Armchair travel: Killing Eve takes viewers on a European holiday

Jodie Comer as Killing Eve's Villanelle, in Arco de Triunfo, Barcelona. Photo / Des Willie/BBCA

If there's one thing lockdown has been good for, it's binge-watching TV series and we've been blessed lately with the return of fan favourite shows like Killing Eve, Ozark and Westworld.

The first of those began its third season last week, with new episodes available on TVNZ OnDemand every Monday at 5pm - the same time as their US release. If you're late to the party, or contemplating whether to keep watching after season two's shocking cliffhanger, the slick thriller comes highly recommended by the Travel team - not just for its brilliant acting (Sandra Oh, Jodie Comer, Fiona Shaw) and writing (Fleabag's Phoebe Waller Bridge), but also for its locations in some of Europe's most famous cities.

And unlike other shows, where filming locations are often faked in alternative cities, in Killing Eve they're mostly doing it for real.

"When it says Paris, we are in Paris," executive producer Lee Morris told Conde Nast Traveller.

Paris's Gare de l'Est train station doubled as Gare du Nord in Killing Eve's second season. Photo / Aimee Spinks/BBCAmerica

"With period films, it's often impossible to shoot in the actual locations as they've changed so much," he said. "With Killing Eve, as it's contemporary, we have no such excuse."

"We really wanted to go places this season that shows don't normally go," exec producer Sally Woodward Gentle told Architectural Digest. "That is quite hard in Western Europe, as most places have been used [for filming]."

Killing Eve's Villainelle (Jodie Comer) in Amsterdam. Photo / BBC America

This season, expect the story to take you to Barcelona, London, Russia, France, Poland and Romania. "Romania was my favourite," Jodie Comer, who plays assassin Villainelle, said in an interview with the BBC. "To film in places that you would never usually have the opportunity to film in is incredible. Barcelona was also beautiful ... It's a really nice opening to the series because there's a lot of colour, it's vibrant and moving really quickly."

Sandra Oh, who plays titular character Eve says although the show is distinctly British because of its tone, writing and characters, it's also very European.

Killing Eve stars Sandra Oh (Eve) and Owen McDonnell (Niko) filming at Grove House, Roehampton, England. Photo / Des Willie/BBCA

"The locations are so important to the storytelling and are a big part of the style and genre of the show," she told the BBC. "They fill the show with such a richness and depth that is irreplaceable - you just can't do it with CGI or on an LA backlot."

Killing Eve won't just give you a weekly dose of drama, intrigue and escapism, it will also give you the chance to do a bit of armchair travelling. We don't know about you, but right about now we are really craving a visit to Europe in the springtime ... albeit with fewer deadly assassins on our trail.