User reviews

A hugely enjoyable series although it did start off a little silly. The jokes did hit and were funny but they just seemed at odds with the story & didn't seem to fit the situation. However episodes 3 & 4 are absolute belters.

The entire cast are great with Hugh Bonneville, Ben Miles and Alex Kingston all playing their parts extremely well with Miles particularly being superbly creepy.

But head and shoulders above this exceptional cast stands Karen Gillan. A still beloved Dr Who assistant She has since provided the Marvel Universe with one of its best character arcs with Nebula, while writing and directing her own films. But IMO Douglas is Cancelled is easily the best work of her career so far, she is absolutely formidable in the final 2 episodes.

Giving a phenomenally brilliant performance. She makes you laugh, makes you cry, makes you hate her and then makes you love her and it's the sort of award worthy performance that makes watching this drama worth your time all on its own.

A very timely story with a timeless lead performance, Douglas is Cancelled is worth checking out.

Famed and loved TV presenter Douglas Bellowes makes a comment at a wedding, a comment that is deemed sexist. The comment is witnessed by a fellow guest, who posts the incident on Twitter, a media frenzy begins, and Douglas faces cancellation.

Stick with it, I struggled to get through episodes one and two, in episode three however, a switch is flicked, and it transforms into a tense, thought provoking story of control and abuse.

I was expecting a comedy drama, and early on there are snippets of humour, but all of that vanishes in episode three, the tone changes, as does the whole feel. Moffat makes you think, question and try to apportion blame to the various parties, you question who is guilty of what, who's the real villain.

Steven Moffat went for tried and tested, cast members he successfully worked with on Doctor Who, and none of them disappoint, wonderful to see Karen Gillan and Alex Kingston reunited. Hugh Bonneville and Ben Miles are fantastic too.

Please don't quit at episode two, stick with it, I assure you at episode three it will reward you.

8/10.

ITV has been in the lead over the BBC in the drama department for a few years now, and Douglas is Cancelled is another feather in their cap.

Like Sir Bates VS Post Office this takes on some very topical (if not historical) issues which feel very relatable.

The premise is a simple one - television presenter Douglas has been overheard making a sexist joke at a relatives wedding. The nature of this goes viral, dividing his fans, co-workers and the country alike. Should he be cancelled in a world where everyone finds absolutely anything offensive?

The cast here are all superb especially Hugh Bonneville and Karen Gillian as the two TV presenters, rounded out by a great supporting cast which includes Alex Kingston and always pitch perfect Ben Miles.

The show tackles a number of immediate and contemporary issues, not least of which is trial by social media, which is becoming a bigger and bigger problem these days, just ask Jay Slaters parents.

While this is Sunday night packaged entertainment that never gets on the wrong side of dark drama, its skillful and well made television.

This story grabs you from the off and feels extremely relatable from the get go. I'll be doing a deep dive on it on my Podcast tomorrow, but in the mean time, this comes with my strong recommedation.

Take on those big issue topics ITV, you do it so well.

I nearly turned off a couple of times near the start (and I see that many other viewers did, their loss) but ended up bingeing all four episodes in the early hours. I have great respect for writer Stephen Moffat and it was a great cast. I confess to being a Dr Who fan and this reunion of Karen Gillan and Alex Kingston in the main female roles and as powerful characters from kept me glued to my screen (other Whovians from and in smaller roles also featured). The third episode is scary, and skin crawling, but wait .... the fourth is the key. Keep watching. There's always a twist at the end. Yes, I know that's Russell T Davies, but honestly, do keep watching or you'll always be wondering. 100 stars to Karen Gillan in this.

The whole first episodes are a drag, and they are played like a farce. 3/10. I nearly turned it off. And then the last two episodes are great drama and written far better. 9/10. They should have done it as a two or three episode miniseries instead. Some characters are so overdrawn they feel out of place. And for a series that is (in the end) so squarely in women's corner, why write the wife's character basically as a stereotypical nagging jealous wife? It adds nothing to the point the series makes. There are some baffling decisions in this, so it's quite flawed, all in all, but it was a joy to see Gillan being able to show what she's capable of as an actor.

I apologise for my title, I couldn't think of anything world shattering, so moving on ... The performances were superb, lines delivered sharply, dialog flowed naturally, the chemistry between the relevant characters came across as natural.

I don't want to write any spoilers so: E1, sharp and funny, I thought it was setting the tone for all that would follow.

