Binge Watch Black Doves
Binge Watch Black Doves – Helen embarks on a passionate affair with a man who has no idea what her secret identity is.
Caught in the crosshairs when her lover falls victim to the dangerous London underworld, Helen’s employer’s call in Sam to protect her.
Storyline for the Black Doves
It has been a big year for big names engaging in small-screen espionage, but Black Doves may be the starriest yet.
This nightmare before Christmas, which stars Keira Knightley, Ben Whishaw and Sarah Lancashire, adds a festive twist to the spy genre, as the eponymous shady organization of mercenaries find themselves wrapped up in a conspiracy that is – as these things always are – bigger than they first think it is going to be.
With that stellar cast, and its sombre trailers, you would expect it to be a straight-faced thriller.
In fact, what emerges from the carnage that takes place before the opening titles begin is pulpy popcorn TV.
Knightley plays Helen Webb, a spy who has infiltrated the top levels of the British government by assuming a false identity and marrying a man who would go on to become defense secretary.
Her position at the heart of the establishment gives her ample opportunity to joke about how dull Tory wives can be, and to assist the Black Doves in passing on state secrets to the highest bidder.
Whishaw is Sam, a sensitive trigger man (which is a nice way of saying assassin), who kills people to order, for large amounts of money, but is conflicted about it.
And Lancashire – sporting sharp bob, strong tailoring, deadly whisper – is Reed, the Black Doves’ icy boss and overlord.
Episodes of the Black Doves
S1.E1 ∙ To Love Then
When politician’s wife and undercover spy Helen Webb learns that her lover has been murdered, the Black Doves recruit an old friend to help protect her.
Episodes of the Black Doves, S1.E2 ∙ A Little Black Dove
After reaching a dead end in the search for Jason’s killer, Helen has to fight for her own life, while Sam receives a threat from his former employer.
S1.E3 ∙ The Coming Night
Memories of Sam’s past come back to haunt him as he prepares to finish the job he started seven years ago. Wallace secretly meets with a Chinese envoy.
Episodes of the Black Doves, S1.E4 ∙ Go Bang Time
Investigation into the ambassador’s death reach the highest corridors of power. Helen pays a risky visit to an old friend, and Sam faces a tough choice.
S1.E5 ∙ The Cost of It All
With danger drawing closer, Sam takes refuge in the only safe place he knows. Reed issues an ultimatum, and Helen gets one step closer to the truth.
Episodes of the Black Doves, S1.E6 ∙ In the Bleak Midwinter
Armed with evidence and bent on vengeance, Helen goes searching for the Clarks. As the conspiracy starts to unravel, she has a deadly decision to make.
Binge Watch Black Doves
Creator Joe Barton is also responsible for The Lazarus Project and Giri/Haji, and, like both of those series, this has a strong, graphic novel-style aesthetic, sometimes at the cost of an entirely coherent plot.
But this is the kind of show that it’s best not to overthink, because it revels in being so daft and overblown.
Black Doves takes place in a neon-lit, noir-ish London where machine guns are rife, mass shootings happen on every street corner with onlookers barely batting an eyelid, and people are frequently blasted to pieces, leaving gory residue all over Helen’s face.
