Black Doves

Fundamentally, it’s a detective show, with the protagonists trying to work out who killed whom and why, while various parties fight for control of a black box — as in a crazier, bloodier, more emotional version of “The Maltese Falcon.” It’s as good as that sounds.

Creator Joe Barton has created a series that feels like it's desperate to show why it's different. Thankfully, it delivers on this promise on all fronts and feels destined to become one of the most beloved spy thrillers of the decade, if given a second season.

There’s a lot to unpack in “Black Doves,” but the various machinations and shock-developments are handled in a clear-cut fashion that makes it relatively easy to follow along. This is simply one of the best and most entertaining spy thriller series of the 202

An efficient and effective potboiler that should mark the beginning of a long-running saga.

“Black Doves” is low on risqué scenes but high on action, a wry thriller centered on the ride-or-die friendship between Keira Knightley and the man who voices Paddington. It hardly gets more crowd-pleasing than that.

Helen Webb is the best part of Black Doves, and going forward the show would do well to keep a tight focus on her and her relationships with her family, Sam, and the Black Doves. Overall, though, Black Doves is a very strong effort.

While you’ll likely yawn at some of the more laborious details about the various factions scrambling to solve the story’s central murder, the series’ snappy dialogue and sly, three-dimensional approach to depicting the lives of the folks who commit various acts of violence helps make Black Doves’ central story more fun to watch than it probably has any right to be.

A darkly funny, thrillingly brutal, ludicrously self-aware yarn about underground crime networks, diplomatic crises, and espionage.

A jazzy, Christmas-y iteration, full of fun fight scenes and stylish dialogue. Even when the plot holes widen, the performances are strong enough to bridge the gap.

More of a suspenseful guns-blazing hoot, Black Doves spins a violent web of intrigue around Helen. .... Makes for great TV. [9 - 29 Dec 2024, p.4]

Knightley does not disappoint. But part of the edge here comes from how flagrantly Black Doves likens the artifice of upper-middle-class femininity to the devious performances of an undercover spy. .... The emotional core of the series—the one thing that keeps it from tipping over into total darkness—is their [Helen and Sam's] friendship, and the fierce loyalty it commands.

With a cast like Wishaw, Lancashire and Knightley (and some equally starry cameos that I won’t spoil), this daft-but-absorbing six-parter gets you in its festive grip. It’s as much fun as it’s possible to have in Christmassy London while the snow is spattered with the blood of faceless henchmen.

Black Doves is the platonic ideal of a spy thriller, all of its elements fully in sync for a fun time.

By episode three, its gleeful excess had won me over. Inevitably, this will earn comparisons to the other big spy shows of the year. It isn’t as composed or as witty as Slow Horses, and not as self-serious as The Day of the Jackal, but in among the chaos, it finds its own voice.

A twisted thriller of a series, “Black Doves” is a fun, poignant and dizzying journey centering on friendship and connection.

“Black Doves” may be structured around hoary old spy tropes, but it doesn’t matter when those tropes are executed well and bolstered by distinctive characters. Unfolding against a backdrop of cozy Christmas decor and London landmarks, this cleverly paced thriller adds a touch of class to its espionage antics — and above all, it’s tremendous fun.

Creator Joe Barton has found novel ways to humanize his secret agents. On Black Doves, matters of the heart stand toe-to-toe with (and demand just as much care as) all the bloody intrigue. Characters’ idiosyncrasies, their pert humor in the face of mortal risk, are charming where so much else in the spies-with-personal-lives mini-genre feels canned.

If you fancy something that feels like a mating experiment between Gangs of London (for the body count and violence), Love Actually (for the glossy Christmassy backdrop and festive songs) with a dash of Slow Horses (for the dry wit and espionage), it is very entertaining and nice to look at.

Knightley and Whishaw are an A+ team in a spy show that flies above a very crowded genre. 

Thrilling, comic, ridiculous and fun, “Black Doves” may not become a Christmas classic in the “Die Hard” tradition, but it starts auspiciously enough.

"Black Doves" does go off the rails, but it does so with a wink. Everyone in the cast understands this is not deadly serious and gets into the energetic spirit. But it is the pairing of Knightley and Whishaw that make "Black Doves" fly high.

Sporadically violent and consistently entertaining, Season 1 crafts a solid mystery out of its familiar allegory while making the most of its two leads.

Black Doves, as front-loaded as it may be, is very well written, with Barton’s lines at points—and only when it calls for it—having a rhythm and musicality not unlike a hard-boiled paperback.

Black Doves isn’t going to blow you away with some revolutionary spy story. But the story is intriguing enough, and is improved by the chemistry between Knightley and Whishaw, with a big assist from Lancashire.

A six-episode series that flirts with greatness before settling for a tonally disjointed approach that finds clever creator Joe Barton (Giri/Haji) and his exceptional cast bouncing between a probing psychological examination of the human toll of espionage, a semi-satirical exploration of the expectations of a suddenly oversaturated genre and a lovingly corny Christmas drama.

This is a less thematically ambitious story, but Barton is definitely good at the pulp-fiction aspects even when he’s not trying to say something deeper.

Knightley's chemistry with Whishaw creates Black Doves' best and most compelling pairing. Helen and Sam have a history, as we soon learn, one rooted in camaraderie as much as high-stakes situations, and their friendship becomes the true heart of the story, as we discover just how much these two are willing to sacrifice for each other, even when the odds are stacked against them. The rest of Black Doves' expansive ensemble cast is more of a mixed bag, although there are some clear standouts.

The script cooked-up by creator Barton is amusingly Byzantine and sometimes clumsily obvious. .... It’s juicy and puzzling and John-Wick-glib as all get out. But entertaining? You bet.

It is a crash-bang helter-skelter ride that improves across every one of its six episodes, with enough moments of high entertainment to get you through the kinks.