E2, pace and humour fizzled out a little and I started to wonder if all the best bits were in E1.

E3, everything went dark, to say a number of scenes left me feeling very uncomfortable would be the understatement of the year, at one point I wasn't sure if I wanted to keep watching but was hooked by the amazing acting and script.

E4, twists, turns and alternate perspectives and a 10* rated ending.

I can only say that if you feel it's not worth sticking with in E2, keep going, your heading for a roller coaster of emotion.

One of the best mini series I've watched in a long while. The acting by everyone is absolutely top notch probably because the writing and direction is of an extremely high standard. Not to mention the editing which often goes without the praise it deserves. The emotional delivery of quick fire line after line demonstrates the quality of this show throughout. I'd usually call out the lead actors for their brilliance, but in this case everyone played an important and valuable role, however small, in making this an enjoyable watch to the very end, and watching to the end is so worth it, trust me. Highly recommended.

Watched this series in one sitting and it's one of the best. The storyline is stylishly crafted and all brought together in the last 10 minutes to a totally satisfying ending which resonates with the strange times we live in.

Because of Hugh Bonneville's presence comparison with 2012 and W1A are inevitable but this is a straight and serious drama with relatively few injections of humour and those that are tend to be caustic.

The casting is superb as is the script and production and Karen Gillan and Ben Miles shine through in particular but in very different ways. We need more productions like this so well done ITV.

I'll definitely watch it again.

Whatever **** you have to wade through; it's worth it is a line near the end of s1e4. Unfortunately, it is not.

It's well written with some great characters but there is little humour here and nothing in the way of drama.

It has some good moments but it is just inconsistent.

Obviously, there are likely to be comparisons to the lives of real life middle aged white male tv presenters that have made the news in recent times in this world of cancel culture but it has been said it us just a drama which was written prior to these events. The main actor being named Hugh is just unfortunate.

It's probably a great in house comedy for those in the business but it's an alien world to many of us.

You won't miss anything if you miss this.

Assume it will be cancelled after one series.

Watch all four episodes to fully appreciate the stellar acting here of Karen Gillan as the joint anchor of a TV show with Hugh Bonneville. All the cast are excellent, especially Ben Miles as the sleazy producer who interviews Madeleine (Gillan) in his hotel bedroom, but in the end Karen just floored me with her screen presence. I've been watching her in the Jumanji movies for two or three years, plus a few other films and I'd picked this Scottish actress as one of the ones to watch, but this performance is beyond what I had anticipated from her.

We don't know for sure until the very end, just what her motives are for behaving as she does, but when it comes, it's a real humdinger.

Funny to begin with and lots of rapid fire quips until it starts to turn sinister. Alex Kingston provides ample support to Hugh as his wife, who doesn't quite trust him.

One of the more compelling TV drama series I've seen recently, really excellent, down not only to the actors but also the writing. Recommended.

I wasn't initially impressed, but stuck with it because the actors are good, the storyline credible and, over the run of the series, quite compelling. It has various interesting twists and turns and one is drawn in to see it through - who are the good guys and who the villains?! Even as it moves to a close, it's not always entirely clear who is really manipulating whom - but all the main players are consummate in their performances, especially Bonneville, Gillan and Miles.

It's worth a second series - if only to see how the storyline might progress, given Moffat is an accomplished writer and there's a fair dose of reality right through.

Don't give up. It starts weird, but the last episode is one of the best I have seen in ages. And the casts performance is simply stellar.

Why it is categorized as a comedy I do not know. Probably to throw you off like the weird beginning. It is literally not funny and Mr. Moffat makes it quite clear for everyone why the topic adressed here really shouldn't be funny.

As a Dr. Who fan I knew if Kate Gillan and Steven Moffat are part of the series, it would be entertaining to watch. Seriously, never expected it to be this good.

Still can't believe I almost passed on this awesome mini series ...

The first two episodes are painfully boring. The exaggerated role of Douglas' daughter is simply irritating, and it's very difficult to warm to Madeline's character.

However, everything changes in episode 3 which is a frustrating and painful watch. I found myself incredulous for the lack of actions by both of the two main characters.

Come episode 4 and I had myself changing sides with every change of speaker! There are moments when you think no-one is guilty of wrong doing, then others where you think they all are!

You make your own judgement. But get through those first two episodes because the second half is so worth it.

