Honey cast and creatives talk about love triangles, cast-mates and being transported back in time for darkly comedic Cold War thriller

East Berlin, 1982. Martha (pronounced Marta), 24, is a deep cover agent for MI6. Surrounded by enemies and constantly under threat of her cover being blown, she tries her hardest to avoid detection by Friedrich, the new Stasi Head of Counterespionage against British Targets, Berlin Office. Finding herself caught between Friedrich and the reckless, arrogant (and incredibly attractive…) CIA operative Aaron Neeland (posing as Kurt Fischer), she is blind-sided by desire in this Cold War ménage à trois. 

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 rather have her fingernails pulled out.

HC2

Interviews

Emma Moran (Lead writer)

How did Honey become what it is today?

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

How do you get the comedy into this show?

I found it easy to combine a brutal Cold War setting with comedy. When you read a lot of the history around that time, so much of it feels just completely absurd. When you're trying to squeeze people's really messy lives into a political framework that requires quite defined edges, it naturally becomes inherently silly – what do you mean you've put a microphone in my shower? Like you're gonna pick up some very odd conversations! - so I didn't find it that difficult. It's always good to have a little release valve within all the heavy thriller elements, it's important to give the audience a little bit of relief.

What dynamics between the three leads do you think are the most crucial for Honey?

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. 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. Martha gets the fun, excitement, and passion from Kurt, but then Friedrich's appeal is 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.

Could you give us a summary of Otto and Rolf?

Otto and Rolf are the two dumbest men I've ever encountered in my life. I love them so much. They're essentially just a buddy cop duo who feed off each other's incompetence, but are ultimately best friends. They're quite terrifying because they’re the archetype of the bumbling rookie cops, but they still are capable of violence and are such a threat to Martha, Kurt, and their cover. But I just love seeing them together in their car, staking people out, eating sweets, it really sums up that scariness and absurdity at the same time. 

Could you talk about the link between danger and sex in Honey?

The way Honey differs from your run-of-the-mill rom-com is that there is so much danger that comes with the romantic relationships. We've really tried to draw on both the sexiness and the danger. Them all fancying each other is maybe the worst-case scenario as a spy; to get close to someone, you are basically endangering your life, but it adds to the thrill of it.

How important is historical and political accuracy for you when writing?

When it comes to historical accuracy, I take what's useful. We did a lot of baseline research before starting to write, which meant we weren't going down the completely wrong road, and we have some wonderful advisors who give us all the juicy minutiae of the time. But we're not holding ourselves to completely specific historical accuracy in every way as this is a love story, it's not a documentary. There are some incredible real spy details that have made it into the show, which make it better. When Martha opens Kurt's spy kit, there's a pair of fake testicles in there, which was fully ripped from the CIA's own handbook - you put them over the natural ones, and then you can keep stuff in a little pocket. The truth is stranger than fiction sometimes.

What were some of the biggest challenges in writing the series?

One of the biggest challenges was maintaining that love triangle and balance between Kurt, Martha, and Friedrich. Even writing it, I found myself gravitating towards one character or the other. We've had to put the brakes on a lot of the romantic stuff. Really dialling up more of their yearning for each other and moments where they can't be together, and having the discipline to do that rather than just making them kiss immediately.

Is there a scene or a moment that you enjoyed writing or are most proud of?

The scene that I most enjoyed writing and that was also the most difficult was this long interrogation between Friedrich and Martha when she gets apprehended. I love it because I view it as their first date - they're almost getting to know each other and asking each other first date questions, but in the context of prisoner and interrogator. It was hard getting that tone into a scene where they're also constantly trying to one-up one another, and it was so interesting to write two people who are very aggressively flirting with each other, but cannot explicitly say that.

Was there a piece of music, a book, or a film that became really important to you while you were writing?

We reference the film An Officer and a Gentleman a lot in the series and that keeps coming back to me. There was also a book of photographs from Stasi archives that I kept going back to because it was photographs that weren't massively important or categorised. There's this fantastic photo of a Stasi officer who had been surveilling someone, and then there's this photo of his cat on his bed. You just see a little bit of humanity in that moment. They are just people. It was those photos I kept coming back to remind me of the tone.

Ann Skelly (Martha Schmitt)

What attracted you to the role of Martha in Honey?

