Watch the trailer
Trailer: Black Doves. Cast, where to watch and more on the title page.
Black Doves season two comes to Netflix on Thursday 5 November, and Canadian subscribers get it the same day as the rest of the world. There is no separate Canadian window, no linear broadcast to wait for, and no add-on to buy: if you have Netflix in Canada, it will be in your app on launch day.
Netflix confirmed the date on Netflix Tudum on 24 September, alongside a trailer and a cast list that adds a familiar Canadian name.
New to the series? The setup
The premise is compact enough to explain in a sentence: Helen lives a public life as the wife of a rising politician and a private one as a spy feeding government secrets to the Black Doves, with Mrs. Reed as her handler. Sam, a former hitman, is the friend she calls when that second life turns violent. Season one is set in London, and the pairing of Knightley and Whishaw, a spy and a killer with an unlikely friendship, is the engine of the show. Season two raises the stakes by moving Helen’s husband to the top job.
Netflix
Netflix
Netflix
Who is back
Keira Knightley returns as Helen, the spy married to a senior politician, and Ben Whishaw is back as Sam, the former hitman she is closest to. Sarah Lancashire returns as Mrs. Reed, Helen’s handler, and Andrew Buchan as Wallace, Helen’s husband. Kathryn Hunter, Ella Lily Hyland, Gabrielle Creevy, Agnes O’Casey and Molly Chesworth are also listed as returning.
Joe Barton, who created the series, is again writer and executive producer. Julian Farino and Kieron Hawkes direct.
Who is new, including Neve Campbell
The new cast is substantial. Neve Campbell joins as Cecile Mason. Ambika Mod plays Laila, an agent sent to help Helen on a mission. Babou Ceesay plays Mr. Conteh, a Black Doves executive whose motives are in question, and Sam Riley plays Patrick, an emissary who offers Sam a lifeline. Sylvia Hoeks and Goran Kostic play Katia and Alexi Chernov, and Samuel Barnett plays Jerry.
Netflix has not yet detailed Campbell’s role beyond the character name, so expect the trailer and the first episodes to do that work.
Where the story picks up
Netflix’s outline sets the stakes high. Helen is still passing her nation’s secrets to the Black Doves, but Wallace is about to become prime minister, which makes her position far more precarious. Mrs. Reed is caught up in a plot to undermine Helen’s standing within the organization. Sam, meanwhile, has slipped into loneliness and low-paying jobs before the two are reunited, and their search for answers exposes betrayals, broken trust and old allies and enemies.
Barton told Tudum that Helen is “literally the spy at the heart of government, so she’s kind of reached the pinnacle of where she can get to.” His own pitch for the season is simpler. “I couldn’t be more excited to delve back into the world of our murderous little spy family,” he said in Netflix’s announcement.
Anne Mensah, vice-president of content at Netflix UK, was equally direct: “To say we are overexcited about welcoming the Black Doves team back to Netflix would be an understatement.”
How many episodes, and what time
Season one ran six episodes, according to the Netflix title page. Netflix has not published an episode count or a release time for season two in its announcements, so check the app on the morning of 5 November. Whether the season arrives all at once or in parts is worth confirming in the app before planning a weekend around it.
Catch up first
All six episodes of season one are on Netflix in Canada now. It is a short catch-up, and the new season leans heavily on where season one left Helen, Sam and Reed.
If you are revisiting it for the city as much as the plot, Netflix says the first season shot at more than 100 London locations, mainly around Westminster and the South Bank, including Somerset House, Liberty London and the National Theatre, with Helen’s home played by a house in Crystal Palace in south London.
Why it matters for Canadian viewers
Black Doves is a Netflix original, which means Canada is in the first wave. That is not always the case with British drama, which often reaches Canada months after its UK broadcast, on a different platform. Here, the release date in Canada is the release date everywhere.
Netflix’s other early-November arrivals include Lee Chang-dong’s Possible Love on 6 November. If you are weighing whether to keep or add a Netflix plan, Your Streaming Bills, Audited sets out every tier, and What’s Leaving Netflix, and How to Tell explains how to check what is about to go.
Where to watch
- Black Doves, season one (six episodes): Netflix, CA US UK AU NZ, streaming now
- Black Doves, season two: Netflix, CA US UK AU NZ, from Thursday 5 November
Sources
Titles in this story.
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