Ivan Radford | On 08, Dec 2024

From Slow Horses and The Day of the Jackal to Mr and Mrs Smith, 2024 has been a great year for spy series, but the most unexpected of them all has dropped with a couple of weeks to go – and Black Doves is right up there with the best of the bunch.

The series stars Keira Knightley and Ben Whisaw as two old friends caught up an intricate web of peril. Knightley plays Helen, the wife of the UK defence secretary, who just so happens to be a spy – a Black Dove, to be exact, a member of a mercenary espionage agency that sells secrets to the highest bidder. When Helen’s secret lover is killed, however, her carefully constructed life of deception begins to crumble – enter Ben Whishaw as Sam, a trigger man hired to keep her safe.

And so the stage is set for an ever-expanding conspiracy that involves shootouts, threats, a Chinese ambassador and his kidnapped daughter. Before you can say “implausible”, the plot ratchets on to the next twist – and what begins as a gloriously moody slow-burn thriller picks up pace with a momentum that feels rivetingly relentless.

To see Joe Barton’s name in the credits should come as no surprise to anyone who’s seen Giri/Haji or The Lazarus Project. Barton is a master at remixing pulp fiction, finding fresh grit and wit beneath familiar genre conventions. Here, the noir-tinged hijinks unfold against a delightfully jarring festive backdrop, as the streets of London at Christmas steep everything in a lethal shade of red – including Knightley’s own face, after Sam introduces someone to a close encounter with a shotgun.

The casting only heightens the inspired concept, with the always-excellent Kathryn Hunter bringing shades of depth and gravitas to East End gangster Lenny – accaompanied by a gleefully creepy pair of assassins, played by Gabrielle Creevy and Ella Lily. Sarah Lancashire, meanwhile, is clearly having a ball as Reed, the icy, formidable figure playing handler to Helen and Sam, who is enigmatic and unreadable, but clearly knows exactly what to say to get people to do what she wants. (“Will I be betraying my country?” Helen asks her. “Sometimes you’ll be helping them,” comes the reply.)

But it’s the central duo who are the reason to tune in. Ben Whishaw is as far from Paddington as it’s possible to get, capable of being charming one minute and bluntly sarcastic the next, his withering assessment of everyone and every situation as shrewdly precise as his aim. Flashbacks show us a more vulnerable, less cynical side, which Whishaw beautifully unearths before his guard goes back up again – he’s warm and fatal in equal measure.

Keira Knightley delivers the best performance of her career as Helen, clearly relishing the chance to be given such an unlikely and complicated character to sink her teeth into. After so many impressive turns over the years, this feels like a bold shot across the bows of anyone who dared underestimate her in the past, as she gives Helen an emotional depth and tangible sense of heartbreak that only amplifies her calcuated knack for killing off enemies. Even her voice subtly changes as Helen puts on an act, or shows her true self.

Neither of them quite enjoy getting their hands dirty, but they’re also both prepared to and know they’re good at it, and that shared slightly reluctant competence makes them a thrilling double-act. That relationship also allows the show to bring a darkly funny tone to events, crafting a knowing and classy cracker that deserves to be top of everyone’s Christmas lists.

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