It’s a time for rejoicing if you’re a fan of twisty thriller television. Netflix has debuted its new British series Black Doves, starring Keira Knightley and Paddington himself: Ben Whishaw. Knightley plays a deeply-embedded undercover agent whose identity is endangered by the murder of someone close to her, with Whishaw as the assassin tasked with protecting her.
Black Doves has already attracted strong reviews, so much so that Netflix gave the green light to a second season before the first even landed on its streaming platform. The first six-episode run is available to binge now but, once you’ve wolfed that down, you might well be on the hunt for something else to scratch that espionage itch.
Fortunately, the world of streaming has a bountiful catalogue of spy thrillers for you to enjoy, many of which share a lot of DNA with Black Doves. Let’s delve into a selection of some of the most exciting and thrilling spy tales out there.
Slow Horses
One of the most impressive thriller series of recent years, Slow Horses transformed Gary Oldman into the washed-up spy Jackson Lamb. Lamb is one of many MI5 operatives who has been “banished” to a sort of graveyard for under-performing agents known as Slough House. In fact, he’s the boss of the whole place. Despite his low status in the espionage hierarchy, Lamb gets involved in some huge cases.
Read more: Slow Horses season 4’s end scene is one of the biggest changes so far (Digital Spy, 5 min read)
Based on Mick Herron’s novels, the show has slowly built a devoted fanbase. It has grown year on year, turning this low-key series into a word of mouth hit. The good news is that there are four seasons for you to delve into, with a fifth and sixth already confirmed. There will be a lot more to come from the reject spies of Slough House.
Slow Horses is streaming now on Apple TV+.
The Ipcress File
The title of this 2022 TV series might be more familiar to you as being the name of a classic 1960s movie starring Michael Caine, designed as a more downbeat, serious alternative to James Bond. ITV chose to re-adapt Len Deighton’s novel The Ipcress File for a six-part small screen series, starring Joe Cole in Caine’s role as army sergeant turned spy Harry Palmer.
Read more: Joe Cole says getting the glasses right for Ipcress File remake was ‘massive’ (BANG Showbiz, 2 min read)
Palmer is tasked by his new boss — played by Tom Hollander — with investigating the disappearance of a nuclear scientist. But, as these cases often do, everything expands into a tangled conspiracy of international espionage. In our Yahoo UK review, we wrote that “ITV’s well-mounted production shines with intelligent depth of storytelling”.
The Ipcress File is streaming now on ITVX.
Red Eye
Red Eye started its run as a very simple police thriller setup. Jing Lusi plays the cop assigned to escort a British man (Richard Armitage) accused of committing a murder in China. But that’s very much just the start of a very twisty and tangled narrative that includes CIA agents, arranged killings, and the geopolitical complexity of a nuclear deal.
Read more: Red Eye viewers just learned that face ID works when you’re dead (Yahoo Entertainment, 3 min read)
Much of the action takes place within the confines of the titular “red eye” flight, but there’s plenty of excitement packed into the six episodes. If that’s not enough for you, the good news is that ITV has already given the go-ahead for a second season, in which Jing Lusi will return.
Red Eye is streaming now on ITVX.
Alex Rider
Prolific author Anthony Horowitz’s teenage spy Alex Rider thrived on the small screen across three seasons of TV, adapting the books Point Blanc, Eagle Strike, and Scorpia. Otto Farrant played the teenager who is recruited by MI6 and deployed in situations where adult spies simply can’t go, with his incredible intelligence and combat skills — taught to him by his spy uncle — giving him an edge.
Read more: ‘Stormbreaker’: How Harvey Weinstein doomed Alex Rider on the big screen (Yahoo Entertainment, 4 min read)
The books were formative for an entire generation of kids brought up in the 2000s and this faithful TV series does a much better job of adapting them than the ill-fated Stormbreaker movie. After three seasons on Amazon Freevee, the show came to an end in 2024. Come for the spy storytelling, stay for the stacked cast including Vicky McClure, Stephen Dillane, and former Bond villain Toby Stephens.
Alex Rider is streaming now on Amazon Freevee.
The Night Manager
In this very lavish adaptation of a John le Carré novel, Tom Hiddleston played the titular luxury hotel boss, who is plunged into the inner circle of an arms dealer after being recruited by Olivia Colman‘s intelligence officer. Hiddleston and Colman stood at the top of a very busy call sheet, with the likes of Elizabeth Debicki, Hugh Laurie, and Tom Hollander also in the cast.
Read more: Tom Hiddleston explains delay with The Night Manager season 2 (Digital Spy, 2 min read)
The Night Manager won millions of viewers when it first aired back in 2016 and, quickly, attention turned to a possible second season. It wasn’t until 2024, however, that the BBC and Prime Video finally fired the starting pistol on the show’s future. Hiddleston is back on board and there’s both a second and third season in the pipeline.
The Night Manager is streaming now on BBC iPlayer.
Spooks
In its first series, Spooks took one of its most prominent characters and fatally dunked their head into a deep fat fryer. That set the tone for an espionage show unlike any other. In the early 2000s, before Game of Thrones took perverse joy in beheading its protagonists, it was very rare to see a TV series so willing to kill off major characters. Following a selection of MI5 spies carrying out dangerous work, its run from 2002 to 2011 delivered plenty of thrills.
Read more: The most shocking deaths in TV history (Yahoo Entertainment, 6 min read)
More than 20 years after its debut, Spooks still retains the power to shock. But it’s also worth pointing out how many amazing actors came through the show, including Matthew Macfadyen, Keeley Hawes, David Oyelowo, and Robert Glenister. Obviously, very few of the famous faces got out alive by the time the credits rolled on the final episode.
Spooks is streaming now on BBC iPlayer.