Douglas is Cancelled centres on the explosive fallout after a veteran TV presenter gets caught up in a potentially career-ending media storm.
Penned by Doctor Who and Sherlock writer Steven Moffat, the four-part comedy-drama is airing on ITV1 in the UK from Thursday, June 27 and is also available as a box set on streaming site ITVX from the same date.
It sees Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey, The Gold), play popular broadcaster Douglas Bellowes, who presents nightly news show Live At Six with slick co-host Madeline Crow, portrayed by Karen Gillan (Doctor Who, Guardians of the Galaxy).
Douglas faces ‘cancellation’, however, after he is accused of telling a sexist joke at a family wedding and a horrified guest raises the issue on social media. Douglas claims not to remember what he said, but he, his cynical producer Toby (Hijack's Ben Miles), and the show’s deluded comedy writer Morgan (Ted Lasso's Nick Mohammed) must try to deal with the consequences…
Here, Hugh Bonneville and Karen Gillan tell What To Watch about Douglas is Cancelled…
Douglas is Cancelled marks a reunion for you both with Steven Moffat, after working with him on Doctor Who. Did you enjoy teaming up with him again?
Karen Gillan: “Steven’s one of my favourite writers. I love his dialogue full of brilliant one-liners. I first read this in play form [Steven Moffat originally intended it for the stage], so when Steven said, ‘We're making this into a television show. Would you play Madeline?’ I was excited.”
Hugh Bonneville: “Yes, It was a great honour to receive a script from Steven. And what I loved was that the laughter in the first two episodes, and the wonderful satire and comments on society, gradually stick in the throat by the end. You feel ashamed at what you laughed at. That's the genius of Steven’s writing – he draws you in and then punches you in the face!”
What is your take on your characters?
Hugh Bonneville: “Douglas is residing on the throne of respectability on a sofa every night, but he has been a frontline journalist of repute. He’d say he’s a successful, generous-hearted leader. I don't think he relishes the notion of being a national treasure, but he’s avuncular and comfortable, so nothing can go wrong…”
Karen Gillan: “Madeline is hard to read. People would say she’s ‘calculated’ or ‘manipulative’, but as the series unfolds, we understand her more and show why she has put up barriers to feel safe and have power over the male characters.”
How do they each react to what happens?
Karen Gillan: “I can’t give much away but Madeline wants Douglas to take accountability. From her perspective, it's his fault that things go so far.”
Hugh Bonneville: “Douglas thinks he can get away with what he reckons are inconsequential comments, whereas every comment lands. And he’s also oblivious that younger generations are savvier and might be after his job. But your sympathies are led down one path, and then there's a swift, ugly reversal.”
Does Douglas’ newspaper editor wife Sheila, played by Alex Kingston, back him?
Hugh Bonneville: “There’s a casual inhumanity to her! She loves him but she’s mystified that he’d be so daft – his job in the public eye is to be boring and bland.”
Alex played River Song, Amy Pond’s daughter, in Doctor Who, and she starred with you, Hugh, in 2008’s Lost in Austen. Did you enjoy working together again?
Karen Gillan: “It’s the best! She's an extraordinary actress and one of the funniest people I've met. And it felt like a lovely Doctor Who reunion with Hugh too.
Hugh Bonneville: “Alex and I were at the National Youth Theatre together, I love working with her – she has a puppy’s enthusiasm! But Karen’s also a class apart, it was an honour being dragged along in her slipstream! Ben Miles is also the perfect wicket-keeper to bounce off, and [House of the Dragon star] Simon Russell Beale’s character [Douglas’ useless agent Bently] evolved brilliantly.”
Has the show made you think about how easy it is for someone to be ‘cancelled’?
Hugh Bonneville: “Yes, it's about the speed and enormity of it. I have in my mind a combination of a tsunami wave and a wolf! It has destruction in its path and until it tastes some sort of death, it's not satisfied.”
Karen Gillan: “It’s a scary time to have an existence on social media. We're seeing people being held accountable, who wouldn't have been before. But there's also the terrifying nature of how the population has made their mind up about someone, even though it might be too early.”
How would you fare as TV presenters?
Hugh Bonneville: “I'd be hopeless! I need a script and to hide behind a character. In the show, we visited Kate Garraway [who interviews Douglas and Madeline]. These people have a great skill that I don’t possess!"
Karen Gillan: “It would be my personal hell! Having to read out loud, which is my biggest fear, would be the worst job for me. I have so much admiration for the people that do it.”
And what’s next for you both?
Karen Gillan: “I've got a film that's about to come out called Late Bloomers, which is about a drunken millennial who breaks her hip and then befriends an older Polish lady and they form an unlikely friendship. And I just wrapped on a film called Let's Have Kids, and it's about two women who decide that they will get pregnant at the same time. But my character cannot get pregnant, so she's dealing with all this fertility stuff, and it's really interesting. I'm excited for that too.”
Hugh Bonneville: “We're in the middle of filming Downton Abbey 3 at the moment. And we're about to start a stint with Paul Giamatti, who's returning to play with us, having been in the TV version [as Cora’s brother Harold], along with Dominic West. And we've got Paddington 3 coming out in November. And also The Gold series two, which we've just wrapped. That filmed a lot in the UK, and then we did a further eight weeks in Tenerife!”
Douglas is Cancelled will air in the UK from Thursday, June 27 at 9pm on ITV1 and is also available as a box-set on streaming site ITVX from the same date. We will let you know about a US release when it is announced.
