How does Helen go unnoticed as the PM’s wife in Black Doves? Creator explains the plot hole

The biggest question most people have while watching Black Doves season 2 is how Helen Webb can still seemingly sneak around London without anyone noticing, despite being the Prime Minister’s wife, and the show’s creator has actually addressed its fantastical elements which explains the plot hole.

Black Doves season 2 has been released on Netflix, and with Wallace now Prime Minister, Helen’s life at 10 Downing Street has become much more high-profile.

Why Helen’s life should be different now Wallace is Prime Minister

Barton has spoken about how Wallace becoming Prime Minister changes things for Helen. In an interview with Tudum, he explained, “Helen is now facing a world where her job is much more important.”

He added, “The risks are bigger, the information she’s stealing is bigger, and the betrayals that she’s committing against her country are bigger.”

Interestingly, Keira Knightley had also previously spoken about this change in Helen’s life. She told Tudum in 2024, “I am fascinated by [Helen and Wallace’s] marriage. Now, you have the fact that Wallace knows that an affair has happened or suspects that an affair has happened.”

She added, “I think he’s possibly going to be questioning Helen in a way that he’s never questioned her before. She’s going to be on display if he does become prime minister. She’s definitely on display and in danger in a way that she hasn’t been before because now Reed knows that she’s f**ked up as well.”

So, surely that should also make her everyday movements more difficult?

Living at 10 Downing Street and being married to the Prime Minister would naturally bring more attention to Helen. People could recognise her, the press could follow her movements and her security arrangements could make secret meetings much harder to organise.

Of course, being the Prime Minister’s wife doesn’t automatically mean she has a permanent bodyguard following her everywhere. UK protection arrangements are based on security assessments rather than simply a person’s relationship to the PM.

But that doesn’t explain why nobody seems particularly interested in where Helen goes or what she’s doing.

So, how is the Prime Minister’s wife managing to do all this like a normal Londoner?

It’s a question that brings up one of the biggest realism issues in the new season. But creator Joe Barton has previously admitted that the series takes plenty of liberties with reality.

In an interview with Tudum, Barton said, “I thought it was interesting to put a character like Helen into that, because the whole show is about exploring the different facets of her personality, her morals and ethics and worldview. Her working for this cold, detached company, and what that might do to someone involved in it, felt like an exciting idea.”

But the organisation itself isn’t real. Barton explained, “Black Doves definitely veers more towards the fantastical side.”

He added, “There are real-world equivalents for some of the things Helen does. The police sent undercover officers to infiltrate an environmental group, for example, and some of these officers ended up having relationships and children with people in the group.”

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