Not least because the story bears a striking resemblance to several recent scandals. But also because it so thoroughly, and sensitively, interrogates all sides in the ‘culture wars’.
So who or what exactly did inspire the story? Who’s in it? And what does it have to say about cancel culture? The RTS attended the official ITV press screening to find out.
In an era in which Britain’s culture wars continue to rage, it takes a brave soul to sideswipe their main tenets on a mile-a-minute TV series. But if ever there were a safe pair of hands, it’s those of Steven Moffat OBE.
His ITV comedy drama, densely packed into four 45-minute episodes, embraces many more themes than cancel culture, to which the title, Douglas Is Cancelled, alludes. Also highlighted are wokeness, identity politics, mansplaining, slighting, mental health, “micro-bullying” and equality.
The eponymous Douglas (Bonneville) is an esteemed news presenter who finds himself in the middle of a social media storm after telling an off-colour joke at a wedding.
“It was sexist, not misogynist!” an exasperated Douglas insists in the trailer.
Though initially on good terms with co-anchor Madeline (Gillan), Douglas’s wife Sheila (Alex Kingston) warns him that his colleague isn’t always to be trusted.
