Black Doves, starring Keira Knightley as a spy whose cover is about to be blown and Ben Whishaw as the hitman, mentor and confidant who comes to her rescue, goes off the rails after its impressive opening episodes. One element that remains consistent, however, is the show’s blasé approach to a type of character who would once have been treated as sidekick, comic relief or exotic pet: the gay best friend (GBF). No special song-and-dance is made about the sexuality of Whishaw’s character, Sam, whose opening scene proves that he applies the same precision techniques to both business and pleasure. Whether it’s a hook-up in a hotel bar or a target in his crosshairs, Sam gets his man. “I like that he’s just this queer guy who shoots people,” Whishaw told me.
Nor is Sam the only queer character in the series: there is also a smattering of snarky lesbian assassins. All of which would feel like tokenism were Sam and co not lively, vital creations with demonstrable social and sexual lives. Sam even has gay chums himself – yes, this GBF has GBFs of his own! – as well as an ex-boyfriend whose presence complicates the hitman’s work/life balance. None of this will be news to anyone familiar with the show’s creator, Joe Barton. Black Doves is cut from the same cloth as previous work such as Giri/Haji and The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself, which led to Barton being commended recently on social media for “consistently delivering slutty queer anti-heroes … That’s allyship!”