One of the very first lines in the character description I was sent for the audition, said that she's convinced of her own brilliance. It tickled me. I liked the hunger of her, and the voraciousness of her desire.

Tell us about Martha and her story

Martha is a deep cover MI6 agent in East Berlin, 1982. Because she's a woman, she is deployed as a honey trap, and she's very frustrated by that - she knows she's brilliant, and that she can do so much more. She wants to get into the action and rise up in the world of spies. To do that, she has to take risks, be really brave and also impulsive at times.

What is the dynamic like between Martha and Kurt (Nate Mann)?

The dynamic between Martha and Kurt is very competitive and combative. They are equally repulsed by each other and attracted to each other. They're very similar in a lot of ways. They're both underdogs. They love the challenge of each other, and really play with that. Nate's really great to work with in that relationship because he's so playful.

What about the relationship between Martha and Friedrich (Jannis Niewöhner)?

There's a tension between them - he's an enigma to her. He's got all this power and success, and she is really attracted and drawn to that, but also to the danger of him. They have a really delicate balance that they walk with each other, knowing that they are enjoying whatever this weird thing is between them that they can't act on. It's quite sexy and also romantic. I remember when we were doing the chemistry test with Jannis for Friedrich, it was one thing I said about him, that he brought a romance to it that was really fascinating. 

How does Martha feel towards Graham (Rory Kinnear)?

Martha and Graham have known each other since she was a child. He's like a father figure to her. He is the only one in her deep-cover life who knows the real her and knows her past. To Martha, it's really important how he sees her professionally as an adult out in the world. She wants to be validated by him.

Can you tell us about the relationship between Martha and Stefan (Oliver Cudbill)?

Stefan is the only person in Martha's life who isn’t involved with work. He doesn’t know what she really does, and he's the only genuine through-and-through relationship that she has. He doesn't even know how much he understands her, and she's not able to tell him. It's very warm between them. There's an intimacy there. It's a really gorgeous side of Martha that I really like. He's her total weakness. 

What would you say Martha’s key motivations are?

She's supposed to be playing the long game, honey trapping, learning the ropes, but her motivations are more selfish. She wants to go out on her own, she wants to be brilliant, and to do that, she has to follow her instincts.

Where do Martha's morals lie?

Martha's morals are ambiguous. She thinks she would do anything for her job and to be great, without understanding what it is to be confronted by the cost of that. The costs in this world are so much heavier on your heart than you realise. She's discovering the parameters of her morals and making choices. I see her like a shark; she just keeps going forwards. Those moments that she does pause to reflect or absorb hit her like a train, and she has to go off again.

Do you have any similarities with her?

Being an actor and being a spy have some similarities. When you get a script, it’s like a puzzle you’ve got to figure out. You have to improvise and form a character, which spies also do. Also, in both roles, a work-life balance doesn't exist when you’re on a job - it all bleeds into one.

Is there anything that helps you get into character?

The smell of hairspray in the morning! I feel really weird when I have to rehearse in my own sweatpants and limp straight hair. I don't know why, but it informs the character for me, and hair is a good thing to hide behind. I also like listening to music, like some of The Veronicas - anything fun with variations of drama.

Could you talk to us about Martha’s fashion?

She's a chameleon, so she has to blend in with her surroundings. The cheetah fur coat, when she's meeting Graham, that's her blending in with what she feels is the persona of someone who has an affair with a diplomat, or rather, how she imagines the Stasi would see a woman like that. She also has a grey coat, a leather bomber, and jeans when she's surveilling someone, so that she doesn’t stand out in her environment. And then when she's being a promiscuous waitress at Der Dunkelkammer, she's in fishnets. Each of her looks are for a different gaze and how other people might see her, rather than how she would want to express herself.

How would you describe Honey?

It's really surprising how the series plays with familiar romcom tropes and characters and puts them into recent history. It's a series about very oppressive governments with very oppressive political ideology that try to control and infiltrate people's relationships and lives. But the nature of people and human nature is that we can't help but push through and Honey reflects the resilience of that effort. The show also explores the importance of love, sexuality and eroticism and the stakes of what it means to be alive.

What themes do you think might resonate with audiences today?

Surveillance, unfortunately. That's what really surprised me when learning about the GDR, and the sheer effort it took for them to invade every bit of people's personal lives and relationships. I think now in this digital age it’s much easier to do that, and when things feel politically tense and really icky generally, all you really have to hang onto is love, which is at the heart of Honey.

