50 Fun Facts About Killing Eve

Who plays Eve Polastri in Killing Eve?

Sandra Oh scrolled through the script hunting for her part, sure she couldn't be the lead, until her agent told her: 'Eve. The part is for Eve.'

Who plays the assassin Villanelle in Killing Eve?

Jodie Comer beat more than 100 actresses to the part; the producers wanted a killer who could vanish into a crowd, not a 'male fantasy' assassin in the Nikita mould.

What is Villanelle's real name in Killing Eve?

Oksana Astankova was left at an orphanage as a child, became obsessed with her teacher, Anna, and murdered Anna's husband before she was recruited as an assassin.

Killing Eve is based on novellas by which author?

Luke Jennings was the Observer's dance critic when he wrote the first Villanelle story as a Kindle e-book in 2014, and a TV producer optioned it that same year.

Who was head writer of Killing Eve's first series?

Phoebe Waller-Bridge was signed up by a producer who had read Fleabag as a stage play, long before it reached television and made her name.

Which actress and writer took over as head writer for Killing Eve's second series?

Emerald Fennell, then best known for acting in Call the Midwife, ran one series only: Killing Eve handed each new series to a different woman as head writer.

In Killing Eve's final series, which figure appears to Villanelle in visions, looking exactly like her?

Jesus turns up, as Villanelle in drag, on the night she nearly drowns the vicar's daughter in the font; she had found religion to show Eve that she could change.

Which BAFTA did Killing Eve win in 2019 after the academy bent its own eligibility rules?

Best Drama Series. BAFTA's rules demanded a world premiere in the UK, and Killing Eve had aired in America five months before Britain, so the committee simply ruled it a British series.

On which UK channel did Killing Eve's first series begin in September 2018?

BBC One showed it on Saturday nights and put every episode on iPlayer the same day, so British viewers could finally binge a British-made drama that was already a hit in America.

In Killing Eve, what is the name of the secret organisation Villanelle kills for?

The Twelve are named after their twelve founders, and a 1979 flashback shows who suggested it: a young Carolyn, undercover among Berlin anarchists.

Who plays Carolyn Martens, head of MI6's Russia Section, in Killing Eve?

Fiona Shaw won a BAFTA as Carolyn, the spy chief who recruits Eve in the first episode and, in the last, is the one who orders Villanelle's execution.

Which Danish actor plays Villanelle's handler Konstantin in Killing Eve?

Kim Bodnia earned a BAFTA nomination as the handler Villanelle shoots in the first-series finale; presumed dead, he turns up alive and in hiding in the next series.

In Killing Eve, what does Eve's husband Niko do for a living?

Maths teacher Niko pays dearly for Eve's obsession: in series three he takes a pitchfork through the throat, survives, and tells her through a speech machine to stay away for good.

How does Carolyn's son Kenny die at the start of Killing Eve's third series?

A fall from a roof: Eve arrives at his office for a drink and his body lands on the ground behind her. The death is ruled a suicide, and her refusal to believe it pulls her back into the hunt.

Who plays Bill Pargrave, Eve's colleague killed in a Berlin nightclub in Killing Eve?

David Haig's Bill follows Villanelle into a packed club, where she turns to face him and stabs him again and again; his death makes Eve's hunt personal.

Which actress plays Dasha, the ex-gymnast who trained Villanelle, in Killing Eve?

Harriet Walter's Dasha is introduced in a flashback to Moscow in 1974, as a young gymnast who attacks her boyfriend in the gym and tips chalk over his body.

Who plays Hélène, the high-ranking assassin boss in Killing Eve's last two series?

Camille Cottin's Hélène meets her end in a hotel room, where Villanelle cuts her throat while Eve looks on, not long after Eve had kissed her.

Which Game of Thrones actress plays Carolyn's daughter Geraldine in Killing Eve?

