Black Doves is an all action spy thriller on Netflix which has top British stars Keira Knightley, Ben Whishaw and Sarah Lancashire heading up the cast.
Keira is playing Helen Webb, a dedicated wife and mother who has been secretly operating as a spy for a decade. She works for a shadowy organisation called The Black Doves, to whom she’s been passing on her politician husband’s secrets. But when her secret lover is murdered her own life comes under threat. Her mysterious spymaster Reed, played by Happy Valley star Sarah Lancashire, calls in Helen’s old friend Sam (Ben Whishaw) to protect her but the pair discover a global conspiracy that forces them to question their own moral compasses.
Set in London during the Christmas period, the six-part series is written by Joe Barton, the man behind The Lazarus Project, so you can expect twists and turns, humour and a rollercoaster of emotions. “I started writing the scripts for this show over last year’s Christmas holidays, fuelled by turkey sandwiches and discarded bottles of cream liquor,” says Joe. “To be now going into production with a cast and crew full of people whose work I admire so much is unbelievably exciting and I couldn’t be more thrilled to get to see this show come to life.”
Here’s everything you need to know about thriller series Black Doves…
Black Doves release date
Black Doves has yet to be given a release date by Netflix but we're expecting it to launch worldwide sometime late in 2024 around Christmas. We’ll update you on here as soon as we hear anything. It's a six-part series.
Is there a trailer for Black Doves?
There's no official trailer for Black Doves just yet. We'll post that later down the line. There is however a small clip on a general What's On Netflix in 2024 trailer below. So do have a look for Black Doves action on there...
Black Doves plot
Set against the backdrop of London at Christmas, Black Doves follows Helen Webb (Keira Knightley) who is a wife, mum and professional spy. She has been passing on her politician husband’s secrets to the organisation she works for, The Black Doves, for a decade. Then her secret lover Jason (Andrew Koji) is assassinated, and it looks as though she could be in serious trouble herself. Helen’s boss Reed (Sarah Lancashire) tasks Helen’s old friend, deadly assassin Sam (Ben Whishaw) with protecting her while she investigates who killed Jason. But Sam has been out of the game for a long time, after a job went badly wrong. Together they embark on a mission that leads them to uncover a vast conspiracy linking London’s dark underbelly to a geopolitical crisis and the pair are soon forced to question their own choices in life.
Black Doves cast — Keira Knightley on playing Helen Webb
Keira Knightley plays whip-smart spy Helen Webb, the lead character in Black Doves. At a recent Netflix event Keira told us much more: "Black Doves is a very exciting spy thriller set at Christmas in London. Helen is an undercover spy that works for the secret organisation that is run by Sarah Lancashire whose character is called Reed, a spy mistress working for the Black Doves organisation. She recruited Helen in good faith, and Helen has been a bit of a loose cannon.
"It's been great fun to do all of the fighting. I've really enjoyed learning all of the different martial arts that I have been taught. I don’t know the names of any of them."
"Helen and assasain Sam have got that friendship where they know each other the best in the world."
* Keira Knightley is best known for her roles in Pirates of the Caribbean, Bend it Like Beckham and Love Actually. Kiera has also starred in the recent Disney Plus/Hulu movie Boston Strangler, plus films such as The Imitation Game, Atonement, The Duchess and Pride and Prejudice.
Sarah Lancashire as Reed
Sarah Lancashire stars as the mysterious spymaster for The Black Doves called Reed.
Sarah produced an acting masterclass playing Sergeant Catherine Cawood in BBC1 series Happy Valley. She's also starred in Coronation Street, Clocking Off, Yesterday, Last Tango in Halifax and Kiri. American viewers will know her well from her main role in series Julia about TV chef Julia Child and the hit Prime Video movie Everybody's Talking About Jamie.
Ben Whishaw as assassin Sam
In Black Doves, Ben Whishaw is playing Champagne-swilling assassin, Sam (see the first look main picture above), who has to keep Helen safe.
At a recent Netflix event Ben told us: "Sam is an assassin and he's returned to London to assist his friend HElen who's trying to revenge the murder of her secret lover, sometimes not very successfully, sometimes actually making it worse. We think of Sam and Helen as being almost a bit like brother and sister at times."
Ben Whishaw has previously starred as doctor Adam Kay in the series This is Going to Hurt and Q in the James Bond movies No Time to Die and Skyfall. Ben also voices Paddington in all those hit movies and lent his voice to the famous Peruvian bear in his famous sketch with the late Queen Elizabeth. He’s also had roles in the movie Perfume and TV series Criminal Justice, Fargo, A Very English Scandal, London Spy and The Hour.
Who else is starring in Black Doves?
Other cast for Black Doves include Andrew Buchan (Broadchurch) and Andrew Koji (Bullet Train) as Jason. Adeel Akhtar (Fool Me Once), Tracey Ullman (The Tracey Ullman Show), Finn Bennett (True Detective: Night Country) and Luther Ford (The Crown), Kathryn Hunter (Andor), Sam Troughton (Chernobyl), Ella Lily Hyland (Fifteen-Love), Adam Silver (The Diplomat), Ken Nwosu (Run) and Gabrielle Creevy (In My Skin) also star.
Behind the scenes, locations and more on Black Doves
Filming of Black Doves took place in London in the latter half of 2023. The series is produced by Joe Barton’s Noisy Bear and SISTER (Chernobyl, This Is Going To Hurt, The Power) for Netflix. Executive Producers are Joe Barton for Noisy Bear, Jane Featherstone (Chernobyl, This Is Going To Hurt), Chris Fry (Kaos, Giri/Haji) for SISTER and Keira Knightley. The series is directed by Alex Gabassi (The Crown) and Lisa Gunning (The Power). Harry Munday serves as producer.
