What we know about new ITV show Douglas is Cancelled
Steven Moffat takes aim at cancel culture in new comedy drama…
Former Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat gathers an all-star cast to tackle the controversial world of social exclusion in ITV’s new comedy-drama Douglas is Cancelled.
A near-constant threat in the worlds of social media and modern pop culture and a topic that has had many pondering its weight, value and lasting legacy, cancel culture is an issue that has been with us for a while now and an area that feels ripe for social inspection.
With Douglas is Cancelled, Moffatt aims to look at the events leading up to the world turning against a once-revered TV personality and the fallout that ensues in the wake of the chaos.
Here’s everything we know about it.
When will Douglas is Cancelled be released?
Douglas is Cancelled will start at 9pm on Thursday, 27 June on ITV1 and will continue weekly in the same time slot.
The show will consist of four episodes, all of which will be available to binge on the channel’s streamer, ITVX, from its initial launch day.
Is there a trailer for Douglas is Cancelled?
A one-minute trailer for Douglas is Cancelled landed just weeks before the mini-series was set to make its ITV1 debut.
In it, we meet Douglas Bellows — a famous news presenter whose world begins to fall apart after the world catches wind of a bad taste joke he made while at a wedding.
Watch it below:
What is Douglas is Cancelled about?
Douglas is Cancelled looks at the fickle world of cancel culture through a fictionalised tale of one news presenter’s descent into social ostracisation.
Set in the world of British broadcast news, the show’s official synopsis sets the scene by saying “national treasure news presenter Douglas Bellowes tells a sexist joke at a wedding — will his career survive? And is anyone, at home or at the office really on his side?”
While his friends and colleagues are forced to take sides, the show’s first trailer teases that those closest to him may not have Douglas’s best intentions at heart.
Meanwhile, the jury remains open as to how worthy of redemption Douglas really is.
Who is in the cast of Douglas is Cancelled?
Downton Abbey’s Hugh Bonneville plays Douglas Bellows, the highly respected news anchor at the centre of the controversy in Moffat’s new show.
Meanwhile, Moffatt reteams with his former Doctor Who companion Karen Gillan who takes the role of Madeline, Douglas’s co-achor.
ER actor Alex Kingston plays Douglas’s wife Sheila, with Madeleine Power playing their daughter Claudia.
The cast also includes Ted Lasso’s Nick Mohammed, The Death of Stalin’s Simon Russell Beale, Coupling actor Ben Miles.
Douglas is Cancelled airs on ITV and ITVX at 9pm on Thursday 27 June.