First-look trailer lands for BBC's "slick and dangerous" Cold War thriller with The Diplomat star

If you want your next binge-watch to be a spy thriller, then the BBC may have you covered, as Honey is set to premiere next month. And with the release date looming, we now have our first trailer.

The six-part series sees Ann Skelly portray Martha Schmitt, an MI6 agent working undercover in 1980s Berlin towards the tail end of the Cold War. As she is surrounded by enemies, the threat of her cover being blown is at an all-time high.

This risk only increases as she is "blindsided by desire" by CIA agent Aaron Neeland (Nate Mann), who is working under the name of Kurt Fischer. With Stasi agent Friedrich Baumann (Jannis Niewöhner) on the hunt, Martha must stay calm in the face of danger.

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With a supporting cast including The Diplomat's Rory Kinnear, the highly-anticipated series has now unveiled a vibrant first-look trailer, with much of the action depicting the menage-a-trois that Martha finds herself in.

The spy thriller has been created and co-written by Emma Moran, who is best known for her work on Extraordinary. Toby MacDonald and Michelle Savill, meanwhile, have split directing duties across the six episodes.

Billed as a "slick and dangerous" series, the "tender and flirty" Cold War thriller will explore the "shadowy world of counter-espionage", as well as the "risky" dynamic of "irresistible relations".

"The risk of being garrotted or incarcerated is nothing compared to the horrifying ordeal of falling in love. Allowing yourself to be vulnerable and bearing your heart and soul? She'd [Martha] rather have her fingernails pulled out," reads the logline.

At the time of the project's announcement in March 2025, Moran said: "I'm excited to dig into the sexy madness of our version of Cold War East Berlin. Romantic comedy plus espionage is a dream combination for me."

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Lindsay Salt, Director of Drama at the BBC, said in a statement: "Honey is a smart, playful and irresistible tale of an MI6 agent drawn into a deadly and dysfunctional love triangle."

"Set against the backdrop of Berlin in the early '80s, this brilliant new series from Emma and the team at Sid Gentle Films Ltd subverts genre conventions in the best possible way and we're very proud to have it on the BBC," they added.

Honey will premiere on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on 14 November.

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Reporter, Digital Spy George is a freelance writer who specialises in Movies and TV. After graduating with a degree in Film Studies and Journalism from De Montfort University, in which he analysed the early works of Richard Linklater for his dissertation, he wrote for several websites for GRV Media.  His film tastes vary from blockbusters like Mission: Impossible and John Wick to international directors such as Paolo Sorrentino and Hirokazu Kore-eda, and has attended both the London and Berlin film festivals.