EXCLUSIVE: Billed as a “flirty” Cold War spy drama, the BBC and ZDF’s Honey sounded a surefire bet when it was unveiled at Series Mania last week.

Turns out the broadcasters left out a rather sweet nugget of information.

Deadline hears Honey is in fact the previously-teased prequel to Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Killing Eve and will tell the story of Carolyn Martens’ character, who was played with BAFTA-winning aplomb by Fiona Shaw.

It is highly unusual for networks to release a show’s synopsis while holding back such a plot point, although there were clues. The lead in Honey is called ‘Marta’ and the production outfit is none other than Killing Eve producer Sid Gentle. Honey writer Emma Moran, who created Disney+’s BAFTA-nominated Extraordinary, was not involved with Killing Eve but has a Waller-Bridge-esque dramedy flair to her writing. The broadcasters declined comment on Honey’s connection with Killing Eve.

Honey is described as a Cold War thriller set in 1982, which follows the deep cover agent for MI6. Surrounded by enemies and constantly under threat of her cover being blown, Marta tries her hardest to avoid detection by Friedrich Bauman, the new Head of Counter Espionage for the Stasi.

The lead character being Carolyn Martens tracks. In Killing Eve, which is set in the present day, the shady character played by Harry Potter favorite Shaw is the ruthless and enigmatic head of MI6’s Russia desk. Twice Emmy nominated, she played a major part in all four seasons of the cat-and-mouse drama, which starred Sandra Oh in the titular role and Jodie Comer as the villainous Villanelle. A Carolyn Martens prequel was reported by The Sun at the conclusion of Killing Eve in 2022, at which point it was reportedly in development with AMC Networks. Black Mirror actor Imogen Daines also played Young Carolyn in one episode of the fourth season of Killing Eve. It surely won’t be too hard to entice a star to get their teeth into Carolyn Martens’ early life.

No word yet on whether Honey has landed a U.S. buyer but it has initially been billed as the first show to emerge from the BBC and ZDF’s new high-end drama partnership.

Following the breakout success of Fleabag, Killing Eve catapulted Waller-Bridge to stardom. She has been in the news again this week after striking a new deal with Amazon, shifting from exclusive overall to first-look.