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If you’ve not seen the brilliant and addictive Killing Eve yet, you are missing out. It’s a cat-and-mouse game involving Eve Polastri (a Golden Globe-winning role Sandra Oh), a desk-bound MI5 officer who begins to track down psychopathic assassin Villanelle (Jodie Comer), while both women become obsessed with each other.
The first season received much acclaim and award-season buzz so it’s no surprise the show has picked up a staggering five nominations for the main awards and nine for Bafta’s Craft Awards, which were revealed together. This includes two nominations for its lead actresses.
It premiered in the US on BBC America last April, five months before it arrived on BBC One and the iPlayer and in that, the Bafta decided to allow a bend in its rules; they generally say shows must have been broadcast in the UK first to be eligible. Given the large amount of British crew involved in making the series, they decided to allow the show as a runner.
Related: Watch: Teaser trailer for season two of Killing Eve is released
All its main players are in line for awards: other acting nominees from the spy drama are Fiona Shaw, who played spymaster Carolyn, and Kim Bodina, who was Villanelle’s handler, Konstantin. They are up for best supporting actress and supporting actor respectively. Killing Eve is also in the running for best drama series, while Phoebe Waller-Bridge is nominated for best drama writer. A Very English Scandal received 12 nominations and Patrick Melrose and Bodyguard have six and five nominations respectively.
Season two will premiere in the US early next month with a UK and Ireland release date to follow.
Fiona Shaw will reprise her role as Carolyn Martens, Eve’s boss, for the second season and there’ll be some new additions: Nina Sosanya (W1A, Last Tango In Halifax) and Edward Bluemel (A Discovery of Witches, Sex Education) are joining the line-up, with a guest appearance expected from The Mighty Boosh’s Julian Barratt. Exactly what role they’ll have is unconfirmed, but Eve will need all the help she can get after the cliff-hanger of season one.
We won’t reveal too much, but watch the teaser trailer for the new series if you’re keen to know more:
In an interview with Vogue, Comer kept her lips sealed about plot lines we could expect to see but said the part of playing the charismatic, cold-blooded killer who can take on many personas and personalities that she most enjoyed was the character being “just so full of life and to be able to explore that and not hold back, to just push it and push it and push it.”
The winners will be announced on 12 May, see here for the full list of nominations.
Main photograph: @cevangelista413