Nate Mann (Kurt Fischer)

What drew you to Honey?

Emma Moran's writing is so clever and yet so grounded in time and place. I could tell there was a passion for trying to tell a story that might not be possible if you didn't endow some humour into it. It's a difficult thing to manage tonally - the moments of brightness and humour and the moments where the characters are confronting themselves, whilst also giving grace to what was intense, dark, and dangerous about the lives of these characters. When I began talking to Toby [Macdonald, director] and Emma about how they wanted to craft that, I could tell there was a lot of sensitivity and care around their approach. 

Could you tell us about Kurt and how he fits into Honey?

Kurt is a CIA spy stationed in East Germany. He is living life as a hardworking trade member trying to blend in and be invisible. As the series goes on, he betrays himself and explores new things that we don't quite expect him to. He can't help himself.

Can you talk to us about the first time Kurt and Martha meet?

Martha’s at work and Kurt's undercover when they bump into each other. They have a good time together, but little does he know that she's a British spy... Eventually, they're forced to work together, even though they both think of themselves as lone wolves, especially Kurt. The series explores how they bounce back and forth between needing each other, wanting each other, and also wanting to do a good job.

What would you say Kurt’s key motivations are?

Kurt has a thrill seeker energy, and he's intrigued by having to manipulate and fluctuate his identity, given his environment. It's fascinating and fun to explore how the role of a spy, which is one of complete immersion into a life that isn't authentically yours, can actually reveal things to you about yourself that you wouldn't have found out otherwise. Kurt and Martha constantly alter who they are to each other and to the people that they're trying to seduce, manipulate and get information from. In doing so, they discover things about themselves that take them by surprise.

Can we talk about his relationship with Friedrich?

In their first scene together, Kurt and Martha find Friedrich at a bar, and we're trying to get some information from him that we have intel on. Martha's already working with him, but Kurt has never met him before. It’s dangerous because Friedrich has a lot of power, and Kurt finds that the most exciting prospect. He sees Friedrich as a person he wants to really get to understand. On the surface, they're polar opposites. Friedrich has this rigid persona, whereas Kurt is more freewheeling and shoots from the hip. That's why they end up taking each other by surprise.

What attracted you to this character?

I admired Kurt's confidence, his dedication to his assignment, and his lone wolf-ness. When we meet Kurt, he's on his own, and he loves his life as a spy. He fancies himself an absolute James Bond type out there in East Germany. Then Martha comes along and ends up challenging him in ways he doesn't expect. It ultimately ignites a part of himself that he had lost. Honey has so much to do with people who live in a place with very particular kinds of rules and yet can't help themselves but be who they really are. That gets them into trouble, and also elevates their lives into something really beautiful and fun.

Is there anything that helps you get into character?

I have this pack of East German cigarettes, and I started replacing one of the cigarettes with an American one, like a Marlboro. I would put that in my coat, and for me, it has this undercover feeling to it. Kurt can't forget that part of home, it always sticks with him, and it just gave me a little bit of a secret to play throughout filming.

Can you tell us about Kurt’s sense of fashion?

I like to think that Kurt dresses like an East German wannabe rock star. We're using a lot of authentic, real East German costumes in this show. I remember my first fitting, and Nicole [Fischnaller, costume designer] showed me the suit. From the outside it looked like a normal tweed suit, but I touched it, it was polyester. Materials were pretty scarce at this time, and importing wool and cotton was expensive. Everything was limited to a quota and very controlled. A lot of the clothes were designed to look a certain way, but they're cheap. You put that on, and it really puts you into the world.

How much did you know about the Eastern Bloc and this period before you started filming?

I would say generally in America, it's not something that you're educated on too much. For me, it's helpful to read things that are of the time, and I read this really great book, Franziska Linkerhand, by a woman called Brigitte Reiman. She was a factory worker, and she wrote a book that was censored for a long time. She was trying to express herself, but she knew that she couldn't do it fully because it was going to get read, and parts of it were redacted. I learned more in reading that unfinished work than learning about the facts of the time and place. 

