Serialized espionage thrillers aren’t likely to go out of style any time soon — or ever, if we’re being real — but this year especially has been good to lovers of the subgenre. 2024 has produced a bevy of great spy shows, from the latest season of Apple TV’s Slow Horses to Showtime’s adaptation of the French series, The Agency. TV fans are definitely spoiled for choice this season, especially with Netflix adding its own contribution to the bounty.
With such stiff competition elsewhere and a handful of familiar influences, it’d be natural to write Black Doves off as just another stuffy British spy drama. All the familiar elements are there: a clandestine organization coveting national secrets, a longtime spy torn between duty and their heart, and plenty of ruthless wild cards thrown in the mix. Black Doves also taps Keira Knightley and Ben Whishaw, neither of whom are strangers to spycraft.
