Credit : Netflix's X
LONDON, November 5, 2026 — Keira Knightley and Ben Whishaw are back as spy Helen Webb and hitman Sam as Black Doves returns to Netflix today, the streamer shared on X ahead of the launch.
All six episodes of the second season of the darkly funny spy thriller arrive together at midnight Pacific Time, which is 8am in the United Kingdom and 4pm in Malaysia. Each episode runs for about an hour, according to the release-tracking site When It’s Out.
The first season, which debuted in December 2024, followed Helen as she passed government secrets to the shadowy organisation she serves, the Black Doves, while married to a rising politician.
The spy at the heart of government
In the new season, Helen’s husband, Wallace (Andrew Buchan), is preparing to become Prime Minister, and she is walking “a more treacherous line than ever”, according to Netflix’s official synopsis. When her handler, Mrs Reed (Sarah Lancashire), is caught up in a ruthless plot to undermine her position within the Black Doves, Helen is reunited with Sam, who has been “reduced to lonely drinks in Soho bars and low-rate hits”.
“She’s literally the spy at the heart of government, so she’s kind of reached the pinnacle of where she can get to,” creator, writer and executive producer Joe Barton told Netflix’s Tudum site. “But at the same time as that happens, her handler, Reed, goes missing. So Helen’s in this very precarious situation, suddenly, and without her professional ally.”
Barton said Sam is “at a low point because he’s in some legal trouble and is in a kind of Faustian pact with this mysterious man who gets him out of prison”.
New faces join the cast
Several new cast members join the returning stars. Ambika Mod of One Day plays Laila, an anarchic Black Doves agent sent to help Helen on a mission, while Babou Ceesay plays Mr Conteh, a Black Doves executive with suspicious motives. Sam Riley plays Patrick, an emissary from a mysterious organisation, and Scream star Neve Campbell joins as Cecile Mason. Sylvia Hoeks, Goran Kostic and Samuel Barnett also feature.
Kathryn Hunter, Ella Lily Hyland, Gabrielle Creevy, Agnes O’Casey and Molly Chesworth return from the first season.
Netflix described the new season as having “all the explosive wit” of the first, with Helen and Sam’s mission leading them “back to old friends and enemies” and “right to the heart of the Black Doves”. Both seasons are now streaming on Netflix.
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