‘Black Ops‘ has officially wrapped filming on its third series, with Gbemisola Ikumelo (Famalam) and Hammed Animashaun (The Wheel of Time) returning as Dom and Kay, the two police community support officers who somehow found themselves becoming spies. And, judging by what the BBC has revealed about their latest assignment, their career progression remains a spectacularly bad idea for everyone involved.
Filming on the six-part BBC One comedy thriller has finished in Manchester and the North West, with Alex Jennings (The Crown, A Very English Scandal) heading up a new group of guest stars. The new series will see Dom and Kay take on their first proper undercover mission for MI5, while gang boss Tevin, played by Akemnji Ndifornyen (Famalam), is once again keeping a watchful eye on the pair.
This time, the supposedly straightforward task is to identify the members of a secretive far-right terror group. To do that, Dom and Kay must infiltrate the world of a shady museum director who has been selling priceless artefacts to fund the organisation. Obviously, sending these two into a delicate undercover operation sounds like an absolutely foolproof plan.
Things become even more complicated when someone from Kay’s past resurfaces, threatening both the mission and his friendship with Dom. Along the way, the pair will encounter billionaires, a windsurfing incident and an unexpected trip to the Peak District. Quite how all those things fit into an MI5 operation remains to be seen, but subtlety has never exactly been Dom and Kay’s strongest quality.
Jennings joins the cast as Dr Charles Dunstable, a controversial historian who looks set to be part of the latest chaos. Also appearing is Denise Black (Rivals, Emmerdale) as Jean, a thoroughly jaded, spectacularly unhelpful MI5 veteran who is counting down the days until retirement. Which, given her new colleagues, is probably not happening soon enough.
The guest cast also includes CJ Beckford (Blitz), Al Nash (Saturday Night Live UK) and Neil Bell (Peaky Blinders), although the BBC is keeping details of their characters under wraps for now.
Speaking about the new series, Gbemisola Ikumelo said:
“It’s crazy that we’re back doing this again and have somehow managed to make Dom and Kay’s lives even more chaotic! We’ve also been spoiled with the most amazing guest cast. So many ridiculously talented people who have come in and completely thrown themselves into the madness. I’m so excited for audiences to see it all come together. There are laughs, danger, questionable decisions and, naturally, plenty of Dom and Kay in over their heads!”
Akemnji Ndifornyen added:
“And that’s a wrap! We’ve had such a good time making series three and the guest cast have been absolutely brilliant. It’s always exciting to bring new characters into the Black Ops world and these guys have really gone for it. Dom, Kay and Tevin are back in the thick of it and, as usual, things don’t exactly go to plan. We can’t wait for audiences to see the chaos unfold!”
The first series introduced Dom and Kay as well-meaning community support officers who became entangled in undercover police work and a dangerous criminal organisation. Series two moved them into MI5, although their initial duties were rather less James Bond and rather more office administration. Naturally, that didn’t last long.
The comedy has earned plenty of recognition along the way. Ikumelo won the BAFTA Television Award for Female Performance in a Comedy Programme in 2024, while she and Animashaun also picked up comedy performance awards at the Royal Television Society. The first series won Best Comedy at the 2024 Broadcast Awards, and the BBC says series two ranked among its top ten returning comedies in 2025/26.
Created by Ikumelo, Ndifornyen, Joe Tucker and Lloyd Woolf, ‘Black Ops’ is produced by BBC Studios Comedy with Mondo Deluxe, Cool Story and Swagbag Productions. The third run will consist of six half-hour episodes, with Rosco 5 directing.
‘Black Ops‘ Series 3 will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. A UK premiere date has not yet been announced.
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