Sarah Lancashire joins cast of new Netflix thriller series

Happy Valley star Sarah Lancashire has joined the cast of new Netflix thriller Black Doves, which is set to star Keira Knightley.

The series, which is set in London around the festive period, focuses on a woman called Helen Webb (Knightley), a politician's wife and a spy who is passing her husband's secrets along to the titular secret organisation.

However, her life changes when lover Jason is assassinated, as she turns to her friend Sam Young (played by Paddington's Ben Whishaw) for protection, and together they set out to learn the truth around Jason's murder.

Assassin Sam also has his own problems, with his past coming back to haunt him after his last job went wrong. The two then "set off on a mission that will lead them to uncover a vast, interconnected conspiracy".

“One that links the murky underworld of London to a looming geopolitical crisis — and leads them to question the cost of the moral choices they’ve made," the synopsis adds.

Alongside Knightley, Whishaw and Lancashire – who plays spymaster Reed – the series has added Carnival Row's Andrew Buchan, It’s a Sin's Omari Douglas, Warrior's Andrew Koji, and Andor's Kathryn Hunter (via Variety).

Also on board are Chernobyl's Sam Troughton, Fifteen-Love's Ella Lily Hyland, The Diplomat's Adam Silver, The Letter for the King's Ken Nwosu and In My Skin's Gabrielle Creevy.

The series comes from Giri/Haji's Joe Barton, who said: “I started writing the scripts for this show over last year’s Christmas holidays, fuelled by turkey sandwiches and discarded bottles of cream liquor.

“To be now going into production with a cast and crew full of people whose work I admire so much is unbelievably exciting and I couldn’t be more thrilled to get to see this show come to life.”

Black Doves will stream on Netflix.