What is the story about?
Brush up on your espionage lingo! Games of Thrones alum Emilia Clarke and The White Lotus star Haley Lu Richardson are leading the cast of the series PONIES
in the upcoming year. Co-created by Susanna Fogel alongside David Iserson, PONIES takes place in Moscow, Russia, during 1977. Clarke and Richardson portray American widows who embark on a quest to unravel the enigmatic deaths of their spouses in a foreign country amidst the peak of the Cold War. Here’s how you can catch the eight-part series on OTT.
PONIES set to debut in January 2026
On Instagram, JioHotstar posted, "Moscow. 1977. They were unseen. Until they weren’t. From administrative assistants to CIA agents, they ventured into the shadows of the Cold War to reveal the truth behind their husbands’ fatalities. Featuring Emilia Clarke and Haley Lu Richardson, #PONIES premieres January 16 on The Peacock Hub on JioHotstar." Emilia Clarke also does double duty as an executive producer on the show.
The official description for the Peacock series reads, "Two ‘PONIES’ (‘persons of no interest’ in intelligence terminology) operate discreetly as secretaries at the American Embassy. That is until their spouses are killed under suspicious circumstances in the USSR, prompting the duo to become CIA agents. Bea is a highly educated, Russian-speaking daughter of Soviet immigrants. Her partner, Twila, is a small-town girl who is as tough as she is brave. Together, they strive to expose a significant Cold War conspiracy and unravel the mystery that turned them into widows in the first place.”
Booksmart's Fogel and Mad Men's Iserson are the minds behind the creation. Fogel also serves as director, executive producer, and co-writer for the project, while Iserson takes on the role of showrunner and co-writer. Adrian Lester, Vic Michaelis, Nicholas Podany, Artjom Gilz, Petro Ninovskyi, and Andrew Richardson round out the cast of this spy thriller. Each of the eight episodes in the series runs for one hour.
