- Netflix’s new thriller series “Black Doves” follows a spy who hunts for her lover’s killer.
- It stars Keira Knightley and “Paddington” voice actor Ben Whishaw.
- The streaming service renewed “Black Doves” months before the first season premiered.
Netflix’s new series “Black Doves” is taking off on the streamer.
The London-based spy thriller was met with critical praise when it dropped on Thursday, receiving a 97% rating on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.
The show stars Keira Knightley as Helen Webb, an operative for the Black Doves, a private espionage agency that gathers secrets and sells them to the highest bidder. She’s also married to the UK government’s defence secretary, something she uses to the advantage of her company.
However, she embarks on a revenge mission with her old mentor, Sam Young (Ben Whishaw) when the man she’s been having an affair with is assassinated shortly before Christmas.
Knightley’s role as a spy is a little different from what audiences might expect from her, and in a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times, the actor said that the series would’ve impressed her younger self.
“My teenage self is thrilled with this. Sometimes you have to listen to your teenage self and go, ‘This one’s for you,’ you know. I think she would have found this very cool,” she said.
Fans who have binged the six-episode series already will be keen to know whether Webb and Young will return for more shady shenanigans. Here’s what we know about “Black Doves” season two.
‘Black Doves’ season 2 was confirmed in August 2024
Ludovic Robert/Netflix
The streaming service seemingly had a lot of faith in “Black Doves,” because it announced that it had renewed the series for a second season back in August 2024, several months before it premiered.
The streaming service has not yet announced a release date or production timeline for the new season, so it’s unclear how long of a wait fans will have.
The ending of “Black Doves” leaves Webb and Young in a precarious place. In season two, their hunt for the person responsible for killing Jason Davies (Andrew Koji) will lead to more problems that will no doubt have to be solved with lots of guns and bloody murder.
Showrunner and creator Joe Barton told Variety that he’s in the middle of writing “Black Doves” season two, which might involve exploring Webb’s backstory further using material cut from the first season.
“We’re still early in the process. I’m writing the first episode still, and we’re kind of feeling our way through it,” Barton said. “We filmed some flashbacks, which didn’t make the final cut, of young Helen and her stepdad and her sister Bonnie. I think that would be really interesting to find out more about.”
“Black Doves” is streaming on Netflix.
