Netflix’s Black Doves creator explains the real-life inspiration behind the series. Set for release on December 5, Black Doves is a Netflix series about a woman named Helen who engages in a passionate love affair. The only catch is Helen has a secret identity that leaves her new lover in some serious danger. Black Doves features a leading cast including Keira Knightley, Ben Whishaw, Andrew Koji, Tracey Ullman, Sarah Lancashire, and Andrew Buchan. It was created by Joe Barton, and will have six episodes in its premiere season.
Speaking with RadioTimes, creator Barton explains the real-life inspiration behind Black Doves. The creator mentions that he was “reading as well about those spy cops” that “infiltrated that environmental group.” He took inspiration from that to write a story about “that duplicitousness of having a pretend marriage lasting years and years and years and then it’s disappeared.” It was these real-life events that went on to become the inspiration for Black Doves. Check out the full quote from Barton below:
I had been reading as well about those spy cops, those guys, and they infiltrated that environmental group and had ended up having children with it. I mean, a really horrific story, much darker than this.
But I was like, OK, 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.
What This Inspiration Means For Black Doves
Black Doves Is Grounded In Reality
In this interview, Barton makes reference to the “spy cops” scandal. This real-life event involved members of undercover British police officers starting intimate relationships with targeted protest groups. These scandals took place largely in 2010 and 2011, and resulted in legal action taken against these officers, some of whom began marriages or fathered children with the people they were aiming to fool. The main target groups of this spy cops scandal were advocacy groups for social and environmental justice.
This real-world connection may help Black Doves to feel even more grounded to British people or others who are aware of this “spy cops” history. In the series, protagonist Helen is a literal spy, as she works with a super spy organization called the Black Doves. It will be fascinating to see what Helen goes through in her fictionalized story in Black Doves, and how that may or may not mirror real-life events.
Our Take On The Black Doves Inspiration
The Real-Life Connection May Have Helped Black Doves’ Reviews
I think that this inspiration is likely to be a positive thing for the Knightley series. Black Doves is getting strong reviews thus far, holding a perfect 100% among the 12 critics who have rated it. Screen Rant’s Greg MacArthur praised the series for “how seamlessly it blends together genres and avoids abrupt shifts that would otherwise throw off the narrative’s pace and tone.” It seems this sense of narrative groundedness has elevated Black Doves, allowing it to succeed in reviews thus far as it prepares for its Netflix premiere.
