Douglas Is Cancelled: Hugh Bonneville plays a shamed news presenter
Cancel culture drama is mostly 'clever and sharp'
Cancel culture has been "crying out to be skewered on telly", said Carol Midgley in The Times. "Now, Steven Moffat has done it with 'Douglas Is Cancelled' (ITV), a spiky satire about sexism, hypocrisy, confected outrage and stellar careers being toppled by a single tweet."
Hugh Bonneville plays Douglas, an "avuncular national-treasure anchorman" who gets drunk at a family wedding and is overheard making a "sexist joke". Someone tweets about it; then "the shit hits the fan".
Douglas insists he can't remember what he said, though it seems in character; then things get "spicier" when his colleague Madeline (an "excellent" Karen Gillan) weighs in on the row. The four-parter is sometimes rather "on the nose", but "mostly it is clever and sharp", and its denouement is unexpected, which is a bonus.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The series is being marketed as a "comedy drama", said Nick Hilton in The Independent, but the laughs are few and far between. And it's annoying, too, that Gillan and Bonneville talk in newsroom clichés, such as: "The truth is useful, but I'd prefer something a little more balanced." Douglas's Gen Z daughter (Madeleine Power), meanwhile, is given "clunkers" such as: "Dad, I believe you – hashtag: total confidence."
It starts out promisingly enough, said Anita Singh in The Telegraph, but the plot soon becomes illogical; and the two main female characters are terribly written. Madeline is forced to deliver "atrocious speeches about feminism", and Douglas's wife (Alex Kingston) is a "harridan who hates Madeline because she is younger and has 'blowjob eyes'". Overall, it's pretty "dreadful".
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
The North Korean troops readying for deployment in Ukraine
The Explainer Third country wading into conflict would be 'the first step to a world war' Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned
By Elliott Goat, The Week UK Published
-
'Age of barbarism': are we doing enough to protect young pop stars?
In The Spotlight Some argue that Liam Payne's death should lead to a ban on young pop stars
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Mulled white wine: a 'quirky' Christmas hit?
The Week Recommends Retailers are hoping to tempt shoppers with a 'lighter' version of the classic festive tipple
By Irenie Forshaw, The Week UK Published
-
Salem's Lot: Stephen King adaptation is 'half-baked' thriller
Talking Point The latest adaptation of this 1975 novel has left many critics feeling underwhelmed
By The Week UK Published
-
Grenada's luxurious new resorts
The Week Recommends The Caribbean island boasts gorgeous beaches and tropical landscapes
By The Week UK Published
-
Tartiflette recipe
The Week Recommends This cheesy dish is perfectly warming in the winter
By The Week UK Published
-
Transformers One: entertaining prequel is 'pacy good fun'
The Week Recommends Josh Cooley's 'thoughtful' animated film tells the origins stories of Optimus Prime and Megatron
By The Week UK Published
-
Monet and London: an 'enthralling' exhibition at the Courtauld Gallery
The Week Recommends 'Misty, mysterious' paintings of London are a 'revelation'
By The Week UK Published
-
Sarah Rainsford shares the best books to explain Vladimir Putin's Russia
The Week Recommends The correspondent picks works by Anna Politkovskaya, Catherine Belton and more
By The Week UK Published
-
The Other Place: an 'excruciatingly funny' and 'shockingly frank' take on Antigone
The Week Recommends Alexander Zeldin's retelling of the ancient Greek tragedy is 'sucker-punch theatre'
By The Week UK Published
-
Jeff VanderMeer's 6 favorite books that delve into the unknown
Feature The best-selling author recommends works by Tana French, John le Carré, and more
By The Week US Last updated