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Every week, the Must Watch podcasters review the biggest TV and streaming shows.

This week, Hayley Campbell and Scott Bryan join 5 Live presenter Nihal Arthanayake to review Douglas is Cancelled.

Douglas Is Cancelled is a four-part comedy drama about cancel culture, set in the world of television news, starring Hugh Bonneville and Karen Gillan, directed by BAFTA winning screenwriter Steven Moffat.

National treasure and news presenter Douglas Bellowes tells a sexist joke at a wedding - will his career survive? And is anyone, at home or at the office, really on his side?

“It seems to be a Stephen Moffat rant at the youth”

Nihal: “Hayley, is this a Must Watch?”

Hayley: “Not really, but it does end well. I've seen all four parts. I think the issue with this whole show is it seems to be a Stephen Moffat rant at the youth. There are zoomers and millennials who say things like, "don't shout at me, I already have anxiety today" and they overuse the word "micro-aggression". And they say things like, "Ok boomer" and "thanks for mansplaining that, Dad". And it's as if Moffat is rolling his eyes at the youth for hours in a way that isn't very funny because it's so obvious.

"And it also has that Moffat thing of everyone is angry and shouting even when there's not much to be shouty at. You end up getting a bit wound up watching the thing and just wishing everyone would calm down.

“That said, it does get so much better at the end, and it actually makes a good and solid point rather than a forced joke. I think Karen Gillan is brilliant at a role that has loads of different layers to it, and it's far more layered than you think it's going to be in the first episode. You just have to wade through a load of annoying stuff to get there”.

Nihal: “Ok, so it's a Must Watch if you're patient, essentially?”.

“It gets so much better at the end”

Nihal: “Scott, Douglas is Cancelled. Is it a Must Watch?".

Scott: “It's not a Must Watch for me either. However, there are some good points in it. I agree with Hayley, I think it is a bit flawed.

“I see this show as a mixture between W1A and The Morning Show. The press team at ITV were very keen that anyone reviewing it watches all four parts. You think with the first two episodes it will go in a certain direction, and then in the third, and especially the fourth episode, it gets turned completely on its head. The last two episodes are certainly the most compelling.

“Steven Moffat originally intended this to be a play, and I think that is why it's flawed as a TV show. When you see a play, you’re usually there for the whole thing. In the first half of this TV series, not really that much happens. Essentially, there is a tweet, we don't know what the tweet is about. Karen Gillan's character retweets the accusation with a quote tweet, amplifying the accusation along with a statement that then can be read in different ways.

“You're trying to work out "Ok, what is Karen's true intention, here”. Then when we got to episode 3 and episode 4, it then became much more compelling. But I'm worried that people might not really make it that far if they are not convinced by the first two episodes."

“Karen Gillan is compelling”

Scott: “Steven Moffat at a press screening last week was talking about how, with cancel culture, it's much more complex than the binary issue it is often presented as, but people are very quick to judge on Twitter [X]. That's an obvious point to make, but that is very much reflected in this drama. But then there are other points, like Hayley said, where it does feel that young people who, of course, I think are very aware about the issues that are facing the world and think differently than the generation before them, they are seen to be a bit of the punchline.

“There are two people, I think, under the age of 30 here, and they're just seen to be reacting overly to everything. I don't know whether that was intentional or unintentional, but I just find that quite grating because I think young people need to be given more credit.

“I think Karen Gillan is compelling in this. She's wanted to do this Steven Moffat drama for years. She is, along with Alex Kingston, the heart of this programme. She gives a fantastic performance, particularly in the third and the fourth episode.

“I think it's just a little bit uneven. It feels like there are quite a lot of ideas. Some work, some don't really work. It's bold for ITV to be doing this. I don't regret watching it. It just doesn't meet that threshold as being a Must Watch for me”.

Douglas is Cancelled will start on ITV1 on 27 June at 9.00pm. The next three episodes will air weekly, at the same time, on ITV1.

All four episodes will be available to stream after the premiere broadcast.

Must Watch is released as a podcast every Monday evening from Ö÷²¥´óÐã Sounds and all other podcasts providers.

This week the team also reviewed I Am: Celine Dion and Outrageous Ö÷²¥´óÐãs.

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