As an MI6 arms specialist, Bianca Pullman is the ultimate adversity to the notorious assassin known only as The Jackal.

Tenacious and well-connected, Bianca considers herself somewhat of an outsider in life – and she’s right, often being an outsider at work, with her desire to get results in her career often coming at the expense of her homelife.

A wife and mother, sometimes her family comes second when she gets her teeth into the case.

Nevertheless, this agent will go to any lengths she needs to finally bring him down – so far in fact, that it may even surprise herself.

Speaking ahead of the series launch, Lashana Lynch talks about taking on an MI6 role, the work/life balance Bianca fails with, and taking on a producer role.

Find out more about Lashana Lynch and her career here.

I enjoy a script coming into my inbox and questioning how I'm going to lend my voice to it and how I'm going to help move the needle forward. As soon as I read the first few episodes of the show, I saw so much prospect for both us as creatives and the audiences to learn about the deeper depths of the minds behind MI6, the personalities, and what everyone has to contend with in their lives outside of their occupations. That's a really important story to tell.

Having played a character in the MI6 in No Time To Die, I saw this as a beautiful opportunity to dive deeper into the modern, London born Black woman’s story and balance strength and vulnerability.

When I read that Bianca was married with a child, and that she lives in West London, I was immediately excited! She has challenges coming out of her ears and to hold it together, she finds it difficult to confront her own mistakes. She is constantly grappling with being inherently selfish and doing the right thing for her family.

Although we are from the same part of London, these differences in our lives were all things that I’d wanted to play as an actor for some time. There was no chance I could pass this up.

Bianca is probably one of the most dynamic MI6 agents I've had the pleasure of reading and getting to know for the screen.

I think she's a realistic representation of the kind of hard work it takes for a woman – especially a Black woman – to succeed in her line of business. She is both in the building of MI6 and also in the field.

She's very three-dimensional in that she is a real woman you get to know. She loves the cat-and-mouse chase with the Jackal and gets a thrill from it. She rubs people the wrong way, in a brilliant way, and does things in the most unorthodox manner to get what she wants.

However she finds it very difficult to find a work-life balance that works for the protection of her family. Her home life suffers because she is so great at work. I think that makes her relatable.

It’s enabled me to oversee the things I care about and things that I know women and the Black community will care about when they watch Bianca and her family in this world.

There's so much to be done about dismantling the cliché of a strong Black woman and bringing it back to a more grounded, more centred, and realistic depiction.

I was determined to ensure that the language, costumes, and hair, all depict someone who could be your friend, your sister, or your auntie. She just so happens to be someone who has expertise in guns and is one of the best in MI6.

The audience will be watching a cat-and-mouse chase throughout 10 episodes and that is what’s going to hold people.

One of the most important things for me – and one that was so interesting to play – is that after every episode you're cheering for one of them or the other.

The crux of it is, ‘Is everyone lying or not?’ We don't know. I think that will keep people gripped throughout.