Tell us about Kurt’s car

Kurt drives a Wartburg 353W. I happen to love cars and I think it's the most beautiful car. Cars like that are going to make a bit of a comeback. The car we use in the show is taken care of by a museum in another town in Lithuania. Every time I drive a car like that, it’s just simple and runs beautifully, there's no extra add-ons. I need to find a way to get one of these back in the States and get out on the freeway. 

Jannis Niewöhner (Friedrich Baumann)

Could you tell us about Freidrich?

Friedrich Baumann is the new Head of Counterespionage against British Targets in East Berlin. I would say he’s a radical - he's known for being uncompromising in his interrogation tactics. He doesn't shy away from scaring, hurting, torturing, or, if necessary, killing people, but he does it because he's a true believer in communism and he really believes that this is something good that he needs to protect. 

Could you talk about the dynamic between Freidrich and Martha?

Friedrich is using Martha to get information about Graham Anderson, the British Press Attache. Right from the start, he realises that Martha is not your typical informant. He's not used to the way she talks to him. She has a certain energy or attitude that he's both irritated and fascinated by. Martha is the worthy adversary he never knew he was seeking and also one he's utterly drawn to, which is something he would never tell her.

Can you talk about how Friedrich first meets Kurt and how their dynamic develops?

Kurt embodies everything that Friedrich is supposed to despise. He's that macho cowboy from an American capitalist world, whilst Friedrich, on the other hand, is all about rules and order. When two people meet who are very different, as often is the case, it's that exact contrast that draws them to each other. Friedrich is very relaxed and confident when it comes to his own sexuality and intimacy with other men, while Kurt is uptight and confused by it. When it comes to social situations like joking around, having fun, and letting go, it's the exact opposite, and that's where Friedrich really feels uneasy and out of place. Kurt represents the freedom that Friedrich lacks in his life.

Friedrich secretly keeps the dog (Moppel) that was taken from Martha’s neighbour. Can we talk about the relationship?

That's the actual love story of the show. It's not just the dog, it's also the connection with Martha and how she's connected to the dog. There is a longing in Friedrich for connection with other beings, and it's hard to open his heart and make himself vulnerable to people. Friedrich is all about control, and so it's just easier for him with Moppel.

How do you think Friedrich’s personal relationships have been affected by living under constant surveillance?

He accepts the situation as it is and would never trust anyone completely. He's the only person that he can rely on. That's why he's also so suspicious of love, because for love, you have to give up some control, and giving up control is very dangerous for him.

What attracted you to the character?

He's such a dangerous, menacing, serious, intelligent figure, but then there are also moments where we get to see him being very vulnerable and insecure and sensitive and warm. They’re short moments, but they’re there. He's so full of nuance, yet all his emotions and complexities are hidden by the character that he has created for himself.

Could you tell us about Friedrich’s distinct look?

Obviously, there's the Stasi uniform, but then we also have a lot of sweater vests for him, because even when Friedrich is going to a poetry club, he's wearing his own kind of uniform. We shot a scene where Friedrich’s in the kitchen cooking some sausages, and then he takes off his tie and then takes off his shirt, and he's just there in a vest. I love that he takes off the shirt and the tie, not to feel more comfortable, but so the oil can’t splatter on his shirt. And when he takes it off, and he doesn't relax. It’s not just a suit for him, it's his way of being.

You're from Germany, but have you learned more about the Eastern Bloc and East Germany since you've been filming?

Coming from Germany, I learned some of it in school, but not a lot because I grew up mostly in the Western part of Germany. Moving to Berlin thirteen years ago made me get in contact with people who actually lived in East Berlin, to hear their stories. When you're in Berlin, you are surrounded by the architecture, and you really feel the vibe of East Berlin still. 

What do you find unique about Emma Moran's script?

She has a great sense of humour. I would say it's her specificity because she knows exactly what she wants to say, and she knows her characters really well. I remember reading that first interrogation scene with Martha and Friedrich. Often, you get a script, and you read scenes and dialogue, and it's just there to bring the story forward, and it never takes a huge amount of time to discover a lot about the characters. Here, it took a lot of time to learn about the characters and their relationship and dynamics. really goes for all six episodes.

Rory Kinnear (Graham Anderson)

Can you tell us about Graham?

Graham is working for the British government as the Press Attaché to the embassy in Berlin, which historically had several different roles but was largely to work with the media. In Martha's case, he is her handler and is putting her up to various different missions as well as trying to teach her the ropes for being a spy in this world.

