If you love a Christmas mystery, Black Doves should be on your wish list — even if it’s more ass-kicking than cozy. 

This six-episode spy thriller starring Keira Knightley (Atonement, Pride and Prejudice, Love Actually) and Ben Whishaw (This Is Going to Hurt, Paddington) as an unlikely spy/assassin duo will offer up high-stakes global intrigue as well as plenty of British wit, knife fights, and holiday (or anti-holiday?) cheer.

For anyone who knows that Die Hard is definitely a holiday movie, Black Doves, created and written by Joe Barton (Giri/Haji, The Lazarus Project), will be delivered as an early Christmas gift on Dec. 5. Watch the tinsel-and-bullet-filled trailer above, and read on for everything that’s been declassified about the series so far.

What’s Black Doves about?

Set against the backdrop of London at Christmas, Black Doves is a sharp, action-filled, and heartfelt story of friendship and sacrifice. It follows Helen Webb (Keira Knightley), a quick-witted, down-to-earth, dedicated wife and mother — and professional spy. For 10 years, she’s been passing on her politician husband’s secrets to the shadowy organization she works for: the Black Doves. When her secret lover Jason (Andrew Koji) is assassinated, her spymaster, the enigmatic Reed (Sarah Lancashire), calls in Helen’s old friend Sam (Ben Whishaw) to keep her safe. 

Sam Young (Ben Whishaw) is a suave, Champagne-drinking assassin. But having been out of the game since a failed job with disastrous consequences, he’s come home to a London that has moved on without him. As his past threatens to catch up with him, his task is to protect Helen as she investigates who killed Jason and why. Together they uncover a vast, interconnected conspiracy linking the murky London underworld to a looming geopolitical crisis.

At the press event Next on Netflix UK on March 14, Knightley summed up the series best: “Black Doves is a very exciting spy thriller set at Christmas in London.”

Can I watch the Black Doves trailer?

See Knightley like you’ve never seen her before in the official trailer at the top of this article. And it’s not all ass-kicking — look at that comedic chemistry between Knightley and Whishaw. Looks like Black Doves will check off boxes on everyone’s wish list.

Can I see some photos of Black Doves?

Yes, click through the pics above to see Knightley, Whishaw, and a whole lot of blood.

Who’s in the cast of Black Doves?

See the full Black Doves cast and character details here:

• Keira Knightley as Helen Webb
• Ben Whishaw as Sam Young
• Sarah Lancashire as Reed
• Andrew Buchan as Wallace Webb
• Kathryn Hunter as Lenny Lines
• Ella Lily Hyland as Williams
• Gabrielle Creevy as Eleanor
• Omari Douglas as Michael
• Andrew Koji as Jason Davies
• Luther Ford as Hector
• Adeel Akhtar as Richard Eaves
• Paapa Essiedu as Elmore Fitch

Additional cast members include Finn Bennett (True Detective: Night Country), Tracey Ullman (The Tracey Ullman Show), Sam Troughton (Chernobyl, Mank), Adam Silver (The Diplomat, Masters of The Air), and Ken Nwosu (Look the Other Way and Run).

Who created Black Doves?

The series is created, written and executive produced by Joe Barton. “I started writing the scripts for this show over last year’s Christmas holidays, fueled by turkey sandwiches and discarded bottles of cream liquor,” Barton told Netflix in October 2023. “To be now going into production with a cast and crew full of people whose work I admire so much is unbelievably exciting, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to get to see this show come to life.”

The series is directed by Alex Gabassi (The Crown) and Lisa Gunning (The Power). Executive producers are Barton, Jane Featherstone (Chernobyl, This Is Going To Hurt), Chris Fry (Kaos, Giri/Haji) for SISTER, and Knightley. Harry Munday serves as producer.

Will there be a Black Doves Season 2?

Yes! During Edinburgh TV Festival, Netflix announced that the upcoming spy thriller produced by SISTER and Noisy Bear will return for a second season.

Are the Black Doves spies real?

In the series, the Black Doves are a clandestine spy organization who sell secrets to the highest bidder. “I thought it was interesting to put a character like Helen into that, because the whole show is about exploring the different facets of her personality, her morals and ethics and worldview,” said Barton. “Her working for this cold, detached company, and what that might do to someone involved in it, felt like an exciting idea.”

But in reality, there’s no such organization that Barton knows of. “Black Doves definitely veers more towards the fantastical side,” he said. “There are real-world equivalents for some of the things Helen does — the police sent undercover officers to infiltrate an environmental group, for example, and some of these officers ended up having relationships and children with people in the group.”

Did Black Doves really film in London?

Those benches along the South Bank aren’t deceiving you. Black Doves really did film in London. “We’ve used over 100 locations around London, a lot of them around Westminster and the South Bank,” said second block location manager Pete Wimblett. Some of those locales include Somerset House for the opening party, the Liberty London department store, and the National Theater. They also had to be mindful of times when they could film, especially for tourist hot spots. “Somewhere like Borough Market is open practically every day for the majority of the day, so we can’t shoot inside it without a lot of restrictions,” he added. “Instead, we shot on a road close by, one where we can see Borough Market and then walk towards or past it.” 

While there’s many a spy thriller set in London, the production team wanted to show a different side of the city. “Not only the South Bank and Westminster, but other neighborhoods, too,” said first block director Alex Gabassi. Only a chunk of the series was shot in a studio near Slough (about 20 miles west of the capital) when it wasn’t practical to shoot on location. 

And the series isn’t just randomly set at any time of year — it’s quintessentially London at Christmastime. “London at Christmas is so key to Black Doves that we had to be on location as much as possible,” said Chris Fry, executive producer and managing director at production company SISTER. “The city is like one big set at that time of year, and we would never have been able to replicate that to the scale we needed on a sound stage.”

 Is Helen’s home a real house in London?

We get it, we’d like to live there too — and you’re in luck, it is indeed a real house. Scenes in Helen’s home were filmed at a house in South London, in Crystal Palace. In the series, Helen lives in the Highgate and Highbury area, which production designer Laura Ellis Cricks says is recognizable territory for North London politicians like Helen’s husband. “It’s a beautiful house, but we tried to make sure that you get a sense of stability,” said Cricks. “It would be aspirational for most people, but also had to feel very lived in and messy, with kids’ stuff everywhere. I don’t know any clean children! We tried to show a beautiful, bespoke kitchen with crap stuck all over it. It needed to be believable.”

What are the songs in Black Doves? And is that Raye covering “Bang Bang”?

Yup, that’s singer-songwriter Raye covering “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)” in the end credits of all six episodes of Black Doves. The song is a Cher original, and has also been famously covered by Nancy Sinatra. Just this year, London-born Raye received three Grammy Award nominations, including a nod for Best New Artist.

Has Black Doves been nominated for any awards?

Yes. Knightley was nominated in the Best Television Female Actor - Drama Series at the 82nd Annual Golden Globe Awards. 

When can I watch Black Doves?

Black Doves will alight on Netflix on Dec. 5. Check back for more top-secret news.