Well, it seems that we need to say happy holidays to Netflix. Black Doves is the Christmas present you never knew you needed. Think…socks. An expensive, robust pair of socks that doesn’t have holes in them by March. They might not be what you asked for, might not have been what you expected but they’re functional and turn out to be very handy to own. That is Black Doves to a tee: a solid, if uninspired, present that you can’t be mad at for lacking in thought because they’re practical and do everything required of them.
The six-episode series – which has already been commissioned for a second run – predominantly follows Helen Webb (Keira Knightley), the wife of the U.K. Secretary of State (Andrew Buchan) and mother of tw kids. To all outward appearances, she is a rote, harmless, boring politician’s wife. This is the exact, finely crafted subterfuge occurring as Helen is actually Daisy, and Daisy is a ‘Black Dove,” a spy under deep cover who has a gun hidden beneath her kids’ toy dinosaurs, all the exits marked out and her fist ready to swing. When her spirited affair with Jason (Andrew Koji) is cut short by his murder (alongside the demise of a Chinese ambassador, a journalist and a jewellery store clerk), the cogs of the criminal underworld that Helen belongs to begin churning, while high stakes political chess erupts in Downing Street.
The criminal cogs twisting and waltzing throughout this spy thriller include Helen’s icy handler Mrs. Reed, (Sarah Lancashire), cheeky scene-stealer assassin duo Williams (Ella Lily Hyland) and Eleanor (Gabrielle Creevy), ambiguous crime boss Lenny (Kathryn Hunter), enigmatic hitman Elmore (Paapa Essiedu), and Sam (Ben Whishaw), a former triggerman for the Black Dove agency who returns to UK shores to protect Helen after seven years away. Whishaw is running rings around the entire cast here in a remarkably poised performance. Whishaw’s usual dramatic nebbishness is played in perfect contrast to his position as a cool-headed contract killer for a real streak of humanity in a narrative full of human moments.
The human element takes quite the pointed approach (it is Christmas!) as the young assassin double act Williams and Eleanor find themselves thawing towards each other, while Helen is obtusely headstrong about saving her family. Meanwhile, the beating heart of the entire show rests on Sam, whose reappearance and proclivity for shooting people (or not; his moral code likes to rear its head when plot relevant) causes scrutiny to occur over his relationships. Mainly that of ex-boyfriend Michael (Omari Douglas), whose home becomes the setting for escalating tensions within the political zeitgeist, and between Sam and himself.
These interpersonal dynamics and characters are by far the most compelling features of the London-at-Christmas set thriller, which plays out its spy elements in predictable fashion. For every operation, that is obviously a trap, there is a muzzle flash of humanity within the characters as they kill their enemy in grizzly ways – Chekhov’s rocket launcher – but also sit and discuss their favourite Christmas movies. So even though the narrative is often of the pulpy eye-roll variety – egregious exposition dumps and flashbacks for those Netflix viewers who missed a scene because they were on their phone – the characters are first and foremost priority here. It can also not be understated how effective the action sequences are. A knife fight between Helen and another Black Dove in a later episode is thrilling and has real kineticism to the action. It might not be bone-crunching, but to certificate 15 standards, it slices and dices in satisfying ways.
Which is the case for most of the action, even if they’re often taking place in highly populated pockets of London to few, if any, bystanders. This is a recurring motif, perhaps due to the star status of Knightley and Whishaw, as even a secret meeting that occurs on South Bank is oddly quiet, especially for it being so close to Christmas Day. These quibbles are minor enough not to be too distracting, as the script snaps and fizzes with dialogue that would not be out of place in a Guy Ritchie project. Williams and Eleanor are specific humorous highlights of this, with lines such as “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Cunt”. They have seismic levels of banterous chemistry, while the palpable platonic sibling-esque chemistry between Sam and Helen that occurs contributes to the overarching theme around protecting loved ones at any cost.
At every opportunity, Black Doves breezily whips away from attempting any convoluted governmental mechanics, its political claws sheathed. The politics side of the plot infers a potential nuclear war between the USA and China unless military contracts are handed over but it is a mostly vacant threat in the grand scheme of character-focused tribulations. Which is sadly why a lot of Black Doves feels vacant. There’s not enough thought placed on making the narrative intriguing, placing this burden instead on the characters. That Black Doves succeeds in spite of this is because these characters are so well realised and captured with such heart by their stars. It is a testament to why Whishaw and Knightley are A-list actors.
With a surge of spy-fare hitting the television market in recent weeks in the form of serious thriller The Day of the Jackal, or the whimsical sitcom A Man on the Inside, Black Doves finds a middle groove in the Christmas action market as straightforward, effortless action fare. It may be canned spycraft but there’s a comfort to cliche that makes it perfect to pair with Christmas.
Black Doves is now streaming on Netflix.
Learn more about the show, including how to watch, on the Netflix site.
You might also like…
‘Scrap’ Review: Vivian Kerr’s Compassionate and Honest Directorial Debut