The Netflix spy thriller Black Doves, starring Keira Knightley, has returned with a second season and is topping the streaming service's charts, with critics hailing it as better than Slow Horses.
The series follows Helen Webb (Knightley), a mother and wife of a politician who secretly feeds her husband's political secrets to an organisation called the Black Doves. This involves selling highly sensitive information for high prices, which carries significant risks, especially when she becomes involved in an affair and her lover is gunned down in London.
All-Star Cast and New Season
With Helen's cover at risk, her handler Reed (Sarah Lancashire) sends an old ally, Sam Young (Ben Whishaw), to protect her. Sam is charming but ruthless, dealing with personal problems and grief of his own. As he tries to keep Helen alive, the pair are dragged into the secret underworld of London and its criminal conspiracies.
In the second season, Helen's husband is preparing to become Prime Minister, putting her cover under more strain than ever before. The existence of the Black Doves is threatened when secrets about Reed's own past surface.
Sam returns once more to protect Helen, alongside comedic killers Williams and Eleanor, played by Gabrielle Creevy and Ella Lily Hyland. New faces include Laila Joshi (Ambika Mod), another quick-witted and chaotic assassin, and Neve Campbell as Cecile Mason, a US defense envoy who arrives with confidence and has 'very little patience for diplomatic fluff.'
Critical and Viewer Praise
Netflix viewers have been full of praise for Black Doves. The Guardian hailed the cast as 'spine-tinglingly good', calling it a "magnetically acted tale of friendship, with moments of genuine poignance." Good Housekeeping described it as 'better than Slow Horses', while the Independent went so far as to say it is the show most worthy of a Netflix subscription.
The Independent said: "Like many great series, Black Doves is a blend of the fresh and the old-fashioned. Its balance of irreverent comedy and violence feels original, while the stakes are constantly high, danger always near. But its commitment to the viewer feels almost traditional, like old-school linear telly, with every episode ending on a giant cliffhanger."
Future of the Series
Creator Joe Barton has revealed that a writers' room is already together, planning the next season, though he admits Netflix has yet to fully greenlight the show, according to Huffington Post. Until then, viewers can continue rewatching the series.
