Stan, Sky NZ, Hot the first to pre-buy Sid Gentle comedic thriller Honey

Ann Skelly stars in Honey

MIPCOM: Stan (Australia), Sky (New Zealand), Hot (Israel) and OSN+ (Middle East and North Africa) have become the first international broadcasters to pre-buy darkly comedic thriller Honey following its premiere in Cannes this week.

The Cold War tale from Sid Gentle Films premiered at Mipcom on Monday evening and is being shopped in Cannes by Fifth Season.

The distributor has now secured its first wave of global pre-sales for the 6×60′ series, which was commissioned by the BBC for iPlayer and BBC One alongside German pubcaster ZDF.

Honey follows Martha, a deep-cover MI6 agent in East Berlin in 1982, who explores a shadowy world of counterespionage and finds herself blindsided by desire in a Cold War ménage-à-trois.

The cast is led by Ann Skelly (House of Guinness, The Nevers), Nate Mann (Masters of the Air, Licorice Pizza), Jannis Niewöhner (Munich: The Edge of War, Napoleon) and Rory Kinnear (The Diplomat, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power). Emma Moran is the lead writer and executive producer.

Fifth Season’s scripted slate for Mipcom also includes The Ink Factory’s forthcoming John le Carré adaptation Legacy of Spies, starring Matthew Macfadyen; psychological mystery thriller series Recap, from K Period Media; and a reimagining of the classic Treasure Island, from Playground Entertainment.