Emilia Clarke to Lead Peacock Espionage Thriller

Peacock has given a straight-to-series order for the espionage thriller Ponies, with Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones, Me Before You) set to star and executive produce.

The thriller takes place in Moscow 1977 and centers on two “PONIES,” or “persons of no interest,” who work anonymously as secretaries in the American embassy. After their husbands are killed under mysterious circumstances in the USSR, they become CIA operatives to uncover a vast Cold War conspiracy and find out the truth about their husbands’ deaths.

Clarke will star as Bea, an over-educated, Russian-speaking child of Soviet immigrants. Her cohort, Twila, is a small-town girl who is abrasive and fearless.

Ponies comes from co-creators Susanna Fogel (The Flight Attendant, The Spy Who Dumped Me) and David Iserson (Mr. Robot, New Girl), who both also co-write and executive produce. Fogel is also directing, and Iserson is serving as showrunner.

Jessica Rhoades (Black Mirror, Station Eleven, Dirty John) is also an executive producer, and Katherine Bridle and Alison Mo Massey are co-executive producers. The studio behind the thriller is Universal Television.