It has been one of the most critically acclaimed pieces of television, but creator of Killing Eve, Phoebe Waller Bridge, has revealed it nearly didn't happen.
"Killing Eve was turned down by everyone really in this country," she confessed. "I thought it was a goner. The production company sent it to BBC America just came back and said, 'Great, we love it.'
"Sometimes you think something is gone - one of the things I thought I would never return to becomes the biggest thing in your life."
The series stars Jodie Comer, Sandra Oh and Fiona Shaw and follows British Intelligence agent Eve Polastri as she tries to track down psychopath, Villanelle.
The pair strike up an unlikely relationship and soon develop an obsession with each other.
MORE: 7 THINGS YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT JODIE COMER
And, despite getting turned down initially, Killing Eve has gone on to be a resounding success - with a third series already confirmed.
The writer - who also wrote and starred in Fleabag - put so much energy into making Killing Eve a success that she was on the verge of burnout.
'The tank is moving forward. So I felt like I just had to keep going. I got better at Fleabag but I was still having shakes at the final take because I was so, so, so tired. I work myself to the ground. I am really hard on myself when I am doing it."
But Phoebe, 33, learned the hard way that taking a break is essential.
"You need to give yourself permission to stop. No one is going to say that for you because everyone is like, 'You'll be fine.'
"But you also need to give yourself permission to stop. And I didn't stop because I didn't want to let people down," she admitted.
Her work ethic is born of wanting great things. "I feel like that is because I care so, so much about it being good."
MORE: JODIE COMER RELATES TO VILLANELLE
