Waiting Until Christmas To Watch Black Doves Season 2? There’s Something You Should Know

It’s now been two years since the premiere of Black Doves on Netflix, and the spy thriller has finally returned for a second run.

The first series premiered in December 2024, just in time for the festive season. This was fitting, given that – while as far away as possible from the Netflix originals we’re used to getting at that time of year – the action-packed series took place against the backdrop of a British Christmas.

For its second season, meanwhile, the new episodes have dropped slightly earlier, arriving on the streaming service earlier this week. 

And if you were planning on waiting on hitting play until a bit nearer Christmas – it’s probably worth mentioning that the story is not set around the festive period this time around.

There are a couple of Christmassy references along the way (although these feel more like nods to season one than anything else), but nothing that would jar if you were to binge-watch the whole thing in early November.

Creator Joe Barton previously told The Hollywood Reporter in 2024 that if it were up to him, he’d “probably set everything at Christmas” because he likes “writing about it” so much.

However, “mostly because of schedules and release”, he decided to allow himself more wiggle room with the plot 

“I think inevitably it’s not going to be a Christmas show,” Joe teased at the time. “But it’ll be interesting to see them out of their winter coats.”

Meanwhile, in a new interview with The Independent, Joe opened up about where the inspiration for the Christmas-centric first season came from.

“I had checked into this hotel [around Christmas] and there were all these people around me,” he recalled. “At the time, I was by myself and I imagined this character, a sort of spy or hitman. Basically I imagined if I was cooler than I am – a sort of spy character walking through all this Christmas frivolity.”

He wound up writing the whole thing in the span of about six days in “that little spot between Christmas and New Year”, beginning on Boxing Day and ending on New Year’s Day.

He admitted: “It all happened really quickly. My head was still spinning, to be honest.”

Both seasons of Black Doves are now streaming on Netflix.