Helen embarks on a passionate affair with a man who has no idea what her secret identity is. Caught in the crosshairs when her lover falls victim to London’s dangerous underworld, Helen’s employers call in Sam to protect her. Bingo, the owner of the guitar shop where Sam buys his guns, is played by Rat Scabies, a member of the band The Damned. Appeared on The Graham Norton Show: Cher/Keira Knightley/Michael Fassbender/Josh Brolin/Jalen Ngonda (2024). Fairytale of New York Written by Jem Finer, Shane MacGowan Starring The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl. STAR RATING: ***** Brilliant **** Very Good *** Fair ** Poor * Terrible “Helen Webb” (Keira Knightley) lives with her husband, Wallace (Andrew Buchan), the Secretary of Defense, and their two children. All seems idyllic, until her former commanding officer Reed (Sarah Lancashire) comes back into her life and informs her that her secret lover, Jason (Andrew Koji), has been killed, along with two others, forcing her to resurrect her former life as a secret spy, en route to revenge. Reed puts her back in touch with Sam (Ben Whishaw), a hitman and her former trainer, and together they navigate a complex web of political espionage and assassination. The spy thriller has been one that has faded in popularity over the years, but still has the potential to work in new and different formats. Black Doves came out of nowhere, with a massive advertising campaign, and has become the latest major Netflix production to top the charts, aiming to revive the genre in the modern day. The result is a real mixed bag, which holds your attention for its eight refreshingly succinct episodes, but fails to cover up the rough edges of the script. Overall, it’s a fairly standard spy story, with some fairly standard swashbuckling tropes, that anyone familiar with old spy adventures will recognise and even embrace fondly. The big problem is the uneven tone. The script bounces erratically between a tongue-in-cheek, tongue-in-cheek action comedy and a dark, heavy-handed spy thriller, leaving you too swayed to really take it in. However, it makes up for it with some stylish, flashy action sequences, with Whishaw and Knightley making for a convincing pair of mismatched professionals, with strong support from Lancashire as the cold, aloof Type M commander. The spy thriller remains one with limitless possibilities, and Black Doves, despite its flaws, is a solid addition to the staple, with an interesting mystery at its heart, with some strong performances and action to match. ***