Peacock's 'PONIES' Ponies Up a Cast List

Not every period piece is based on a true story; it just can feel that way sometimes, especially with the rise of the biopic film in Academy voters' hearts in the last decade and TV's tendency to retell already-known stories. Sometimes, just being based in a specific historical era is enough, and the rest can be a flight of fancy. Such is the case with Peacock's latest period drama, the 1970s Cold War set spy series PONIES (the intelligence acronym meaning "Persons Of No Interest"). Produced by and starring Game of Thrones' Emilia Clarke, it is one of the very few Eurocentric originals that will be debuting on the platform not involving U.K. sister company Sky.

Considering that PONIES fits very well with Sky's massive hit The Day of the Jackal (which all but flatlined in the States), one assumes that eventually, the cultural exchange will go both ways, and Peacock's series will be guaranteed a U.K. platform on Sky. However, it speaks to Peacock's belief in the series (and Clarke) that it was willing to greenlight it as long as she starred.

Until now, the only other confirmed cast member for the series was American Haley Lu Richardson, who broke out in The White Lotus Season 2 alongside Leo Woodhall. Peacock announced she would board the project to star as the other half of the spy duo with Clarke, a sign the series' lead planned to surround herself with a strong ensemble. Now, with the rest of the main roster confirmed ahead of filming, it seems that is indeed the case.

Here's the series synopsis:

Set in Moscow in 1977, the series follows two PONIES (“persons of no interest” in intelligence speak) who work anonymously as secretaries in the American Embassy. That is until their husbands are killed under mysterious circumstances in the USSR, and the pair become CIA operatives. Bea is an over-educated, Russian-speaking child of Soviet immigrants. Alongside her cohort, Twila, they work to uncover a vast Cold War conspiracy and solve the mystery that made them widows in the first place.

Clarke plays Bea, while Richardson is Twila. The two will be joined by Adrian Lester (The Undeclared War) as their boss, Dane, the unreadable head of the CIA Moscow station. American actors Nicholas Podany (Verona's Romeo & Juliet) and Vic Michaelis (Murder in a Small Town) play married couple Ray and Cheryl; he's an earnest, midlevel CIA analyst, she's the queen bee of the embassy wives who rules the roost as the office manager. Russian actor Artjom Gilz (Charite) also stars as KGB officer Andrei, and Ukrainian actor Petro Ninovskyi (Silence) will play Sasha, who works in top-secret Soviet technology.

Susanna Fogel (A Small Light) and David Iserson (Mr. Robot) co-created and co-wrote the series episodes; Fogel will direct all episodes; Iserson is co-showrunner with Mike Daniels (The Village). All three executive produce with Clarke, Jessica Rhoades, Katherine Bridle, Jared Ian Goldman, and Rosa Handelman for Pacesetter Productions. Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, produces the series. 

PONIES is expected to debut on Peacock before the end of 2025.