016.

Casting

was the first to be cast in June 2017, as the title character Eve Polastri, and IMG agreed distribution rights later that month. Oh reportedly was confused over which character she would be playing when she first received a breakdown, thinking that she would not have the option to audition for the young assassin and not even considering the lead. Later her agents informed her that she would be reading for the role of Eve.
For the role of Villanelle, the production considered over 100 actresses before Jodie Comer was cast, about a month after Oh. Sally Woodward Gentle told Backstage that the production "didn't want Villanelle to be like Nikita or The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo—that male fantasy version of what a woman who'd come for them might look like. We wanted her to be able to disappear into a crowd". Comer's first audition involved acting out the kitchen scene from "I Have a Thing About Bathrooms" with Oh, where the two clicked.
Initially, Waller-Bridge considered casting herself as either Eve or Villanelle, but discarded this idea as she wanted a larger age gap between the leads. Kirby Howell-Baptiste was cast as Elena in August 2017.
In August 2019, Deadline Hollywood announced that Harriet Walter and Danny Sapani had joined the cast for the third series. More cast additions were revealed in November, including Gemma Whelan, Predrag Bjelac, Camille Cottin, Steve Pemberton, Raj Bajaj, Turlough Convery, and Evgenia Dodina.