Killing Eve boss reveals why Niko was spared after brutal pitchfork attack in season 3

KILLING Eve boss Sally Woodward Gentle has revealed why Niko survived season 3, despite being the victim of a brutal pitchfork attack.

The drama has killed off several characters during its run, including poor Kenny (Sean Delaney), but Niko surprisingly escaped being axed.

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The executive producer admitted the show did consider killing the character, but decided against it for the sake of the storyline.

She explained: "We did debate those both ways, ultimately we really wanted Niko (Owen McDonnell) to have the power to walk away and to say 'p*** off' rather than him being dispatched by a third party.

"And I think that's really important for Eve's psyche as well. She gets wounded twice, really. She wounded by somebody trying to kill her husband, and then she's wounded by the fact that her husband has told her to piss off. Which arguably he should have done a lot earlier [laughs]."

The boss also hasn't ruled out a return for Niko in future episodes.

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She laughed: "Who the devil knows? He's not dead, as far as we know."

In season 3, episode 4, Niko's time on the show seemed to be at an end after Dasha brutally stabbed him in the neck with a pitchfork.

But two episodes later, it was revealed that Eve's husband somehow survived the attack – but he made it clear that he did not want to see her anymore.

One of the other stars of the show Fiona Shaw, was left feeling 'very disturbed' by Carolyn's first kill in the season 3 finale.

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Her character Carolyn Martens committed her first murder when she shot her new boss Paul Bradwell, who turned out to be one of The Twelve.

The actress described how taken aback she was with Carolyn's killing, saying she had never thought of her as a killer.

She told Bazaar.com: "I don’t believe Carolyn ever killed anyone, sure, the MI6 agent has overseen and perhaps witnessed killings as part of her job, but the actress thought it would be “a long time” before we’d see her character take a life.

“I was very disturbed by it, because I really didn’t think of Carolyn as a killer. I hope the audience didn’t either.”

Watch all episodes of Killing Eve season 3 on BBC iPlayer