What is his relationship with Martha like?

Graham has known Martha since she was very young and has a very protective, avuncular relationship with her. She is constantly trying to push his buttons and push the boundaries of what he believes she's allowed to do and is capable of doing. So, in some ways it's like a father-daughter relationship - he's constantly trying to protect her from the harm that he knows is out there, and she's constantly trying to run towards it.

What’s Graham’s home life like?

Graham is living in Berlin with his wife, Anne. They don't have any children, and Anne has found it difficult to adapt to life in Berlin. As the series progresses, we learn more about their relationship and the difficult dynamic that exists within it.

Where do Graham’s morals lie?

Graham is very proud of the life that Britain has given him. He's very proud of protecting the freedoms that he believes are sacrosanct, that the West has. He sees what communism has tried to do in the countries where it has power as terribly pernicious. He has enough information now from having worked in Berlin to see the effect that it has on the people under it.

How is Graham shaped by living in East Germany?

One of Graham's great strengths is his quiet resolve. He is someone who isn't prone to necessarily being too outlandish, too openly emotional, too prone to outbursts of emotional liberty. That’s why he probably fits in well with East Berlin life. What he would consider quiet resolve and decorum, is what an East German population might see as a fear to be able to be free or to express oneself. So, there's part of him that he feels quite at home and content with, because everyone seems to behave. Of course, he knows why that is and the fear under which they live.

Is there anything that particularly attracted you to Graham?

What attracted me to the piece was Emma's writing. To be able to walk the line between serious and funny, between dramatic and comic, is a very difficult thing to do successfully. I think that opening scene, where the stakes are so high and yet, as a result, the laughs are so big as well, had me. In terms of the role, Graham's seeming diffidence and lack of any fireworks or backbone versus this great strength that he seems to have. This ability to navigate the most difficult and dangerous situations with a kind of phlegmatic ease. Graham tries to navigate the seriousness of the situation that he's in with a kind of ease and smiling bonhomie.

Is there anything that helps you get into character or into the era?

The production design on this show is so fantastic that as soon as you enter one of the spaces, you are immediately transported to East Berlin. Having actually travelled around Berlin with my kids, we did a lot of shuttling between various museums, and the production team have obviously done their research here on the show because it is brought so vibrantly to life.

How do you think Honey will resonate with viewers today?

For me, the central themes are about identity and who we are. Obviously, in a world in which no one is allowed to be themselves, how do you know who you are? How do you hold on to yourself? That is the historic part of 1982 East Berlin. But in terms of the UK or around the world in 2026, it’s that challenge of looking inwards when you feel like you're having to be someone else. How can you be yourself when everybody wants you to be something else? And how can you make yourself happy as well as others? That all feels just as relevant today as it was then.

Why did you want to work with the creative team on Honey?

I simply knew within the first scene that Emma was really remarkable and I wanted to sidle up to her career on the rise, rather than when it's finally gone so stratospheric that she wouldn't be interested in me! It's a very difficult sell to hit funny and serious, to hit funny and clever, and to hit funny and dramatically propulsive. Emma's got her eye on all of those, all at the same time. 

Could you talk about your experience filming in Lithuania?

I've been lucky to work in Lithuania a couple of times. It is one of my favourite countries in the world, and Vilnius is one of my favourite cities. It has got everything, from two feet of snow in the winter, to the summer where it is one of the best countries to be outdoors and swimming in the lakes. It has one of my favourite pubs in the world, an inordinate number of great restaurants, a fantastic opera house, some wonderful classical music, some brilliant theatre, and all within a half-hour walk. It's almost a perfect city.

Sally Woodward Gentle (Executive Producer)

Could you tell us about the origins of Honey?

Honey came about because we are slightly obsessed with spies and the Cold War. I also like things that are a little bit funny and have a bit of edge. I was very aware that there were a lot of shows set during the Cold War and in East Berlin, but the big breakthrough came when we involved Emma Moran. She’s the most genius writer, and once she got hold of it, that's when it really took off.

What are the key themes of the series?

The key themes are identity, belief in idealism, and the fact that you can change your mind about the world and how it's set up. You can change your mind about people. It's also about sexuality and owning who you are, and being bold enough to live that, despite being in a repressive regime. 

