The best Christmas thriller since Die Hard has finally been added to Netflix today.
Viewers are being urged to binge-watch espionage drama Black Doves which stars British acting royalty Keira Knightley, Ben Whishaw and Sarah Lancashire.
The eight-parter follows spy Helen’s (Knightley) quest for revenge with help from hitman friend Sam (Whishaw) after her lover MI5 agent Jason (Andrew Koji) was brutally murdered.
Black Doves has been a critical triumph since landing on Netflix earning a perfect 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes reviews aggregator the Tomatometer.
On X, viewers were also raving about the highly anticipated drama, with @congacraig saying: ‘Chilling today so binge watching #BlackDoves on #netflix. I’m loving it.’
Echoing their sentiment, @IslandJelli wrote: ‘Am I already on ep 4 of #BlackDoves? Yes I am, thank you very much. #glued.’
@poojadahiya1874 also added: ‘The most awaited show of the season #BlackDoves Entertaining fast paced action packed drama & a genuine detective show. #Keiraknightley@SarahLancsUK#BenWhishaw the stalwarts of british drama together.’
While Black Doves looks poised to be one of the biggest shows of 2024, Ben and actor Omari Douglas, who plays Sam’s ex-boyfriend Michael, requested a scene change because it ‘didn’t feel quite right’.
Its creator Joe Barton previously told Metro the two stars felt the original script did not chime with their characters’ relationship.
‘We had a discussion as the scene didn’t feel quite right to them,’ the Giri/Haji showrunner explained.
‘It was a scene where they were deciding whether or not they wanted to to get back together, and it was about why you would do that and how you’d feel about your ex-boyfriend being a hit man, and all that kind of stuff.
‘We changed it and then we filmed it again.’
Joe also revealed that Black Doves – which he started writing on Boxing Day in 2022 – was always intended as a festive thriller with all the action culminating on Christmas day.
‘It felt like the natural spot to end it,’ he explained. ‘And I always wanted to shoot a scene of everybody around the table for Christmas dinner.
‘I’m really into that time of year so I was like, “Let’s go full John Lewis advert – let’s get turkey and lights and snow and everything.
Some of the other members of the crew are cooler than me and they were like, “Are you sure?” But I was insistent we had to go full Home Alone as it was a nice way to wrap it up.
Black Doves is not the only starry show to have gripped viewers this week.
They have also been bingeing Paramount Plus political thriller The Agency, which stars Michael Fassbender, Jodie Turner-Smith, Richard Gere and Zoe Saldana.
An English-language remake of French show The Bureau, the political drama follows Martian (Fassbender), a covert CIA agent, ordered to abandon his undercover life and return to London Station.
But when the love he left behind reappears, romance reignites and his career, real identity and mission are pitted against his heart, hurling them both into a deadly game of international intrigue and espionage.
The Agency was branded ‘epic television’ in a review by Google user Scott Morgan, while Igor Faygenbaum said it was ‘smart and pithy with sharp dialogue.’
Black Doves is available to stream on Netflix.
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