EXCLUSIVE
DOUGLAS IS CANCELLED News anchors navigate trial by social media in Steven Moffat’s comedy drama...
Ina London studio, Live at Six news anchors Madeline (Karen Gillan) and Douglas (Hugh Bonneville) go through the motions, signing off with scripted zingers before the director yells cut. It’s smooth, slick and professional; yet, as recent scandals have revealed, even television’s national treasures hide guilty secrets which, should they get out, could lead to trial by social media. Sure enough, when an off-colour remark at a wedding goes viral, the title of the four-part comedy drama looks like a self-fulfilling prophecy.
‘Being worried about what you might say in public is everybody’s worry, but it’s particularly the worry of a celebrity,’ says series writer Steven Moffat, who originally conceived Douglas is Cancelled as a play. ‘The producer [Ben Miles] tells Douglas, “When you’re out in public, no opinions: balanced, boring and bland.” That sounds dictatorial, except what do you expect from someone who’s the balanced voice of news? The trouble is, Douglas has to pretend to be boring when he’s not. He’s an opinionated, grumpy, middle-aged man.’
As the woman whose intervention could either save or condemn Douglas, Gillan relished the many scenes of lengthy conversation. ‘On a dialogue-learning level, this was really extreme,’ she laughs. ‘The sparring and verbal gymnastics are so much fun, especially because I’m normally being chased by aliens or monsters.’
Being reunited with Moffat after Doctor Who was a no-brainer, with Madeline an appealingly slippery character. ‘Madeline is a few steps ahead o
