Keira Knightley leads an all-star cast in a thrilling festive feast of espionage, intrigue and murder in Black Doves
If Die Hard is your go-to Christmas movie then Black Doves could be the gift you always wanted this Yuletide.
The six-part series takes flight on Netflix this week starring Keira Knightley, Ben Whishaw and Sarah Lancashire.
Created, written and executive produced by Joe Barton, he said: “I started writing the scripts for this show over last year’s Christmas holidays, fuelled by turkey sandwiches and discarded bottles of cream liquor.”
All of which fed into a show Knightley summed as “a very exciting spy thriller set at Christmas in London.“
What is Black Doves about?
Set against the backdrop of London at Christmas, Black Doves is an action-filled story of friendship, sacrifice, espionage and intrigue.
It follows the life of Helen Webb (Keira Knightley), a quick-witted, down-to-earth, dedicated wife, mother and professional spy.
For 10 years, she’s been passing on her politician husband’s secrets to a shadowy organisation she works for – the Black Doves.
When her secret lover Jason (Andrew Koji) is assassinated, her enigmatic spymaster Reed (Lancashire) calls in Helen’s old friend Sam (Whishaw) to keep her safe.
Sam Young is a suave, Champagne-drinking assassin, who has been out of the game since a failed job with disastrous consequences.
He’s returned home to a London which has moved on without him.
Together, Helen and Sam must investigate who killed Jason and why, leading them to uncover a vast, interconnected conspiracy linking the murky London underworld to a looming geopolitical crisis.
Who is in the Black Doves cast?
Keira Knightley
Keira Knightley stars as Helen Webb, politician’s wife, mother and spy.
Speaking about her role, she said “Helen is whatever she needs to be, to whoever she needs to be it to” but after her lover’s death “she can’t live with that anymore and that comes to a head in this series.”
The 39-year-old British actress rose to fame in the film Bend It Like Beckham and has since starred in a string of blockbuster movies including Love Actually, Pirates of the Caribbean, Atonement, Anna Karenina, Pride & Prejudice and The Imitation Game.
Ben Whishaw
Ben Whishaw plays Sam Young, a hired assassin who also happens to be Helen’s close friend.
Whishaw said of his character: “He has a conscience, which is his Achilles’ heel.
“He’s a man who lives on a knife edge, but who secretly yearns for the things he can’t have.”
The 44-year-old British actor may be best known as the voice of Paddington in the movies of the same name.
But he has also starred in a succession of films including The Danish Girl and Mary Poppins Returns and played Q in the James Bond movies.
The Bafta award-winning actor has also appeared in This is Going to Hurt and A Very English Scandal.
Sarah Lancashire
Lancashire stars as the enigmatic Reed, a spymaster at Black Doves.
She said Reed “recruited Helen in good faith, and Helen has been a bit of a loose cannon” but she added that Reed still admires Helen “she recognises something of herself in her”.
The British actress rose to prominence in the soap opera Coronation Street before starring in hit television series such as Clocking Off, Larkrise to Candleford and Happy Valley.
Andrew Buchan
Andrew Buchan appears as Wallace Webb, Conservative defence minister and husband to Helen.
“Make no mistake, Wallace wants to be prime minister,” said Buchan of his character.
Buchan started his career in theatre before appearing in the television series Cranford.
He has gone on to star in The Fixer, Broadchurch, The Crown and Industry.
The cast also includes:
- Kathryn Hunter as Lenny Lines (Andor, The Tragedy of Macbeth)
- Ella Lily Hyland as Williams (Fifteen Love, Silent Roar)
- Andrew Koji as Jason (Bullet Train, Warrior)
- Adeel Akhtar as Richard Eaves (Fool Me Once)
- Tracey Ullman as Alex (The Tracey Ullman Show, Into the Woods, Curb Your Enthusiasm)
- Omari Douglas as Michael (It’s A Sin, I Hate Suzie)
- Paapa Essiedu as Elmore Fitch (I May Destroy You, Black Mirror)
- Charlotte Rice-Foley as Jacqueline Webb
- Taylor Sullivan as Oliver Webb (Unicorns)
- Sam Troughton as Stephen Yarrick (A Very Royal Scandal, The Lazarus Project)
- Gabrielle Creevy as Eleanor (Three Women, The Pact)
- Callum Coates as Thomas (Blood, Sex & Royalty, Emmerdale Farm)
- Luther Ford as Hector Newman (The Crown)
- Molly Chesworth as Marie (Call the Midwife)
- Isabella Wei as Kai-Ming (1899, The Crow)
- Dan Li as Chang Hao (The Beekeeper, Vigil)
Where is Black Doves filmed?
Black Doves was filmed on location in London in October 2023 with many of the Capital’s most iconic landmarks on view as the backdrop for the series.
The events are set over the Christmas period in the city, so there are some unusually snowy scenes of London in the background.
Fans will be able to spot a number of key locations in the series such as the South Bank, the Millennium Bridge, Leadenhall Market and Spitalfields.
When is Black Doves on Netflix?
Black Doves is being released in the UK on Thursday 5 December at 8am (GMT).
All six episodes will be available to stream but viewers will need a subscription to Netflix, which starts from £4.99.
For those who enjoy this series, there is more good news.
During the Edinburgh Television Festival, Netflix announced the upcoming spy thriller produced by Sister and Noisy Bear will return for a second season.
