Even before its first episode premieres, a drama series has been renewed for a second season. BBC America announced the pickup today for “Killing Eve,” which premieres on the cable channel this Sunday, April 8.

Produced by Sid Gentle Films Ltd, the cat-and-mouse drama stars Sandra Oh (“Grey’s Anatomy,” “Sideways”) and Jodie Comer (“The White Princess,” “Thirteen”) and comes from Phoebe Waller-Bridge (“Fleabag”).

BBC America describes it as “a dramatic thriller revolving around a psychopathic assassin and the woman charged with hunting her down. It is a combination of brutal mischief making and pathos, filled with sharp humor, originality and high stakes action.”

Sarah Barnett, BBC America president, commented: “This show has the thunder of women on both sides of the chase in Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer and, importantly, behind the camera with the lavishly brilliant Phoebe Waller-Bridge. The early response to ‘Killing Eve’ has been incredible — for that reason, as well as the fact that we wholeheartedly love this original, funny, thrillingly entertaining series, we are delighted to move ahead with a second season before we even premiere.”

Today’s announcement adds: “Based on the novellas by Luke Jennings, BBCA’s ‘Killing Eve’ centers on two women; Eve is a bored, whip-smart, pay-grade security services operative whose desk-bound job doesn’t fulfill her fantasies of being a spy. Villanelle is an elegant, talented killer who clings to the luxuries her violent job affords her. ‘Killing Eve’ topples the typical spy-action thriller as these two fiercely intelligent women, equally obsessed with each other, go head to head in an epic game of cat and mouse.”

Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Sally Woodward Gentle and Lee Morris are executive producers on the series, with Sandra Oh as associate producer. The series is produced by Sid Gentle Films Ltd and distributed by Endeavor Content.