Joe Barton’s "Black Doves" (six episode series)
Review by Dennis D. McDonald
This convoluted spy mystery is chock full of plot holes, improbabilities, unbelievable events, genre tropes, and multiple unsolved shootouts on city streets of which London cops are seemingly oblivious.
And yet… I watched the whole thing!
The reasons are straightforward: the story is populated by a fascinating string of characters, main and secondary, almost worthy of early Guy Ritchie. Keira Knightley plays effectively against her younger type, and Ben Whishaw (who was also terrific in Fargo season four as the Irish gangster-babysitter) creates an almost sympathetic killer for hire.
The women in the show are invariably fascinating. The terrific casting overcomes an unbelievable plot ostensibly about politics, international relations, and gunplay, but in reality is more interested in double crosses, jealousy, lost love, emotional see-sawing, and a MacGuffin that actually ends up having some significance.
Check it out, especially if you have fond memories, real or imaginary, of wandering around a curiously underpopulated London.
Review copyright 2025 by Dennis D. McDonald
