Spoiler warning: This article discusses the Season 2 Episode 2 chase and fight sequence in Black Doves.
One of the most memorable action moments in Black Doves Season 2 does not take place in a secret bunker or a deserted alley. It unfolds inside Somerset House, a working London cultural landmark, as Helen Webb (Keira Knightley) and Laila Joshi (Ambika Mod) try to escape disguised pursuers during an art event. The sequence is striking because it turns a polished public gallery into an unpredictable obstacle course—and lets the two very different operatives reveal their personalities while they fight.
Netflix’s official Season 2 locations guide confirms that the production used the real Somerset House, including its gallery, alleyway and riverside corridors. The sequence appears in Episode 2. Mod later described the art-exhibition set-piece as her favourite stunt, explaining that it was filmed as one continuous shot through the gallery. That production detail helps explain why the scene feels so immediate: the audience is carried through the space with the characters rather than repeatedly cut away from the action.
Why the Somerset House chase begins
The sequence grows out of the danger surrounding Laila. Earlier in Episode 2, Helen and Laila meet at St. Mary le Strand to discuss Reed’s disappearance. The meeting turns violent when masked men arrive in an unmarked van and attempt to abduct Laila. Netflix’s location guide identifies the courtyard at the real St. Mary le Strand as the filming location for that encounter.
Once the women are pursued, they move into Somerset House. The transition matters: the threat follows them from an exposed courtyard into a busy cultural venue where people are attending an exhibition. The setting offers no obvious safe route, and the women cannot simply behave as if they are in an empty action-movie set. They have to move around visitors, artwork and the architecture while trying to stay ahead of the attackers.
Why the gallery setting makes the action work
Somerset House gives the sequence a distinctive visual contrast. Its historic neoclassical architecture and formal exhibition spaces are designed for calm public appreciation. The chase turns those orderly spaces into a place of sudden improvisation. A gallery corridor becomes a route of escape; ordinary objects become tools; and the presence of bystanders makes every movement feel more complicated.
Netflix’s location guide specifically notes that the production used the real gallery, an alleyway and riverside corridors. That is more than a location-name check. The geography gives the sequence texture: the characters move through connected spaces that feel like a real landmark, rather than a generic studio corridor dressed to look vaguely historic.
The location also carries a little series history. Somerset House appeared in Season 1 as the venue for a party hosted by Helen and Wallace. In Season 2, the same landmark is repurposed as the setting for a much more physical encounter. The contrast underlines how Helen’s public-facing world and her covert work can occupy the same elegant London spaces.
Ambika Mod’s favourite stunt: a continuous shot
In an interview with Radio Times, Ambika Mod singled out the Somerset House art-exhibition sequence as her favourite stunt. She described it as one continuous shot in which she and Knightley move through the gallery. Mod recalled striking one pursuer with a tray and throwing a champagne bottle at another. Her account gives a useful behind-the-scenes detail without reducing the scene to a list of impacts: the performers had to keep the action moving through a real, spatially connected environment.
A continuous take changes how viewers experience choreography. In a heavily edited fight, cuts can hide the transitions between movements or reset the geography after each impact. A sustained shot asks the performers, stunt team and camera crew to coordinate timing, spacing and movement for longer stretches. It also makes the gallery itself part of the choreography: the route, the furniture and the objects in the room all affect what can happen next.
Mod has also spoken about doing much of the physical work herself after stunt training. In the same interview, she said the cast performed most of the stunts themselves and described learning the movements as part of preparing for Laila. That does not mean every element of the finished sequence was performed without doubles or technical support; it means the actors’ own preparation was an important part of the performance.
Helen and Laila: two styles under pressure
The action is memorable because it is also a character scene. Helen is experienced, controlled and used to hiding her real intentions behind a socially acceptable surface. Laila is blunt, irreverent and much less interested in making violence look polite. When they are forced to work together, their different instincts create friction—and comedy.
That contrast is central to the partnership. Helen tends to calculate what a situation requires and how much of herself she can reveal. Laila treats the danger with a casualness that can seem almost absurd to the people around her. In the middle of a chase, that difference becomes practical: both women are capable, but they do not approach the same problem in the same way.
Mod and Knightley have discussed the gap between their characters in a separate Radio Times interview. Mod described a generational divide and differences in outlook that become apparent in their first scenes together. The Somerset House sequence turns those differences into movement and timing. The women may not share a temperament, but they can still operate as a team when the situation leaves them no alternative.
Why this set-piece fits the tone of Black Doves
Black Doves often places serious danger beside dry humour. The Somerset House chase captures that tonal balance: the threat is real, but the way Laila uses the environment and reacts to the chaos keeps the scene from becoming solemn. The violence is not presented as elegant or consequence-free; it is made unsettlingly matter-of-fact, which is part of the series’ dark comic identity.
The sequence also helps widen the show’s world. Season 2 sends its characters through recognizable London locations rather than keeping every operation inside anonymous offices and safe houses. Netflix’s guide describes the season as expanding the geography of Helen and Sam’s story, and Somerset House is a particularly effective example: a public landmark becomes a setting for covert violence without losing its recognizable character.
Where is the Black Doves Somerset House scene filmed?
The chase and gallery action were filmed at the real Somerset House on the Strand in central London. Netflix’s official location guide says the production used the gallery, an alleyway and riverside corridors. The sequence is featured in Episode 2 of Season 2.
Somerset House is not the only real location used in the episode. The earlier encounter between Helen and Laila was filmed at St. Mary le Strand, while Helen’s tense conversation with Mr. Conteh uses the South Bank walkways around the National Theatre, according to Netflix’s location guide. Together, these places make the episode feel rooted in a specific part of London.
The takeaway: a fight scene that uses its setting
The Somerset House sequence stands out because it brings together three things Black Doves does well: sharply contrasted characters, action with a comic edge, and real locations that shape the scene rather than merely decorate it. Ambika Mod’s account of the continuous-shot choreography adds a production-level reason to appreciate the moment, while Netflix’s location guide confirms that the gallery and surrounding passages are genuine parts of the landmark.
It is not simply a fight staged in a beautiful building. The building, the exhibition and the public setting all become part of the action. That is what makes Helen and Laila’s escape one of Season 2’s most distinctive set-pieces.
Frequently asked questions
Which episode features the Somerset House chase in Black Doves Season 2?
The chase takes place in Episode 2 of Season 2.
Was the Somerset House sequence filmed at the real location?
Yes. Netflix’s official locations guide confirms that the production used the real Somerset House, including its gallery, alleyway and riverside corridors.
Who are the two characters in the Somerset House fight?
Helen Webb, played by Keira Knightley, and Laila Joshi, played by Ambika Mod, are the two operatives escaping their pursuers.
Was the gallery fight filmed in one continuous shot?
Ambika Mod told Radio Times that the Somerset House art-exhibition sequence was filmed as one continuous shot through the gallery.
What objects does Laila use during the chase?
Mod recalled using a tray against one pursuer and throwing a champagne bottle at another during the sequence.
Where does the chase start before the characters reach Somerset House?
The episode’s earlier encounter takes place at St. Mary le Strand, where Helen and Laila meet before masked men attempt to abduct Laila.
Sources
- Netflix Tudum — Black Doves Season 2 Locations: How the Dangerous Spy World Expands
- Radio Times — Black Doves star Ambika Mod on the Somerset House stunt
- Radio Times — Ambika Mod and Keira Knightley on Helen and Laila’s differences
- Time Out London — Black Doves Season 2 filming locations
By Shivam Das
