Everybody is raving about Keira Knightley and Ben Whishaw’s new Christmas spy thriller series Black Doves on Netflix, but did you know it was inspired by a true story?

The hit show reached number one in Australia and it’s a combo of action, intense drama and heart. If you haven’t heard Black Doves yet, Knightley plays the character of Helen Webb, a secret agent who is spilling all the political secrets held by her husband. We love a strong female lead!

After her lover gets assassinated, she realises her identity as a Black Dove (a member of an exclusive female-only group of spies) is at risk. Her spy agency sends an old friend Sam (Whishaw) to protect her as they dive deep into what’s really happening in London’s underworld.

Creator Joe Barton told Radio Times he found “inspiration” for the series when reading about the spy cops scandal that took place in the UK over decades.

The “spy cops” scandal emerged in 2010, after it was revealed a squad of UK police officers were placed “deep undercover in political groups” and became intimate with women on the inside. A public inquiry was held in 2020, with The Guardian describing their actions as “highly intrusive, long-term infiltration”.

Keira Knightley plays Helen Webb, a secret agent. (Image: Netflix)

For over four decades, cops assumed fake identities to monitor over 1,000 political groups. A minimum of 139 police officers were involved with at least three fathering children with women while undercover.

As per The Guardian, deployments “typically lasted four to five years, with officers living alongside political campaigners, forming deep bonds of friendship, or romantic liaisons, with their targets”. While normal undercover operations were undertaken to find evidence to convict, these “spy cops” were gathering intel to “disrupt and monitor political groups”.

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Barton was fascinated by the “horrific story” and started to come up with the idea for Black Doves.

“I had been reading about those spy cops, those guys, and they infiltrated that environmental group and had ended up having children with it,” Barton said. “I mean, a really horrific story, much darker than this.”

“But I was like, okay, that idea, that duplicitousness of having a pretend marriage lasting years and years and years and then it’s disappeared. That was really part of, I think, the inspiration for it as well.”

Knightley gets to flex her action chops in this thrilling show. (Image: Netflix)

While the show isn’t a direct recreation of this specific spy cops scandal, it’s heavily influenced by the decades of deception these police officers took part in.

Is Black Doves a Christmas TV show?

Barton was fascinated by the spy genre and wrote the show on a “whim” during Boxing Day. Writing the show during the holiday season may have resulted in the spy thriller having a lil’ festive twist, as it’s set at Christmas. Perfect for those trying to get into the holiday spirit but wanting to steer clear of cheesy Christmas rom-coms!

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! (Image: Netflix)

“I always wanted to set something at Christmas, I haven’t managed to do it really before,” Barton revealed. “It’s so sugary and cheerful, but actually quite a dark time of year for many people, and literally a dark time of year [in the UK]. It’s all these contrasting ideas around it so it seemed like quite a natural time to set a thriller.”

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“I’d had a couple of different ideas floating around my head, like I’d been wanting to do something spy-esque,” he added. “I had this idea about these two characters that were friends and I had a few different scenes in my head.”

Is there a trailer for Black Doves?

Yes! The whole series is already available to binge on Netflix, but if you want a lil’ taste, you can watch the trailer below.

The show was already greenlit for a second season before its premiere, so you can look forward to more thrilling action coming from Knightley and Barton in the future.

Black Doves is now streaming on Netflix.