Killing Eve’s main stars, including Jodie Comer as assassin Villanelle, are contracted for a third series

Killing Eve has been such a global hit for the BBC that it has secured a third series before the second has aired — but it could be the last.

The popular drama, an adaptation of Luke Jennings’s Codename Villanelle novellas, follows an MI5 officer who makes it her mission to track down a pyschopathic female assassin called Villanelle.

Producers have contracted the main stars — Jodie Comer, Sandra Oh and Fiona Shaw — for a third season and it is expected to start production in the summer.

“We’ve had a good run, but nothing lasts for ever,” said one of the Killing Eve team. “I suspect our amazing actors will outgrow the show.”

The BBC has yet to confirm a UK transmission date