Nobody is innocent in 'Black Doves'

Keira Knightley says spy drama's appeal lies in balancing outrageous entertainment with moral complexity

LONDON:

British actor Keira Knightley says the second season of Netflix spy thriller 'Black Doves' retains its blend of high-octane action, humour and morally complicated characters, with the returning cast promising another round of dangerous missions and personal turmoil.

Speaking at the show's London launch this week, Knightley said the series deliberately combined the seriousness of espionage with an entertaining sense of absurdity, allowing its characters to remain compelling despite their questionable actions.

"It's meant to be fun, it's meant to be ridiculous, but it equally has these really interesting characters who are morally very complicated," Knightley told Reuters. "I think the whole joy of the series is that both of those things exist at the same time."

In the six-part second season, Knightley reprises her role as Helen Webb, a spy navigating her double life as her husband becomes prime minister. A conspiracy targeting her handler, Mrs Reed, draws Webb and her longtime ally Sam Young, played by Ben Whishaw, into another dangerous mission.

Knightley and Whishaw described the new season as revolving around increasingly stressful circumstances, with Webb prepared to do whatever it takes to protect herself, while Young experiences what Whishaw described as a "slightly nervous breakdown".

New cast member Ambika Mod, who plays an assassin assigned to assist Webb, said she had not traditionally been drawn to espionage stories. However, the show's willingness to challenge genre conventions and its engaging characters eventually won her over.

Creator and writer Joe Barton, whose previous credits include 'Giri/Haji' and 'The Lazarus Project', said the characters' moral contradictions were central to the series' appeal, with audiences finding themselves supporting people who would ordinarily be considered villains.

"You like them enough that you want them to succeed, even though technically they are all mass murderers, psychopaths," Barton said, adding with a touch of humour: "They should all be in jail, basically."

The launch also highlighted the importance of bringing a wider range of voices and regional identities to mainstream television. Welsh actor Gabrielle Creevy said greater representation of regional accents on major streaming platforms could make a meaningful difference to younger viewers.

"I have nephews and a niece and a daughter, and I'm so excited for them that they get to hear that accent on a streamer like Netflix," she said.

The conversation also touched on the future of another celebrated spy franchise, James Bond. Whishaw, who played gadget expert Q in the Bond films, said the franchise's incoming creative team should take an ambitious approach rather than simply repeat what had worked before.

"I think you have to reinvent it, basically," he said, urging the new team to be "really bold and free" and make the films relevant to contemporary audiences. He added that nobody had approached him about returning to the role.

The second season of 'Black Doves' premiered on Netflix on Thursday.