Gemma Whelan's Geraldine keeps asking her mother to talk about her feelings, until Carolyn's patience runs out in the series-three finale: 'I think it's time you left.'

In series two of Killing Eve, Aaron Peel is the heir to what kind of business?

A tech company: Aaron inherits it when his father is assassinated, so Eve's team sends Villanelle undercover, posing as an American called Billie, to get close to him.

Which city hosts the deadly mission at the end of Killing Eve's second series?

Rome. Among the ruins of an ancient villa, Eve refuses to run away with Villanelle and walks off, so Villanelle shoots her in the back and leaves.

In Killing Eve's first episode, where does Villanelle kill a man at his own party with a poisoned hairpin?

Tuscany. Villanelle slips into a villa during a family celebration and drives a poison-filled hairpin into her target's eye, but first asks him who made his bedspread.

In series one of Killing Eve, where does Konstantin send Villanelle to kill her former partner Nadia?

A prison in Russia: Konstantin has Villanelle locked up there to silence Nadia before she can make a deal with Eve and Carolyn, and for once the assassin is terrified, in case he leaves her inside.

In series three of Killing Eve, Villanelle is set up in a grand apartment in which Spanish city?

Barcelona. Villanelle goes back to work from a palatial flat there, but a nice home isn't enough: she wants promotion to Keeper, a rank above her old handler Konstantin.

Which Kent seaside town is a main setting of Killing Eve's final series?

Margate, where Konstantin coaches the trainee assassin Pam, and where Eve is made to watch as an arrow drops out of the sky into Villanelle's shoulder.

In the Killing Eve episode 'Are You from Pinner?', Villanelle's half-brother is obsessed with which singer?

Elton John is the idol of young Bor'ka, whom Villanelle takes to at once: before she blows up the family home, she leaves him an envelope of cash and a note telling him to go and see his hero.

Which designer made the pink tulle dress Villanelle wears to a psychiatric assessment in Killing Eve?

Molly Goddard's frothy pink gown, worn with punky boots to an evaluation Villanelle resents, cast a long shadow: fashion writers spotted its echo in the pink dresses at the 2019 Oscars.

In Killing Eve, which luxury gift called 'La Villanelle' does the assassin send to Eve?

A perfume: the bottle of La Villanelle turns up in Eve's stolen suitcase, which comes back repacked with new designer clothes and a card reading 'Sorry baby'.

When Villanelle breaks into Eve's house in series one of Killing Eve, what does she say she wants?

To have dinner with her: after holding a screaming Eve under the bath tap, Villanelle sits down to eat at her kitchen table, then leaves with Eve's phone and uses it to find her next victim.

In Killing Eve's first episode, Villanelle reaches a witness in a London hospital disguised as what?

A nurse. In the hospital toilets the disguised Villanelle stops to tell Eve to wear her hair down; by the time Eve gets back to the ward, the witness and her guards are dead.

At the start of Killing Eve's third series, what is Villanelle doing when her old trainer Dasha reappears?

Getting married: Villanelle is in the middle of her own wedding in Spain when she spots Dasha, tackles her to the floor and, as the party turns into a brawl, leaves with her instead of the bride.

In Killing Eve's opening scene, what does Villanelle do to a little girl in a Vienna café?

Knocks over her ice cream: after trading smiles with the girl across the café, Villanelle leaves a tip, tips the bowl into the child's lap on her way out, and only then looks truly happy.

In series two of Killing Eve, Villanelle puts on a pig mask to stage a public killing in which city?

Amsterdam. Villanelle hangs her victim in a brothel window and guts him before a crowd who think it is a show, copying a painting she saw at the Rijksmuseum in the hope that Eve will come to investigate.

Which US channel simulcast Killing Eve's second series alongside BBC America?

AMC is BBC America's sister channel: the company running the pair put series two on both at once, and BBC America ordered a third series the day after the premiere.

The star who plays Eve in Killing Eve co-hosted which 2019 awards show and won Best Actress there the same night?

