Netflix has its answer to Slow Horses — and it could be even better

Netflix has lined up Black Doves , its own spy thriller series coming out this December, that it hopes can match the success of Apple TV Plus 's Slow Horses .

Slow Horses , starring Gary Oldman as slob spook Jackson Lamb (above), has gained critical acclaim and a string of awards. Netflix is no doubt kicking itself for not adapting Mick Herron's engrossing spy thrillers, but it is hoping that Black Doves , starring Ben Whishaw, Sarah Lancashire, and Keira Knightley, can prove a big draw.

Indeed, the streamer is so confident that Black Doves will be a hit that it's taken the unusual step of ordering a second season before the first has even arrived. It has a seriously good British cast and boosts its spy credentials by having an actual James Bond actor in it — Whishaw played Q in three Bond movies alongside Daniel Craig's 007.

Like Slow Horses , Black Doves is set in London. Keira Knightley plays Helen Webb, a quick-witted, down-to-earth, dedicated wife and mother — and professional spy. For 10 years, she's been passing on her politician husband's secrets to the shadowy organization she works for: the Black Doves. When her secret lover Jason ( Andrew Koji ) is assassinated, her spymaster, the enigmatic Reed ( Sarah Lancashire ), calls in Helen's old friend Sam ( Ben Whishaw ) to keep her safe.

Netflix teases: "Together, Helen and Sam set off on a mission to investigate who killed Jason and why, leading them to uncover a vast, interconnected conspiracy linking the murky London underworld to a looming geopolitical crisis."

Ben told us at a Netflix event earlier this year: "Sam is an assassin and he's returned to London to assist his friend Helen who's trying to revenge the murder of her secret lover, sometimes not very successfully, sometimes actually making it worse. We think of Sam and Helen as being almost a bit like brother and sister at times."

As much as you can judge from first look pictures, the series looks engrossing and we will find out when it's released worldwide on Netflix on December 5.

A further boost to its credentials is that the production company behind it is SISTER , who made Whishaw's hit series This Is Going to Hurt for the BBC. It also produced the acclaimed series Chernobyl and the recent well-received but ultimately axed Netflix series Kaos . Let's hope Black Doves proves to be as exciting as it sounds...

Meanwhile, if you've not seen Slow Horses , please head over to Apple TV Plus and give it a watch. It's fantastic!