22/10
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 London’s dangerous underworld, Helen’s employers call in Sam to protect her. Bingo, the owner of the guitar shop where Sam gets his weapons, is played by Rat Scabies, a member of the band The Damned. Featured on The Graham Norton Show: Cher/Keira Knightley/Michael Fassbender/Josh Brolin/Jalen Ngonda (2024). Fairy Tale of New York Written by Jem Finer, Shane MacGowan Starring The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl. STAR RATING: ***** Brilliant **** Very Good *** Fair ** Poor * Awful ‘Helen Webb’ (Keira Knightley) lives with her husband, Wallace (Andrew Buchan), the Secretary of Defense, and their two children. Everything seems idyllic, until her former commander Reed (Sarah Lancashire), comes back into her life and informs her that her secret lover, Jason (Andrew Koji), has been murdered, along with two others, forcing her to resurrect her old life as a secret spy, on a course of revenge. Reed puts her back with Sam (Ben Whishaw), a hitman and her former trainer, and together they navigate a complex web of political espionage and murder. The spy thriller has been one that has fallen out of favor over the years, but still has the potential to work in new and different formats. Black Doves came out of nowhere, with a massive advertising campaign, and has become the latest major production to top the charts from Netflix, which aims to revive the genre in the modern day. The result is a truly mixed bag, one that holds attention throughout eight pleasantly concise episodes, but fails to disguise the plot’s potholes. Overall, it’s a fairly standard spy story, with some fairly standard mystery and intrigue clichés, which anyone familiar with the spy adventures of yesteryear will recognise and even embrace fondly. The big problem is the uneven tone. The script swings unevenly between wry, humorous action comedy and dark, ponderous spy thriller, leaving you too confused to take it all in. However, it makes up for this with some stylish and flashy action sequences, with Whishaw and Knightley creating a compelling pair of mismatched professionals, with strong support from Lancashire as the icy, aloof M-type Commander. The spy thriller still has limitless possibilities, and Black Doves, despite its flaws, is a strong addition to the classic, with an interesting mystery at its core, with some solid performances and action to match. ***