The Golden Globes. She opened the show alongside Andy Samberg, then came back as a winner for Killing Eve and thanked her parents from the stage while her father stood to applaud.

In series three of Killing Eve, where does Eve surprise Villanelle with a kiss in the middle of a fight?

On a bus: Villanelle pins Eve to a seat and tells her to smell her; Eve kisses her instead, then headbutts her, and is left with a bloody nose as Villanelle steps off.

In the Killing Eve finale, where is Villanelle when she dies?

In the River Thames: hit by a sniper moments after wiping out her old employers on a boat, Villanelle shields Eve as they jump overboard, then sinks out of her reach.

Which trope was the Killing Eve finale accused of perpetuating?

Bury Your Gays: Villanelle is gunned down just as she and Eve have finally become a couple, and even the author of the original novels called the ending 'a bowing to convention'.

In series two of Killing Eve, how does Eve arrange to meet Villanelle again?

She orders a hit on herself: with Villanelle working freelance, Eve books her as the killer, because MI6 needs her to make a captured assassin talk. At first a colleague thinks she is joking.

Who plays Eve's assistant Elena in the first series of Killing Eve?

Kirby Howell-Baptiste's Elena lasts a single series, but comes back in the last one: at a karaoke night, Eve sees visions of the colleagues and husband from her old life.

In which city does Villanelle live in the first series of Killing Eve?

Paris. When Eve finally tracks down the apartment in the first-series finale, she helps herself to the champagne and tears the place apart before its owner comes home.

Which agency does Eve work for at the start of Killing Eve?

MI5. Eve is sacked from her desk job there when a witness she went to interview without permission is murdered, and within the same episode MI6 hires her off the books.

What does Eve use to kill Villanelle's handler Raymond at the end of series two of Killing Eve?

An axe: Raymond is choking Villanelle when Eve picks up the weapon he had put down and, urged on by Villanelle, brings it down on him. Villanelle later admits she wanted Eve to know how killing feels.

In series three of Killing Eve, what does the toy bear that Villanelle leaves for Eve do?

Plays her recorded voice: in a toyshop booth Villanelle tries 'I should have shot you in the head', but the bear hidden in Eve's bed repeats another line: 'Admit it, Eve. You wish I was here.'

Which League of Gentlemen member plays MI6 supervisor Paul Bradwell in Killing Eve?

Steve Pemberton's Paul is brought in to oversee Carolyn, turns out to be working for the very organisation she is hunting, and ends the third series shot dead by her.

At the start of Killing Eve's third series, where is Eve working after leaving MI6?

In a Korean restaurant: six months after being shot, Eve has swapped spying for making dumplings in a kitchen in New Malden, and goes home each night to instant noodles and wine.

What does Eve do to Villanelle at the end of Killing Eve's first series?

Stabs her: lying beside Villanelle on a bed, Eve drives a knife into her stomach, panics at once and runs to the kitchen for something to stop the bleeding, and Villanelle gets away.

In series three of Killing Eve, what does Villanelle hit her old trainer Dasha with before leaving her for dead?

A golf club: sent to a Scottish course to kill an American businessman, Villanelle lines up her swing behind him, then turns and brings the club down on Dasha instead.

In the final series of Killing Eve, what does Pam use to kill Konstantin?

A pizza cutter: Konstantin is planning their future over a takeaway when his trainee slits his throat with it, obeying a boss who, as he tells her with his last breaths, is already dead.

In series two of Killing Eve, the wounded Villanelle hides with a man whose house is full of what?

Dolls: Julian's mother collected them, and he soon treats his guest like one more, locking her in and refusing to let her go, until she kills him to escape.

In series three of Killing Eve, Villanelle and her trainee infiltrate a children's birthday party dressed as what?

Clowns: Villanelle is there to coach a rookie called Felix through a clean, quiet kill, but he makes such a mess of it that she kills him as well.