By Letitia Fitzpatrick
Good news in Binge Watch Land: Killing Eve is coming back.
The British spy thriller TV series follows Eve Polastri, played by the superb Sandra Oh, a British intelligence investigator whose mission is to catch the psychopathic assassin, Villanelle, played by the chilling and compelling Jodie Comer.
As the chase intensifies, the two women become obsessed with each other. Based on the Villanelle novel series by Luke Jennings, the series was produced in the UK by Sid Gentle Films for BBC America and BBC iPlayer, where the first three series are now available.
The first series had Phoebe Waller-Bridge of Fleabag fame as the head writer, the second series award-winning actress and director Emerald Fennell, the third series Suzanne Heathcote and the fourth and final series, which has yet to air, Laura Neal.
The show has been very successful in the United States as well as the United Kingdom, receiving critical acclaim for its writing and lead actresses’ performances. Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer have scooped awards including BAFTAs, as has Fiona Shaw for her part as Carolyn Martens, head of the Russia Section at MI6.
The story begins as Eve Polastri, bored with her protection role within the British intelligence agencies, becomes overly interested in female assassins, their mindsets and methods of killing. After she is fired from MI5, Eve is delighted to b e recruited by a secret division inside MI6, chasing an international assassin who goes by the name of Villanelle.
Eve meets Villanelle and finds to her dismay that members within both their secret circles may be interconnected. She becomes obsessed with the killer who is equally preoccupied with Eve, to the detriment of both their missions.
Both women are professional, childless, hard-working, ambitious and somewhat obsessive. They are also flawed and broken, and while their worlds betray them, they come to almost trust each other. Their complicated love-hate relationship is at the heart of the show.
The notion of female assassins is not unique, but the novelist’s take was seen by the production company as fresh, intelligent and bold, not exploitative and the mutual obsession between the woman was engaging.
For the role of Villanelle, the production considered over 100 actresses, before casting Jodie Comer. 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.”
Film locations include Tuscany, Paris, Berlin, Romania, London and Oxford. Filming for the fourth and final series began in June 2021.
