II have just watched “Douglas Is Cancelled” on ITV, and I think it is about the best thing I have ever seen on television. I won’t say too much about it because almost anything could be a spoiler. The plot is so well put together that you are perpetually wanting to know what is going to happen next; any hint of what it is about might detract from your enjoyment. Suffice to say that, as the title implies, it is about how to cope in a world where everyone has a video camera in their pocket and the means to record any indiscretion.
Although I can’t talk about the plot, I can say it is superb and well worth the investment of the four hours it asks of you. I watched in two blocks of two hours but only because I started late. It is highly bingeable.
While it is worth watching for the story alone, there are plenty of other reasons to give it a view. The script is beautifully crafted with a steady stream of jokes, acute observations and some almost excruciating descriptions of the ways people behave. All the characters are sympathetic, and you get to care about them.
The individual performances are all great as well. I particularly liked Alex Kitson, who would normally have stolen the scene, but everyone else was so good she didn’t stand out as much as she would normally have done. Karen Gillan was the star of the show and was extremely well cast. She got the best out of the script. But everyone was good – in fact Hugh Bonneville was so good as a TV frontman I think he could probably land a job as one. They seem to disgrace themselves often enough for that to be a real possibility.
It addressed issues that are very current, in particular sexism and toxic masculinity. It didn’t offer any answers. Maybe there aren’t any. But as entertainment, it was faultless.
