Keira Knightley blunder in Black Doves leaves fans in stitches: 'I wish I was joking!'

Fans of Netflix's Black Doves have pointed out an awkward blunder, which they thought was "a joke" but later realised that it wasnt. The six-episode spy thriller stars Keira Knightley as Helen Webb, who is grieving for her boyfriend.

In one scene she can be scene rifling through his belongings when she looks inside a drawer of an office desk and comes across a vape. The dramatic, but silent, scene sees her drop back in a chair before taking a long hit of the electronic smoking device.

As she exhaled, the show then cut to another scene of her boyfriend blowing a puff of smoke, before the couple shared an embrace and a kiss. Back in the office, she imitated the puff of smoke as she sat quietly alone, clearly missing her other half.

Fans of the show flooded social media with comments as they shared that they thought the unusual scene was a "joke". One user on X (formerly Twitter) noted: "In the Netflix show Black Doves, Keira Knightley is going through her dead boyfriend’s room and she finds his vape and hits it sadly cos it reminds her of him and it’s played 100% serious. I wish I was joking."

Another user quipped: "They’re saying it’s the most mournful vape hit ever to be shown on Netflix." Someone else added: "We’re living in a timeline where ‘tragic vape hits’ might be an Emmy category. I love it here and hate it here simultaneously."

"Forget love letters or lockets — modern grief means taking the saddest vape rip of your life in full dramatic lighting," joked one more while someone else wrote: "She didn’t just hit the vape; she hit his memory, his essence, and his ghost. The range, truly."

The show has otherwise been a hit with fans tuning in to the giant streaming service.

It follows the character of Helen Webb, who is a quick-witted, down-to-earth, dedicated wife and mother — and professional spy.

For 10 years, she’s been passing on her politician husband’s secrets to the shadowy organization she works for: the Black Doves.

When her secret lover Jason (Andrew Koji) is assassinated, her spymaster, the enigmatic Reed (Sarah Lancashire), calls in Helen’s old friend Sam (Ben Whishaw) to keep her safe.

Since its release on December 5, Black Doves has become a commercial and critical success. It was Netflix's number one show in its first week, and the streaming giant has already commissioned a second season.