Arriving just in time for Christmas – though the holiday setting ultimately has no bearing on the show’s intrigue-heavy plotting – Netflix’s British action-thriller series Black Doves has all the surface-level expectation of a classic government conspiracy narrative, before revealing itself as something far deeper, darker, poignant and, surprisingly, humorous.
Toplined by Keira Knightley – who, after seeing in this, you’ll wonder why we haven’t had the continual pleasure of watching her take names in brutal precision in other projects prior – Black Doves centres itself around Helen Webb (Knightley), the (supposedly) prim and proper wife to Wallace (Andrew Buchan), a Conservative Party higher-up, who, in actuality, is a spy for the stealth collective the Black Doves, an independent outfit overseen by the calculating Reed (Sarah Lancashire, tremendous).
Essentially working for the highest bidder (whoever that may be), the deceptively capable Helen has been undercover as Mrs. Webb for years now – she even has twin children with Wallace – feeding information about the British government over time. But, and there’s always a big but in these types of stories, she’s faltered along the way, carrying on an affair with Jason (Andrew Koji), who may or may not have been connected to a wider-spread conspiracy between the Americans and Chinese. Helen, in all her supposed comfort with Jason, is worried she’s revealed too much to him throughout their tryst, and his sudden assassination doesn’t ease her fears in the least.
The solution to this increasingly in-depth issue is triggerman-for-hire, Sam (Ben Whishaw), a former agent whose relationship with Helen dates back a decade. Helen is seeking revenge. Reed needs the situation eradicated. And it ultimately results in a spectacularly written chain of events that balances its schemes and tightly choreographed violence with bouts of wit and dramatic sincerity. Knightley, who has joked in the past about her lack of modern-day roles across her career, is beautifully comfortable branding herself as a capable weapon, and Lancashire dominates with a stoicism, but it may be Whishaw who emerges as the show’s strongest component, with his Sam battling his own demons relating to both his profession and the relationship he hopes to rekindle with one of the show’s few genuine personalities (Omari Douglas‘ Michael).
With Netflix already renewing Black Doves for a second season, viewers can binge in safety knowing that if they enjoy what creator Joe Barton (Giri/Haji, The Lazarus Project) has put forward there’ll be more machinations to come – even if there’s a certain singular series mentality about it all. Another round of double crosses and surprising executions may not hit as hard again, but Barton has created something so striking here with a tested genre that we should certainly give him the benefit of doubt; especially if he brings another round of quirky support players on board, like Kathryn Hunter as an eccentric mobster and the bickering assassin duo of Ella Lily Hyland and Gabrielle Creevy, who brilliantly remind us of the theatrical setting we’ve enveloped ourselves in.
FOUR STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
All six episodes of Black Doves are streaming on Netflix from December 5th, 2024.
