Two years after Netflix’s Black Doves opened audiences up to the world of the titular spies-for-hire organisation, the spy drama is now back for more shocks, twists and laughs.
Season one introduced Keira Knightley as high-ranking spy Helen and Ben Whishaw as lethal assassin, Sam, alongside Sarah Lancashire as their mysterious handler, Mrs Reed.
All three of them are back for season two, which arrived on Netflix earlier this week, as are season one’s Kathryn Hunter, Gabrielle Creevy and Agnes O’Casey, who return alongside a host of exciting and recognisable faces.
The show’s creator Joe Barton enthused: “To have so many [members] of our amazing cast returning and also being able to add some of my absolute favourite actors into the mix is such a great joy.”
Here’s where you may have seen the new cast of Black Doves season two before…
Ambika Mod
Joining the cast as a new, anarchic Black Doves agent is Ambika Mod.
Ambika is currently best known for playing Emma Morley in another popular Netflix series, One Day, in which she starred alongside Leo Woodall.
Black Doves is not her first time working with Ben Whishaw, as she previously played Shruti Acharya in the BBC medical drama This Is Going To Hurt.
Black Doves sees Ambika return to the world of spy dramas after she appeared as a junior intelligence officer in Steven Soderbergh’s 2025 film Black Bag.
Last year, she also appeared in The Stolen Girl, a crime series about a missing child co-starring Holliday Grainger and Denise Gough.
Ambika’s other movie credits include the adventure comedy Sacrifice and the recent Netflix animation Swapped.
Neve Campbell
Neve Campbell is one of modern horror’s great Scream Queens.
Although she has appeared in multiple spooky projects, she is most recognisable for playing Sydney Campbell in the Scream franchise.
Her other roles have included playing Bonnie in the cult favourite The Craft, Suzie in the iconic erotic thriller Wild Things and Sarah in the Dwayne Johnson-led disaster blockbuster Skyscraper.
In more recent years, Neve has shifted her focus to television, starring as the political strategist LeAnn Harvey in House Of Cards and, more recently, as district attorney Maggie McPherson in The Lincoln Lawyer.
Sam Riley
Sam Riley takes on a new mysterious role in Black Doves as a member of a rival secret organisation.
His breakthrough role came in 2007, when he portrayed Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis in the biopic Control, a performance which earned him a nomination for Bafta’s Rising Star prize.
Following that acclaimed performance, he landed roles in the 2010 adaptation of Brighton Rock, the 2013 screen version of the Beatnik classic On The Road and the Disney origin story Maleficent. Sam also played the iconic Jane Austen character Mr Darcy in the dark comedy Pride And Prejudice and Zombies.
Away from the big screen, Sam played Douglas Archer in the BBC version of Len Deighton’s SS-GB, and is set to appear alongside Jack Lowden and Colin Firth in Apple TV+’s upcoming Berlin Noir.
Babou Ceesay
Babou Ceesay’s most notable film credits include supporting roles in the 2013 adaptation of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s 2006 novel Half Of A Yellow Sun, the thriller Eye In The Sky and the British action comedy Free Fire.
On television, Babou is best known for portraying a lawyer in the Channel 4 drama National Treasure and Marcus Hill in the Sky drama Guerrilla.
He earned acclaim and a Bafta nomination for his role as the anti-violence advocate Richard Taylor in the powerful 2016 TV movie Damilola, Our Loved Boy alongside Sinners star and Oscar nominee Wumni Mosaku.
Following this, he took on the titular role in Sky Max’s police procedural Wolfe, before playing Abbot Fabian in the Disney+ historical mystery Shardlake and the security officer cyborg in Alien: Earth.
You can next see Babou in season two of the Game Of Thrones spin-off The Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms, in which he will play Ser Bennis of the Brown Shield.
Sylvia Hoeks
Sylvia is probably best known for starring in Blade Runner 2049 as replicant enforcer Luv, as well as playing Lisbeth Salander’s sister Camilla in The Girl In The Spider’s Web.
Beyond her film credits, Sylvia appeared as Queen Kane in the Apple TV+ drama See, which was created by Peaky Blinders’ Steven Knight and featured Jason Momoa.
More recently, Sylvia voiced the half-human Sigrid in the Norse-themed adult animation Twilight Of The Gods and appeared alongside Hannah Waddingham and Octavia Spencer in another spy drama, Amazon Prime Video’s Ride Or Die.
Goran Kostic
Goran Kostic has made a name for himself playing criminals and villains in both film and TV.
After years in minor guest appearances on British television, Goran’s big break came in 2007 when he began playing the Polish builder Erek in EastEnders.
He later had roles in the BBC’s New Tricks, the action drama Covert Affairs and the British comedy Bliss.
You may have also seen him in several prolific films.
Goran played an Albanian translator in Taken, the henchman Anitolov in Ant-Man And The Wasp and the main baddie, Konrad Breznov, in the Kate Beckinsale-led action thriller, Canary Black.
Samuel Barnett
Samuel Barnett is a recognisable face to TV viewers, landing multiple small-screen credits since his 2001 debut in sitcom Coupling.
He is best known for playing Renfield in the gothic drama Penny Dreadful, and the titular role in Netflix’ short-lived Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency. His other credits include the BBC true crime drama Four Lives, in which Stephen Merchant played the serial killer Stephen Port, and the BritBox mystery drama Murder In Provence, which also featured Roger Allam and Patricia Hodge.
On film, he co-starred with Kate Winslet and Andy Samberg in Lee, the biopic of the war reporter Lee Miller, in which he appeared as famed photographer Cecil Beaton.
Besides his on-screen work, Samuel is a celebrated stage actor, first finding fame appearing in The History Boys in 2004. He could later be seen treading the boards in Richard III at Shakespeare’s Globe, and most recently appeared in the stage adaptation of the film Pride.
Seasons one and two of Black Doves are now streaming on Netflix.
