What a twist! BBC's new '80s-set spy thriller has a 'Bridget Jones-style' love triangle

New BBC thriller Honey is mixing spy subterfuge with a love triangle à la Bridget Jones as lead writer Emma Moran said that bringing the two elements together felt "quite natural".

Set in 1982 East Berlin, the series follows 24-year-old Martha Schmitt (Ann Skelly), a deep cover agent for MI6 who's working hard not to have her cover blown while working for Stasi.

The protagonist finds herself involved in a potentially deadly ménage à trois with her boss, Stasi's Head of Counterespionage against British Targets, Friedrich Bauman (Jannis Niewöhner), and arrogant CIA agent Aaron Neeland (Nate Mann), who poses as Kurt Fischer, as the show combines a Cold War setting with a breezy rom-com plot.

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"The starting point for the series really was just wanting to do a rom-com," confirmed Moran.

"I'm such a big rom-com fan and I wanted to do a Bridget Jones-style love triangle, with a messy woman in her twenties struggling with her career and boys.

"Adding that spy thriller element on top, weirdly felt quite natural. It didn't feel like I had to squeeze the pieces together: that subterfuge, and whether someone is saying the truth to me or not, is kind of the same dynamic as, 'Do they like me? Do they know I like them? Do they know that I know that they like me?' It all felt quite natural."

Martha is caught in the middle between two very different men, with Moran teasing that the trio's chemistry makes for "a fun dynamic" to watch.

"You have Martha not wanting to work with Kurt but having to get ahead, and Kurt being saddled with a little acolyte that he doesn't want," the writer explained.

"Then you have Martha's need to please Friedrich as a civilian informant, but then also needing him to gain access to the world of the Stasi.

"Balancing what they need and want from each other at different points is interesting. I think they've got a lot of chemistry as a threesome; they get different things from each other."

Speaking on Martha's desire for both Kurt and Friedrich, Moran said that the former offers "fun, excitement, and passion", while the Stasi boss has an appeal that's "much more intellectual and full of yearning".

"Getting those different flavours from each other really makes the core three such a fun dynamic to watch," she concluded.

Hailed as "tender and flirty, slick and dangerous", Honey also stars Rory Kinnear as Martha's handler, Graham Anderson.

Honey will air on BBC One and stream on iPlayer.

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Reporter, Digital Spy

Stefania is a freelance writer specialising in TV and movies. After graduating from City University, London, she covered LGBTQ+ news and pursued a career in entertainment journalism, with her work appearing in outlets including Little White Lies, The Skinny, Radio Times and Digital Spy. 

Her beats are horror films and period dramas, especially if fronted by queer women. She can argue why Scream is the best slasher in four languages (and a half).