Hugh Bonneville teases 'uncomfortable' humour behind satirical ...

Virgin Radio

18 Jun 2024, 14:29

Actor Hugh Bonneville has revealed what fans can expect ahead of his new ITV drama, Douglas is Cancelled. 

The dark comedy, created by Doctor Who’s Steven Moffatt, focuses on the downfall of a TV presenter, who comes up against the world of social media cancel culture when a sexist joke he tells at a wedding gets posted online for all the world to see.

Douglas is Cancelled also stars Guardians of the Galaxy actress Karen Gillan as Madeline, Douglas’s social media savvy co-anchor and apparent friend whose attempts to intervene in the situation draw questions as to whether or not she has her older colleagues best interests at heart.

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In a new interview, Paddington star Hugh revealed that he had to navigate different tonal shifts throughout the series, and revealed how the highs could quickly turn into lows. 

He shared: "It made me roar with laughter but, as with all good satire, the laughter gradually turned to ice as the questions raised by the comedy became more stark... harsher.

"Some of the twists and turns are toe-curlingly funny, but by the end, the lights have gone out, the fun has evaporated and we’re into dark territory. To read the whole thing in one sitting was as riveting as it was uncomfortable."

Meanwhile, Madeline Crow actress Karen revealed she “badgered Steven” to make Douglas is Cancelled after being sent an initial script six years ago. 

Explaining her reasons for desperately wanting the new series to be made, she confessed: "I told him, ‘This is incredible! This absolutely has to be made!’ This was actually prior to any of the dramas like The Morning Show or Bombshell that touch on the same themes.

“Then eventually, he came back to me saying, ‘We're going to make this as a four-part series for ITV. Would you like to play Madeline?’ ‘Yes, of course!’ So I feel like I did my little bit to manifest Madeline for myself.”

Admitting Douglas is Cancelled is her “most favourite project of all time,” Karen also shared how the dramedy was “the hardest thing” she’s done. 

“Having to memorise that much dialogue was unbelievably challenging,” the Seflie star recalled. “One episode is almost entirely in an interview setting, and we're just sitting down and talking to each other. That's an hour that you have to fill with just talking. So that's a lot of talk! That was just scary for me. I feel like the hardest thing for me to do as a person is to sit down and talk. I have a lot of jittery, nervous energy that I like to channel into moving around or a big emotion.

“It felt really nice to walk through the fire of something that was terrifying to me. It felt like doing a play. There was so much dialogue, and also so much that was not being said between the two characters. I just loved it. It was an acting dream.”

Douglas Is Cancelled will air on 27th June on ITV1 and ITVX.

Make sure you tune in to hear Karen Gillan chat about Douglas is Cancelled on The Chris Evans Breakfast Show with webuyanycar on Wednesday 19th June!