ITV’s Douglas Is Cancelled explores cancel culture
June 19, 2024
ITV is readying to debut Douglas Is Cancelled – a four-part comedy drama about modern cancel culture, set in the world of television news, starring Hugh Bonneville, Karen Gillan, Ben Miles, Alex Kingston, Nick Mohammed and Simon Russell Beale – and written by Primetime Emmy and BAFTA Winning screenwriter Steven Moffat.
The series sees national treasure news presenter, Douglas Bellowes, land in hot water after telling a sexist joke at a wedding. Will his career survive? And is anyone, at home or at the office really on his side?
At a press screening in Soho, London, Moffat revealed the story is one he has been working on for several years – first pitching it to theatre companies in 2017/2018, where it faced several rejections (“That’s what happens when you leave Doctor Who,” he quipped. “You’re immediately stationed”). But Moffat returned to the story as he felt, despite the passing of time, it was still a relevant tale to tell in 2024. “People think cancel culture is a new thing – try telling that to Socrates,” he said.
Gillan, who plays newsreader Madeline in the series, also revealed she was aware of Moffat’s script from the beginning’ “I read it when it was a play, and I was involved in the early stages,” she said. “I wanted Steven to make it into a movie!”
“Then [years later] Steven told me they were making it into a four part series and asked if I would like to play the lead character,” continued Gillan. “And [Madeline] is my most favourite character I have ever played. She’s just so far removed from myself so it required a lot of acting. It was an amazing challenge.”
Digging deeper on the subject of cancel culture, Moffat said: “It’s nuanced. It’s complicated. There have been plenty of cancellations that have been entirely justified. I’ve said already, we really don’t want Gary Glitter on a podcast, do we? There are people that should be cancelled [but there are also] people that shouldn’t have been. All these things are complicated. And you’re never going to be able to say, in a straightforward way, this is definitely wrong or this is definitely right.”
“The people who are against cancel culture, in an absolutist way, will always cite freedom of speech. [But] to cancel someone is also you expressing your freedom of speech. It’s the same thing. If you disdain or disregard someone because you don’t like what they said – that’s you expressing your opinion […] it’s complicated,” he reiterated. “You can’t just simplify it, make it a word, and say it is always wrong or always right. These things are not true.”
“What is interesting for me is not that,”continued Moffat, explaining the inspiration for the series. “It’s the spectacle, the hilarity, the tragedy of people navigating it, or moving around that; of living in a world where, what’s different from times gone by, is the speed that this can happen. It’s been accelerated. It’s microwave cancellation. Everyone’s surrounded by iPhones and what you say can be recorded and it can be on social media before you get home. You can be cancelled before your taxi gets you to the house. That’s the truth! And that’s brand new.”
Gillan (who has close to 8 million followers on Instagram) added: “Whilst I was making this, [cancel culture] was really at the forefront of my mind. It’s like I could just accidentally say the wrong thing and maybe that’s it – forever. And actually, as I’m saying that out loud, that’s quite scary! But, I guess you can’t live your life like that.”
Episode 1 will air on ITV1 on June 27th, whilst the full series will drop on ITVX on the same date.