Netflix's spy thriller Black Doves is returning for a second run, and it's shooting once again in its natural habitat: London. For fans of the show — or anyone who fancies a TV-themed city break — that means another season of Christmas-lit streets, shadowy alleys and smart London backdrops doubling as the stage for assassination plots.
The series follows Helen Webb (Keira Knightley), a minister's wife secretly passing government secrets to a shadowy organisation known as the Black Doves, alongside Sam Young (Ben Whishaw), a chatty hitman with a conscience. Season one made a feature of the capital, blending swanky government quarters, cosy pubs and anonymous city corners into a very London take on the spy genre. Season two is expected to continue in the same vein, with production moving around central locations that viewers can actually go and stand in.
That's the fun part of watching a show like this. Unlike fantasy productions built in studios, Black Doves uses the real city — pubs, streets, landmarks and riverside stretches that are all publicly accessible. Fans have already been retracing season one's footsteps across the capital, and as season two scenes are spotted during filming, a new set of locations will join the map. Keep an eye out around central London in the lead-up to release: crews, road closures and film trucks tend to give the game away.
If you're planning a fan pilgrimage, the timing matters. Black Doves leans hard on its festive atmosphere — the first season was set at Christmas, all fairy lights and dark nights — so a December visit will feel closest to the on-screen mood, with the bonus of London's winter lights along Regent Street, Carnaby and the South Bank. A pub crawl through the West End and Westminster, then across the river, covers most of the kind of terrain the show favours.
For everyone else, this is simply a reminder that London is one of those cities where big productions are constantly in town. Even without a specific location guide, a wander through Westminster, Soho and the South Bank puts you in the frame — occasionally literally, if a camera crew happens to be set up that day. Season two's release date is still to be confirmed by Netflix, so there's plenty of time to plan a trip around it.
Why it matters: TV tourism is one of the easiest ways to reframe a city you've already visited. If you've done the standard London sightseeing circuit, following a show's filming locations gives you a new route through familiar streets — and Black Doves, with its mix of grand buildings, moody pubs and Christmas cheer, is a particularly good excuse for a winter weekend in the capital.