How do you maintain the balance between political tension and comedy?

Emma's instinct is always towards character and comedy first, before historical authenticity, but at the same time, she's really smart and clever. I knew a little bit about the era, we talked to brilliant people during our research process, including Gordon Corera, who looked at the material and gave suggestions, some of which we wove in and some of which we decided to leave for the benefit of how our characters develop.

What has the experience been of filming in Lithuania, and how has the location supported the authenticity?

It's been amazing filming in Vilnius with the local crew. The crew are incredibly experienced, really hardworking, and very efficient. Lithuania has such close ties with the Soviet era that there are buildings that feel really right for what we want to do. We filmed in the middle of winter, and it's cold, but beautiful and snowy. When we started filming, we knew that we would end up with snow, so for a lot of scenes that were filmed outside at the start of the shoot, we put fake snow down to match. We've actually ended up with more snow than we anticipated, but it looks pretty amazing. 

Can you tell us about the three leads allegiances?

On the outside, they look incredibly clear. Martha is working for MI6. Kurt's working for the CIA. Friedrich is there supporting the Soviet dream. On the outside, it looks like the CIA and MI6 should be on the same side, but we quickly discover that they are rivals for power. MI6 is a lot less well-resourced than the CIA, but they also benefit from centuries of diplomacy, which the CIA doesn't have. Therefore, the dynamic between the three is that they're all pulling in slightly different directions. What we were quite keen to show is that, actually, there aren't goodies and baddies, there are morally grey areas. But we wanted to be far more character-based than geopolitical. 

How much did you know and how much have you learned about East Germany and the Communists of the Eastern Bloc?

I knew a little bit about the difference between East and West when we started, but I expect most of that had been from films, TV, and the odd documentary. What I found most useful was our visit to the Stasi headquarters in (East) Berlin. Going around that, seeing photographs that were taken from spy cameras and what they were documenting, and the detailed documentation of stuff that seems so banal, but was making up a global picture. It brought to life that sense of paranoia of not being able to trust anyone, the psychological warfare of actually going into people's apartments and just moving the coffee around, or swapping out a toothbrush. It's like state gaslighting. It was really interesting, and I think there's a real contemporary resonance that has as well.

What were the key themes that you wanted to explain visually on screen?

The key design intention was very clearly about authenticity for the era, but what Erwin's [Prib , Production Designer] really been brilliant at realising is representing the characters within their interiors. For example, Stefan's heritage is part African, so we have some of that subtly reflected in the interior of his flat. Kamilla is of Kazakh origin, and also loves crochet, so to see that crafty side reflected in her ethnicity was really important.

Can you talk about some of the key sets?

Checkpoint Charlie, which we created in Vilnius, is incredible. It doesn't really exist anymore in Berlin. There are remnants, and it's where everybody goes to visit, so everybody's got a sense of what it looks like, and Erwin's done the most incredible job here. It took a really long time to find the right building for the sausage factory that looked suitably scientific and imposing. It looks great, and we've then stuck a sausage on the top. That’s part of the audacity of the lie, and it’s also in the humour of the show that the team has embraced brilliantly. 

Could you tell us about our lead actors and why they are so brilliant in these roles?

We've got three people, one who's German, one who's American, one who's Irish, who have got really brilliant chemistry. They're naturally really funny, really smart, and they get character. They totally understand what the dynamic is between the three of them and between each of them individually, and that's what you need to make this sort of love triangle work.

There’s also a bounce that you get from working with actors who are nearer to the beginning of their career, but who have also learned and are naturally talented. What we've got with those three is a total lack of cynicism. To have that, and to have that kind of engagement with the scripts, with the process, with the country that they're working in, with the crew that they don't know, is invaluable.

Toby MacDonald (Lead Director)

Can you tell us why you wanted to be involved in Honey?

I've worked with Emma Moran before on a show called Extraordinary, and I think she's the most important writer around – she’s the cleverest and the funniest. It was an amazing script, an amazing piece of writing and imagination, so it was irresistible. She has a particularly brilliant way of capturing a world and a story and bringing contemporary attitudes to different genres, in this case, to 1980s East Germany, and making the characters feel like people today at the same time.

How do you create the world on screen?

