Miniseries · BBC Two
The Honourable Woman
Who's in it
Cast
The principal ensemble across the run of the series.
Maggie Gyllenhaal
Nessa Stein
8 eps
Stephen Rea
Hugh Hayden-Hoyle
8 eps
Lubna Azabal
Atika Halibi
8 eps
Katherine Parkinson
Rachel Stein
8 eps
Janet McTeer
Julia Walsh
8 eps
Lindsay Duncan
Anjelica Hayden-Hoyle
8 eps
Eve Best
Monica Chatwin
8 eps
Andrew Buchan
Ephra Stein
8 eps
Igal Naor
Shlomo Zahary
8 eps
Tobias Menzies
Nathaniel Bloom
8 eps
Genevieve O'Reilly
Frances Pirsig
8 eps
Reeve Fletcher
Hannah Stein
8 eps
Philip Arditti
Saleh Al-Zahid
8 eps
Martin Hutson
Max Boorman
8 eps
Paul Herzberg
Daniel Borgoraz
8 eps
Nicole Lopes
Mazel Stein
8 eps
Oliver Bodur
Kasim Halabi
8 eps
George Georgiou
Magdi Muraji
8 eps
Shani Erez
Kidma Academy Admissions Officer
1 eps
The Nutevio profile
TV DNA
How The Honourable Woman actually feels to watch, measured on the traits our editors track across every series.
Signature profile
The Honourable Woman reads strongest on Serialized, Character Depth and Bingeability.
How much each hour depends on the one before it.
How fully written and psychologically layered the ensemble is.
How hard it is to stop after one episode.
How much the series is designed to affect you.
The sustained pressure the series keeps you under.
How often an episode ends on a hook you can't ignore.
Visual ambition — scale, craft and set-piece filmmaking.
The scale, internal logic and texture of the world.
How often the series is genuinely funny, by design.
The story
What it's about
Nessa Stein, the daughter of a Zionist arms procurer who as a child witnessed his assassination. Now an adult, Nessa inherits her father's company and changes course from supplying arms to laying data cabling networks between Israel and the West Bank. Her efforts to reconcile the Israelis and Palestinians lands her an appointment to the House of Lords and creates an international political maelstrom.
Where the series peaks
Best Episodes
The hours that define the show, ranked by audience response and editorial signal.
S01E01
The Empty Chair
Powerful businesswoman Nessa Stein is thrown head-first into a game of political cat-and-mouse when a Palestinian businessman with close connections to her family's empire is killed.
- Directed by Hugo Blick
S01E02
The Unfaithful Husband
Nessa's past, including her kidnap eight years previously in Gaza, is dug up by MI6 boss Sir Hugh Hayden-Hoyle, who is intent on getting answers despite being blocked by the CIA.
- Directed by Hugo Blick
S01E03
The Killing Call
Nessa's security advisor follows a lead as he hunts down the missing boy. Meanwhile, her brother Ephra makes a startling discovery that could blow the family, and its work, apart.
- Directed by Hugo Blick
S01E08
The Paring Knife
Hayden-Hoyle uncovers that Nessa has been manipulated both by people close to her and by governments intent on exploiting her work. A thrilling climax in the desert wastelands sees Nessa fighting to save her life and the kidnapped child's as she attempts to make her way home.
- Directed by Hugo Blick
S01E07
The Hollow Wall
Hayden-Hoyle uncovers an international government cover-up in relation to the Stein wiretap and Ephra is drawn into making a fatal mistake. In Palestine, an act of terrorism stuns the Stein family and the wider international community and has far reaching repercussions.
- Directed by Hugo Blick
Behind the series
Created by
Showrunners, creators, executive producers and the writers who set the voice of the series.
The craft
Key Crew
Directing, writing, production, camera, music and editing.
Executive production
- Greg BrenmanExecutive Producer
- Hugo BlickProducer
- Polly HillExecutive Producer
- Abi BachProducer
Writing
- Hugo BlickWriter
Direction
- Hugo BlickDirector
Cinematography
- Zac NicholsonDirector of Photography
- George SteelDirector of Photography
Music
- Martin PhippsOriginal Music Composer
- Natalie HoltOriginal Music Composer
Where to watch
Streaming
Availability verified against regional listings.
- Amazon VideoBuy
- Apple TV StoreBuy
- Google Play MoviesBuy
- Fandango At HomeBuy
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