Peacock is betting big on Cold War intrigue with Ponies, a new espionage drama fronted by Emilia Clarke and Haley Lu Richardson. Set against the icy tension of late–1970s Moscow, the series flips the usual spy-story perspective by putting two overlooked embassy secretaries at the center of a CIA operation gone very wrong.
All eight episodes of Ponies are scheduled to drop on Peacock starting January 15, 2026, positioning the show as one of the platform’s first major genre releases of the year.
What is Ponies about?
Rather than following elite agents or seasoned operatives, Ponies zeroes in on Bea and Twila, American secretaries working at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow in 1977. In intelligence jargon, they’re written off as “persons of no interest” — the kind of people who type memos, pour coffee, and stay invisible while history is being made around them.
Their anonymity doesn’t last. When both of their husbands die under murky, unexplained circumstances on Soviet soil, the women are pulled into a labyrinth of half-truths and classified agendas. Is it a tragic coincidence, a cover-up, or the surface layer of a much larger game between Washington and Moscow?
As the embassy closes ranks and answers become more elusive, Bea and Twila are approached by the CIA. What begins as a personal quest for clarity slowly morphs into a covert mission: infiltrate a broader network, trace the threads behind the deaths, and uncover who is really pulling the strings.
A Cold War setting with a grounded, character-first approach
Ponies is set in 1977, deep in the Cold War, at a moment when détente is fragile and paranoia is a default setting on both sides of the Iron Curtain. The story unfolds primarily inside and around the U.S. Embassy in Moscow — a space where every conversation might be monitored and every colleague might be compromised.
Instead of globe-trotting action sequences, the show leans into the everyday mechanics of espionage: coded messages, intercepted phone calls, bugged offices, and quiet acts of surveillance that never make it into official reports. The tension is less about car chases and more about what happens in cramped offices, smoky apartments, and windowless briefing rooms.
Two very different women forced into the spy game
At the core of Ponies are its two leads, whose contrasting personalities shape the series’ tone and emotional stakes.
- Bea (played by Emilia Clarke) is an intellectual with deep ties to the region. Raised in a family of Soviet immigrants and fluent in Russian, she understands not just the language but the cultural and political nuances of the era. Bea approaches danger with analysis and restraint, always trying to read the room three moves ahead.
- Twila (played by Haley Lu Richardson) comes from a more modest American background, far from the world of embassies and geopolitics. She compensates with blunt honesty, quick instincts, and a refusal to back down when threatened. Where Bea weighs consequences, Twila pushes forward.
The friction between their worldviews becomes one of the show’s engines: rational versus impulsive, insider knowledge versus outsider grit. As their mission escalates, they’re forced to decide not only whom they can trust in Moscow, but whether they can truly trust each other.
Who’s behind Ponies?
Ponies was created by Susanna Fogel and David Iserson, both of whom have experience blending psychological tension with serialized storytelling.
Fogel serves as director and co-writer on the series, while Iserson steps in as showrunner, shaping the overall arc of the eight-episode season. Their collaboration aims to ground the spy narrative in character-driven drama rather than pure plot mechanics.
The show is produced by Universal Television, with Emilia Clarke also attached as an executive producer — a role that gives her influence on both sides of the camera. Production took place in Budapest in early 2025, a choice that allows the creative team to recreate 1970s Moscow with a high level of detail and atmosphere.
The supporting cast includes Adrian Lester, Artjom Gilz, Nicholas Podany, Petro Ninovskyi, and Vic Michaelis, rounding out the world of intelligence officers, diplomats, and shadowy intermediaries who orbit Bea and Twila’s story.
Inside the trailer: paranoia, surveillance, and quiet violence
The first trailer for Ponies, released by Peacock, gives a clear sense of the show’s mood: claustrophobic, hushed, and laced with dread rather than spectacle. We see cramped embassy offices, tightly controlled corridors, and glances that last a beat too long. Conversations feel coded; silence feels dangerous.
Quick cuts tease watchful eyes, trailing cars, and the constant threat of violence that simmers under the surface rather than erupting outright. The footage suggests a slow-burn investigation — the kind of story where each new clue opens up more questions and raises the emotional stakes for the two women at the center.
As the trailer hints, Bea and Twila’s personal grief becomes intertwined with a much wider geopolitical confrontation. What starts as a search for answers about their husbands’ deaths shades into an exploration of how small, seemingly powerless people can become leverage in a global power struggle.
Why Ponies stands out in the spy-genre landscape
For American viewers used to seeing spies portrayed as highly trained, almost superhuman professionals, Ponies offers something deliberately different. By centering two women who were never meant to be in the field, the show reframes the Cold War from the bottom up — through the eyes of people usually sidelined in official histories and traditional thrillers.
The series also arrives at a time when there’s renewed interest in stories about misinformation, state power, and surveillance culture. While Ponies is firmly rooted in 1970s geopolitics, its exploration of who gets to hold information — and who pays the price when secrets are weaponized — is likely to resonate with a contemporary U.S. audience.
If Peacock can deliver on the promise of the trailer, Ponies may appeal not only to fans of spy fiction but also to viewers drawn to character-driven dramas like The Americans or Homeland, where emotional stakes matter just as much as classified files.
Release details: where and when to watch Ponies
Release date: The full eight-episode first season of Ponies is scheduled to be available on Peacock starting January 15, 2026.
Platform: The series is a Peacock title, streaming exclusively on NBCUniversal’s platform in the United States. Subscribers will be able to watch all episodes on demand.
With its mix of emotional drama, period detail, and quiet suspense, Ponies is positioned as one of Peacock’s early-2026 launches to keep an eye on — especially for viewers looking for a smarter, more intimate take on Cold War espionage.
FAQ
What is the main plot of Ponies?
Ponies follows Bea and Twila, two secretaries at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow in 1977, whose husbands die under suspicious circumstances in the Soviet Union. As they search for answers, the CIA recruits them to infiltrate a larger network and uncover the truth behind the deaths, pulling them deep into the world of Cold War espionage.
When will Ponies be available to stream on Peacock?
All eight episodes of Ponies are set to arrive on Peacock on January 15, 2026. The season is expected to be available in full on that date for subscribers.
Who are the lead actors in Ponies?
Emilia Clarke stars as Bea, a Russian-speaking intellectual with Soviet immigrant roots, and Haley Lu Richardson plays Twila, an American from a modest background known for her straightforward, no-nonsense attitude. Together, their characters anchor the series’ emotional and narrative core.
Who created Ponies and who produces the series?
Ponies is created by Susanna Fogel and David Iserson. Fogel directs and co-writes the series, while Iserson serves as showrunner. The show is produced by Universal Television, with Emilia Clarke also attached as an executive producer. Filming took place in Budapest to convincingly recreate 1970s Moscow.
