Black Doves' real locations: a guide to the thriller's London sites from Regent Sounds to Liberty
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Until recently, Keira Knightley at Christmas in London would only conjure up visions of sickly rom-com Love Actually. But thanks to Netflix, that combination conjures up darkly comic blood-soaked thriller Black Doves. She features in a stacked cast alongside Ben Whishaw (a far cry from doing the voice for Paddington) and break-out star Ella Lily Hyland in the series which follows Helen (Knightley) as a Black Dove, an undercover agent placed in a marriage with an MP who’s become the UK defence secretary.
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Everything goes sideways when her civil servant lover is murdered, prompting her to reunite with assassin-for-hire Sam (Wishaw) for a gory romp through London’s underworld during the most wonderful time of the year. Filming on location in London wherever possible was essential, said executive producer Chris Fry. “London at Christmas is so key to Black Doves that we had to be on location as much as possible,” explained Fry. “The city is like one big set at that time of year, and we would never have been able to replicate that to the scale we needed on a sound stage.”.
There are plenty of iconic sights and lesser-known haunts providing a moody backdrop for the skulduggery and shoot-outs. Here are some of the locations you may – or may not – have recognised. The exterior of Grade II-listed pub The Coal Hole features in the first few minutes of the first episode of Black Doves, where news of the Chinese ambassador’s death plays on television. Part of Savoy Court, the building itself dates from 1903 and reputedly gets its name for having been built over the Savoy Hotel’s coal scuttle.
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