For a show that has yet to air in the UK, Killing Eve has rapidly become one of the most talked about TV dramas of 2018. The BBC America series debuted in the USA earlier this year and has been met with much acclaim. And now, with two Emmy nominations under its belt, the conversation just got even hotter. It is due to arrive on our screens later this year, but in the meantime, here is everything you need to know.

1. Sandra Oh takes the lead as she hunts for a psychopathic killer

Based on the Villanelle novellas by Luke Jennings, the series has been written and produced by Fleabag’s Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and sees Grey’s Anatomy’s Sandra Oh take up the lead role of Eve Polastri, a jaded MI5 security officer whose desk job falls drastically short of her dreams of being a spy. Polastri is on the hunt for talented killer, Oksana “Villanelle” Astankova (Jodie Comer), who clings to the luxuries her violent job affords her. A mutual obsession slowly develops between the two women as a game of cat and mouse ensues.

2. There’s a number of homegrown talent among the cast

Oh and Comer are joined by several familiar faces, with Fiona Shaw (Harry Potter’s Petunia Dursley) as Carolyn Martens, David Haig (of Four Weddings and a Funeral) as Eve’s colleague Bill, in addition to Kim Bodnia, Darren Boyd, Sean Delaney, Kirby Howell-Baptiste and Owen McDonnell.

3. It’s made history with its Emmy nominations

Tongues have been wagging since the series scooped two Emmy nominations. In a nod to the work of Phoebe Waller-Bridge, the first is for outstanding writing for a drama series. But it’s the second nomination that has really got people talking, as Sandra Oh has reportedly made history as the first woman of Asian descent to be nominated for best lead actress in a drama series.

Delighted to be paving the way for others, Oh’s reaction was one of jubilation and revolution.

“Let’s celebrate it, man. I’m serious, just [expletive] celebrate it. It’s like, we’ve got to start somewhere,” she told The New York Times.

“And I’m happy to get that ball rolling, because what I hope happens is that next year and the next year and the next year, we will have presence. And the presence will grow not only to Asian-Americans, you know, from yellow to brown, but to all our other sisters and brothers. Our First Nations sisters and brothers. Our sisters and brothers of different sizes and different shapes.

“If I can be a part of that change, like [expletive], yeah, let’s celebrate it.”

What’s more, it seems that Oh’s work has got her mother’s seal of approval, as she told Entertainment Tonight: “I think my mother at this moment may actually be satisfied.”

4. Phoebe Waller-Bridge was hand-picked to create the series  

The show is a product of BBC America, a US channel partly owned by the BBC and AMC Networks. While the channel airs shows like Doctor Who, The Graham Norton Show and Top Gear to US viewers, it also commissions its own shows which is how Killing Eve came to be.

Executive producer Sally Woodward Gentle told metro.co.uk that she approached Phoebe Waller-Bridge after reading her play, because she thought her spin on the familiar genre would give it something brand new.

“We then developed the Killing Eve script and when we showed it to BBC America it was clear that they loved it for all the same reasons we did; its attitude, tone and female-centric nature,” Gentle explained.

5. It isn’t available in the UK yet, but it will be soon

The BBC have won the rights to air the series in the UK. It will be coming to a primetime slot on BBC1 later this year, and the entire series will be availble to watch as box set on BBC3.

It will be somewhat of a homecoming for both Waller-Bridge and Comer who made names for themselves on BBC3. Waller-Bridge’s former’s series Fleabag earned her critical acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic and launched her international career, while Comer starred in Thirteen – the first original drama to air on BBC3 after its move online.

6. There will be more to come

Having broken record ratings in just eight episodes, it’s no wonder that the series has been renewed for a second season. While we don’t know anything about the plot yet, speaking to the New York Times about season two, Oh said:

“I want them to find each other again. I do have the sneaking suspicion that Eve is going to continually be wrestling with her own soul as she explores darker parts of herself, and parts she really needs to explore.”

Images: BBC America