After years of writing talent wasted on silly stuff like Doctor Who, here we fins Steven Moffat back doing what he does best - writing biting farcical satire with quite a bit of depth. "Douglas is Cancelled" is disturbingly close to the reality of today's easily (and willingly) offended-on-someone-elses behalf, ultra-woke and totally intolerant cancel culture - maybe just a bit speeded up for dramatic effect.

This is where Moffat's skills really shine, delivering perfectly honed lines that sometimes takes a minute or two to sink in. Too bad the young know-it-alls will be immune to the message here, just like the daughter.

This is not as good as Moffat's magnum opus "Coupling". Well, nothing is, or ever will be. But so far it's easily on par with "2012" and "W1A", which is high praise indeed.

The message of this show was actually very very needed, it starts as strange behaviours and ends up making absolute sense, all the characters were well written and represented something that if you watch the show carefully you'll appreciate how well the connection are

episode 3 was one of the best tv moments I've experienced in a while, it was well written, well directed and well acted it had me on the edge of my sit the whole time and showed us that this everyday villians are some of the most frightening ones!

As I've seen some people give it up after episode 2, dont do this mistake, stick around and by the end of it you'll have a piece of tv on your mind that you'll think about for sometime.

Great stuff. I thoroughly enjoyed this, and watched it all in one sitting. I thought the acting was very good, especially that of Karen Gillan who, over the course of the four episodes, portrayed many different character traits extremely well. Ben Miles as producer Toby also portrayed more than one character dimension - including one that was cringingly disturbing. Hugh Bonneville was very Hugh Bonneville, so he made a decent job of that as you might expect. Alex Kingston maybe had most of the 'comedic' lines in portraying a ball-busting Red Top editor, but overall I would class Douglas is Cancelled as drama rather than a comedy. It definitely was not in any way trying to emulate any aspect of W1A, so don't watch this expecting something similar. But...do watch it if you enjoy very entertaining drama with excellent acting from the main characters.

Excellent first episode. Very quick, very funny, very sarcastic.

Great acting by all, especially Karen Gillan and Hugh Bonneville. Very topical issue, male tv presenter, well-known and well-loved, overheard making sexist joke at a wedding after a few drinks. "It was sexist - not misogynist" says our hero.. It hits Twitter and goes nuclear and things start to unravel for him. Gets right into the storyline immediately, while introducing all the other very entertaining characters. Very watchable and potentially addictive. A real insight into journalistic spin.

Good chemistry between (the quite paranoid) Douglas (Hugh Bonneville) and his much younger, female, gorgeous (Scottish - of course) co presenter Madeline (Karen Gillan) who then inadvertently drops him further in it by re-tweeting the tweet while attempting to defend him. The utterly brilliant Alex Kingston plays Douglas' very dramatic, high-maintenance newspaper editor wife Sheila, who's clearly jealous of his relationship with Madeline and enjoys stirring things up. Claudia the daughter, plays the typical teenage daughter "are you keeping something secret? And don't lie - I've already got anxiety today". Looking forward to how this develops.

I just finished watching this little Gem and Wow! Just Wow!

It's a really fast paced drama and with lots of twists and turns along the way .

Despite having a very seasoned cast, Karen Gillan managed to outshine everyone and became the main attract throughout .

She's stylish, sexy , fierce, well dressed and everything you want in a string woman .

She takes us on a journey and we join her on a roller coaster of an adventure throughout the 4 episodes :

This is the best TV Drama I've seen in a long time and I highly recommend it to everyone .

I'm sure most of it reflects all that's wrong in TV and how it was during the mad old days .

I think Karen Gillan is only beginning to show is what she is capable of.

I'd be surprised if she's not BAFTA nominated for this performance and who knows what's in her future .

If you streamed the Morning Show from Wish.

This show sums up nicely the low standards of UK drama these days compared to great shows from the US like the Morning Show and the Bear.

There is some clever writing at times but it is overpowered by a strange attempt at farce and generally tries too hard to be funny and relevant.

The characters are mostly annoying caricatures and stereotypes with little nuance or gravitas and Bonneville is far too dumb to be believable and relatable.

All great comedy has some degree of pathos and charm and this has none of either.

There are far too many clumsy nods to the journalistic mafia that control the British media - and vague references to real life cancel culture victims. It all comes across like an 'in' joke for those in British media.

The premise of the 'cancel' is also poorly executed. Cancelled because of a joke at a wedding that nobody heard. Not even remotely realistic.

A big miss from me I'm afraid.