Gender politics and trial by social media painfully collide in ‘Douglas is Cancelled’
There’s a new British comedy worth keeping an eye on for a number of reasons. One being the outstanding cast that starts with Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey, Twenty Twelve, W1A), Karen Gillan (Doctor Who, Guardians of the Galaxy), Alex Kingston (Doctor Who, ER), Ben Miles (Coupling, Forsyte Saga, The Crown) and Nick Mohammed (Ted Lasso) and, two, the mind palaces behind the series are acclaimed writer Steven Moffat (Coupling, Sherlock, Dracula) and Sue Vertue’s Hartswood Films (Men Behaving Badly, Coupling, Sherlock, Jekyll, Dracula).
In Douglas is Cancelled, Douglas (Bonneville) and Madeline (Gillan) are co-presenters on Live at 6, a popular current affairs show. Madeline is young and sharp, Douglas middle-aged and highly respected. But a single tweet, claiming Douglas told a sexist joke at a recent wedding, tears Douglas’s life apart when the joke goes viral on Twitter/X or whatever you call it these days.
With the help of editor Toby, wife Sheila and agent Bentley, Douglas tries to save his career. Is he truly guilty – or a victim of cancel culture? And exactly how is co-host Madeline caught up in it all?
As with many British series, there’s an upside and downside to Douglas is Cancelled. With only four episodes is series 1, the upside being the four epsides are so well done with a bit of a twist at the end as it dances throughout the series from cynical industry inside baseball satire to an excrutiatingly gripping and tense, human drama at the end. The downside? There are only four episodes.
In addition to the always stellar acting we are all used to on the UK side of the pond, pay close attention to Moffat’s brilliant writing. There are some very spot on real-world lines that, sadly, still play out very strongly in today’s 24/7 news cycle/social media loving world. Give it a shot as while it shines a bright light on very real-world situations even though it does tend to solve them in a very un-real, fantasy world way.
Like Twenty Twelve paved the way for W1A, here’s hoping for another series as those in front of and behind the camera are the best there is.
In: Comedy