The fascinating thing about the GDR was that everything was fabricated or made as they made it themselves because they couldn't get it from anywhere else. There's a limited palette of colours that they had, a limited palette of fonts, cars, etc. So, it's a really specific world to recreate. Most audiences have been presented with it in a kind of good, bad, black and white way, and Honey is about blurred lines. Blurred lines between who you love, who you don't love, and where your loyalties lie.

Is there any research that really stuck out to you?

We researched extensively, travelled to Berlin, and visited all kinds of key Stasi museums. There are some perfectly preserved apartments there as well. The thing that's been amazing has been talking to people who lived in that time as well, because there's an intelligence to the way that they experienced and lived through the world - they would know who the person in the Stasi was, and they would work around that. There’s lots of contemporary history about the GDR and new thinking and writing about that time, which shows us how people lived. That was the thing that we wanted to really capture, so that it's not a period piece preserved in aspic, it feels alive and vibrant and chaotic in a way that also makes it really entertaining.

Have you got a favourite location?

My favourite location has been the sausage factory in the middle of the forest that we created. It is a secret facility meant to look like a GDR laboratory where they're doing nefarious experiments. That was a beautifully designed location inside a very lovely building in Vilnius. Another amazing location has been Checkpoint Charlie, which has been beautifully crafted and made by our designer. It's really terrifying to walk through and see the level of control be recreated on screen - the dogs, the scrutiny that everyone was put under, going in and coming out of the GDR.

Tell us about working with the cast?

It's been a joy to work with the cast. The love triangle in the show is very much a three-sided love triangle, and it's been amazing to film characters with these young actors who have modern-world attitudes, the characters feel like they’re more alive and breathing compared to what we might expect from a period or spy drama, where everyone seems very trapped emotionally. In this show, everybody is falling in and out of love, they’re confused, and the stakes are high for all of them: death is imminent for everybody. Ann, Nate and Jannis have thrown themselves into the characters in the most incredible way, and they've brought a vitality and an energy with them that is really unique.

What was the biggest challenge?

The biggest physical challenge for filming was using period cars that we've collected from around Eastern Europe. They need to be in all their original livery and form, and seeing those banging around East Berlin in the series has been amazing, but they are really temperamental, especially in minus twenty degree temperatures. I hope the show resurrects a little bit of love for them because they have real character. Nate was especially in love with his Wartburg that he drove around. They're like little characters in the show. Otto and Rolf's Trabant is, dare I say, iconic. 

What are the most important elements of the tone to Honey that you really want the audience to feel?

The unique tone of Honey comes from a mix of genres and emotions. It has a sweet and salty quality to it that I think will surprise the audience, from across a run of scenes. It can suddenly be thrilling, sexy, laugh-out-loud funny. I think that feels new and fresh. We really care for the characters in quite a moving way as the story progresses and the show is about the blurring of life lines: your emotional life, your professional life, and that specific time in your twenties where the world is big and fascinating. But, in this world, it's also lethal and dangerous. The comedy is set against that danger and creates something really addictive and compelling. 

How has it been filming in Lithuania with the crew?

I've never filmed in Lithuania before, but it's been amazing. It's been complicated because of the specifics of the script and the world-building that we've had to do. The crew have been fantastic, there's an amazing group of filmmakers here who have experience working on big shows. One of the joyful things in the show is, apart from all the craft that the Lithuanian crew put into it, that we've been able to use some of the best Lithuanian actors as well, and they've really brought so much to the show – lots of the supporting smaller roles have popped and created an instant impact.

What are some of the disguises that you've shot, and which one is your favourite?

The spy technology in the show is analogue and lo-fi. We've got a lot of strange, real-life devices that people have used, as well as some amazing disguises that were inspired by photographs. You could barely believe that people would try to get away with them. My favourite of all has been the blonde wig and moustache that Rory Kinnear wore in the opening scene, as well as Ann Skelly's enormous prosthetic nose and red mullet, especially contrasted with Nate Mann looking like Robert Redford in his blonde wig and moustache. 

What have you most enjoyed about bringing Honey to life?

The thing that I've enjoyed most about Honey has been bringing to life Emma's incredible writing. She has an ability to write characters that you fall instantly in love with, and also a way of making you laugh and feel terrified at the same time, which is completely unique. Her voice is a really special and unique one, and coming in every day and working with the actors to make her words fly in that way has just been a total joy.

Follow for more