Netflix Adds Ben Whishaw & Sarah Lancashire to Keira Knightley's 'Black Doves'
Anyone worried that The Crown’s final season would signal the end of Netflix making prestige British series with absolutely A-list level casts can breathe a little easier with the announcement of Black Doves, the streaming service’s forthcoming spy thriller out of the U.K. Initially announced in April 2023 as part of a larger slate of shows picked up for production, the show hails from The Lazarus Project’s Joe Barton and landed on Netflix with bonafide movie star and future dame Keira Knightley (The Imitation Game) already cast in the lead role. Now she’ll be joined by two more top-tier talent in Ben Whishaw (This Is Going To Hurt) and Sarah Lancashire (Happy Valley).
Knightley stars as Helen Webb, a political wife, exemplary mother, and secret professional spy. Whishaw plays Sam Young, one of her oldest, most trusted friends in the business, who she turns to when her perfect cover life begins to unravel, only to discover his isn’t doing so well either. Lancashire will co-star as Helen’s handler, known only as Reed, an enigmatic figure who may or may not be helping her solve who is behind her world coming apart at the seams.
Black Doves was announced alongside several other high-profile gets, including an adaptation of the Danish novel series Department Q from The Crown’s Left Bank Pictures, the return of Bank of Dave: The Sequel, and Charlie Brooker’s Black Books finally gearing up for new episodes after a four-year hiatus.
