Credit: Netflix

Netflix hasn’t wasted a day this November, squeezing blockbusters into its daily roster. But if we were to pick the ultimate Netflix original entry of the first full week, it is undoubtedly the long-awaited return of Black Doves.

While the British spy thriller is naturally built on a high-concept premise, the sophomore season doubles down on stakes, dark humour, and complex personal relationships as powerful ambitions collide with deep-seated political conspiracies.

With Black Doves, we absolutely don’t plan to spoil the watch, but since the instalment is bound to leave you craving more, we don’t want to miss the opportunity to back you up with similar shows. Hence, if you want a watchlist with high-concept political intrigue, rogue spy drama with a mix of humour and tension, and fast-paced action, this is it.

So, once you’re done walking the tightrope of suspense and danger, watch these five Netflix shows that serve as the perfect follow-up to Black Doves season two.

Five Netflix shows to stream after Black Doves season two

The Recruit (Doug Liman, Alex Kalymnios, Emmanuel Osel-Kuffour Jr, and Julian Holmes, 2022-2025)

If you love how Black Doves balances serious danger with sharper sarcasm, The Recruit is a quintessential follow-up. Created by Alexi Hawley, the action-comedy spy series follows newly hired CIA lawyer Owen Hendricks as he finds himself at the centre of a high-stakes crisis during his first week on the job. He stumbles upon a graymail letter from imprisoned former Russian asset Max Meladze, who threatens to expose her long-standing links with the CIA.

The only thing that can hold her back is if they exonerate her of a crime. The Recruit centres on Owen as he gets dragged straight into international espionage, dangerous power politics, mob conflicts, and agency betrayals, setting the stage for a cliffhanger designed to drop jaws on the floor.  Once you finish the debut season, go for the second one, packed with choppier twists and turns.

Kleo (Viviane Andreggen, Jano Ben Chaabane, Isabel Braak, and Nina Vokuvic, 2022-2024)

If you prefer Black Doves’ dark humour and hitman dynamics, Kleo is another highly recommended stylised action-comedy thriller, currently streaming on Netflix. Co-created by Hanno Hackfort, Richard Kropf, and Bob Konrad, the Netflix Original series centres on former top-tier East German Stasi assassin Kleo Straub’s revenge arc in the aftermath of her arrest and imprisonment until the fall of the Berlin Wall.  

During the peaks of the Cold War, Kleo successfully eliminates a target in a West Berlin nightclub, only to be framed for treason by her own handlers and her grandfather shortly after. While in prison, a ruthless attack causes her miscarriage and permanent infertility, sowing the seeds of vengeance in her. After the fall of the Berlin Wall and a general amnesty, Kleo is freed, and now, nothing stands between her and her revenge.

Pine Gap (Mat King, 2018)

Just like Black Doves expertly tackles analytical, intelligence-focused political intrigue, layered with deep-seated conspiracy and betrayal, Pine Gap delivers in spades. The 2018 spy-thriller, set at the top-secret US-Australian joint defence intelligence facility called Pine Gap near Alice Springs, Australia, opens with a terrifying incident when a mysterious missile strikes down a civil passenger aircraft over Myanmar.

The tragic event causes American and Australian intelligence at the base to go all out to find out who fired the missile and why, quickly fracturing the traditional alliance as contrasting national interests, hidden agendas, and political power plays and pressures take centre stage. Pine Gap centres Australia’s fragile diplomatic tightrope between its defence allegiance to the US and its heavy economic dependence on China, culminating towards a tell-all military face-off.

Killing Eve (Harry Bradbeer, Damon Thomas, Jon East, Lisa Brühlmann, and Francesca Gregorini, 2018-2022)

Up next on our Black Doves post-viewing watchlist is another suspenseful British spy thriller packed with black comedy elements: Killing Eve. The gritty thriller follows Eve Polastri, an MI5 analyst who suspects a woman was behind the recent high-profile assassination in Vienna. However, her theory is written off by her superiors, resulting in her layoff from MI5 alongside her colleague Bill following a witness’ murder.

But Eve’s instincts draw more eyes than she knows, and soon, Carolyn Martens recruits her to lead an off-the-books MI6 unit to track a psychopathic, luxury-loving contract killer, Villanelle, working for a clandestine, shady organisation called The Twelve. Killing Eve picks up the pace when Villanelle lures Bill to a Berlin nightclub and brutally murders him, forcing Eve on a race against time to track down the culprit before it’s too late.

Giri/Haji (Julian Farino and Ben Chessell, 2019)

From the creator of Black Doves, Joe Barton, Giri/Haji is a British crossover crime drama with the same brilliant character sketch, tension, and tone. The series opens with a tense restaurant shootout in Tokyo, and a Yakuza member, previously presumed dead, is implicated in accusations of murdering a powerful Yakuza boss’s nephew.

As the inciting incident threatens a bloody gang war between warring families, Tokyo detective Kenzo Mori, who is also Yuto’s brother, is sent to London to find out whether Yuto is alive, return with him, and prevent the fragile truce in Tokyo from being destroyed. But once in London, Kenzo is quickly dragged into the city’s corrupt criminal underworld, forcing him to make uneasy alliances to navigate the complex scenario.