Unfailingly, this time of year brings on a barrage of holiday-oriented media, including a hefty selection of new and vintage Christmas movies and TV episodes that specialize in seasonal uplift. If all of the cheer and fellowship starts to become numbing (chilly outdoor temperatures aside), it’s possible that something a shade darker might serve as a tonic. The taut and twisty six-episode miniseries Black Doves, which recently debuted on Netflix, will do plenty to dispel that “peace on earth and goodwill to all” vibe, even though it happens to be set primarily during late December in present-day London with the usual Yuletide decor on display.
Kicking off in shocking fashion with a trio of ruthless murders, Black Doves reveals the undercover status of Helen Webb, the wife of prominent U.K. politician Wallace Webb and mother of their young twins, fleshing out her story with glimpses of her troubled past. Those flashback scenes depict her recruitment as an operative by the clandestine Black Doves — an organization that acquires and sells classified information to the highest bidder and covets the chance to get an agent (Helen, in this case) close to a rising star in the British government such as Webb, who is likely in line to be the next prime minister. There are also glimpses of Helen’s extramarital affair with a man named Jason who has secrets of his own and was one of the three people killed in the opening scenes of the series. Her lover’s death embroils Helen in the action as she seeks the reason for his death and wants to exact revenge on those who were behind it — which makes her a target.
An international tangle
Keira Knightley’s performance as Helen, while leavened by the occasional witty quip, is marked by a certain reserve that suggests she must keep certain aspects of her life — particularly, her membership in the Black Doves and her adultery — bottled up inside for her own safety and for the preservation of those she loves. That is until she’s directly threatened. Having been brought into the underworld of the covert Black Doves and trained for the perils of the job, Helen is capable of fighting back when attacked. But she’s also willing to accept the help of her longtime ally Sam, a former Black Dove and current triggerman with scruples who’s played by Ben Wishaw with a mix of charm toward those he cares about and weary resignation about the cost of his life choices.
Meanwhile, an international incident is brewing over the death of China’s ambassador to England, which is declared a suicide by British officials but thought to be something far more sinister by the Chinese government. Further complicating matters, the ambassador’s party-girl daughter is missing, and there may be a connection to the killings of Jason and the other two victims slain at the beginning of the series. Looming over all of the intrigue is the coldly efficient spymaster Mrs. Reed — an enigmatic older woman who brought Helen into the profession and is keeping close tabs on her and her husband. It was Reed who assigned Sam to mentor Helen, before he left the Doves and became an assassin. And there’s a good chance that people are going to die when Sam becomes involved in finding out the truth behind the triple slayings and the ambassador’s demise, even as he must work off a debt to a local fixer and avoid the deadly ministrations of London’s most powerful crime family — a gang overseen by a nasty matriarch (veteran comic actress Tracey Ullman, believe it or not).
Violence, intrigue and a touch of humor
Black Doves has moments of startling violence that, along with its plot convulsions, could have made it an exercise in pulp-fiction excess. But its interest in examining the price of a double life, the mechanics of betrayal, and how deception and the spy business undermine significant relationships — even to the point of endangering a partner — give it a little more gravity. It was created and written by Joe Barton whose woman-led culture-clash detective show Giri/Haji has some of the same verve powering Black Doves. What sets the latter series apart is the sparkling holiday setting that serves as a backdrop for Helen’s adventures and the surprising amount of humor that sparks certain scenes, often wry commentary about the nature of British politics. There’s also ongoing character comedy from the likes of two female assassins chasing a bounty on Sam.
No matter how preposterous Black Doves can seem as it rolls to its endgame, Knightly, Wishaw, Sarah Lancashire as Reed, and Andrew Buchan as Helen’s husband, Wallace, sell the hell out of it. Ullman is a pro, as is Kathryn Hunter as the mob-connected manipulator trying to collect what she thinks Sam owes her. And Gabrielle Creevy and Ella Lily Hyland as those triggerwomen after Sam are a panic — the good kind. So the cast is high quality, the spy versus gangster versus cop clashes pop, it looks vibrant, and it manages to set up a possible sequel series as it wraps up its various mysteries. Black Doves is hardly It’s a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, or A Christmas Story. And it’s definitely not the Bruce Willis-battles-terrorists-on-Dec. 24 blockbuster Die Hard. Don’t let that dissuade you from watching. Despite its connections to Christmastime being circumstantial at best, Black Doves should go down well with a cup of egg nog for most shopping-fatigued entertainment-craving grownups gathered round the 4K smart TV.
All episodes of Black Doves are currently available for streaming on Netflix.
