The first season of Black Doves was a thrilling surprise. Can its second season maintain the pace?

Jared RichardsNovember 5, 2026 — 7:01pmBlack Doves (season two) ★★★★ Delightfully pulpy and propulsive, Netflix’s spy thriller Black Doves isn’t the show you’d expect to win over Keira Knightley, one of the few esteemed actors who had avoided television, missing the prestigious wave entirely.Ben Whishaw as Sam and Keira Knightley as Helen Webb in Black Doves. It’s maybe why, when the show’s first season dropped in 2024, I assumed it was a dour, restrained spy drama. In short, I was completely wrong. If anything, Black Doves’ first season was a little too chaotic, with copious blood, twists and tinsel, as spy duo Helen Webb (Knightley) and Sam Young (Ben Whishaw) fought for their lives, often destroying Christmas decorations across London in the process.With creator Joe Barton (Giri/Haji, Amadeus) back at the helm, season two doesn’t slow down but it’s less crowded, dropping both the festive season schtick and the excessive backstory. (The exception is a sluggish fourth episode cramming together flashbacks and side-plots.)Still undercover, Helen remains married to Wallace (Andrew Buchan), a British MP about to become PM through a Tory leadership spill – all to the plan of the Black Doves, the agency Helen works for, vacuuming up government secrets so they can be sold to the highest bidder.Before you worry that moving into 10 Downing Street would impede Helen’s ability to undertake covert missions, Helen’s season two body count reaches double digits within 10 minutes as she sneaks off from a charity gala to crack into a hotel room safe. To be fair, she has help: With Sam leaving the Doves, Helen’s handler Reed (Sarah Lancashire) teams her up with Laila (Ambika Mod), a Gen Z agent who dismisses Helen as a “spy wife”.Ambika Mod as Laila and Keira Knightley as Helen Webb in Black Doves.Wouldn’t the First Lady be tailed 24/7 by security? Not in the Black Doves world, where Helen can kill henchmen in broad daylight, unidentifiable due to a baseball cap that her allies call outright preposterous. As with the first season, don’t think too hard about it; that’s easy enough, as the plot speeds so fast any holes register as funny bumps.What exactly is the second season’s plot? Reed goes missing and Helen doesn’t trust her replacement handler; Sam, wanting out, is blackmailed into a series of kills that could be linked to Reed. Both worry they’re losing their edge, regret when they violently lash out to prove otherwise – and, deep within, remain haunted by the killers they have become, with Knightley and Whishaw letting that fear flood through in overwhelming flashes.Much like Black Doves itself, Helen and Sam constantly chase the thrill of action, knowing they could fall apart completely if they pause for too long. That works for now, but maybe not another season.Black Doves (season two) streams on Netflix from November 5. Want more TV? We’ve got you.Newsletter: Find out the next TV, streaming series and movies to add to your must-sees. Get The Watchlist delivered every Thursday.November streaming picks: A guide to the best new shows this month.Hamish Blake: The beloved but “useless” comedian takes us inside his new series.The year’s best rom com? Why this episode of Nobody Wants This really stands out.The One About Matthew Perry review: This celebrity doco plays it far too safe.First Bluey, now Allen? The studio behind Bluey has made its first feature film.Watch (below): Deputy TV editor Meg Watson recommends the best new shows to start this week.From our partners