There was a joyful sense of impending doom, comically delivered, in Douglas is Cancelled (ITV, Thursday). Well done ITV for bringing to the schedule a show that didn’t involve either hitting a ball or kicking one around a field.
In this case, Douglas (Hugh Bonneville) was taking all the hits as he tried to save his reputation in the face of a snowballing crisis over an apparent sexist comment – or was it misogyny? Let’s not try to answer that one.
How refreshing in this heat was it to watch a drama which didn’t start with a rotting corpse? The only thing we were going to watch here was a character assassination, rightly, or wrongly.
Oddly enough, we hear less and less about people being cancelled right now.
It must be happening sotto voce in darkened rooms, with the word “cancelling” written on the door. It would be a brilliant Monty Python sketch – “Is this the cancelling room, by chance? Will it hurt?” Will it, heck!
Interestingly, and no criticism, Bonneville channelled a little of his WIA character Ian Fletcher as he wrestled with what seemed like his inevitable fate at the hands of social media.
A national treasure playing a national treasure. It was clever casting. This can only mean one thing: he is heading for a big fall.
By the end of episode one, things were still just looking okay for him – his wife and daughter were still speaking with him notwithstanding “micro aggressions” although his colleague (Karen Gillan) had retweeted the joke, and his boss played brilliantly by Ben Miles was looking for a bus under which to throw dear Dougie.
My favourite character, so far, was Douglas’ agent Bentley (Simon Russell Beale) who appears happy to eat the entrails of what is soon to be his former client.
There was a certain whiff of realism about this relationship, played out as it was in a posh restaurant with Bentley appearing to be no stranger to the waiting staff.
Writer Stephen Moffatt cleverly juxtaposed situations, especially those involving Ben Miles’ boss who appeared to get away with being racist towards an Asian comedian who he had thought was the comedian’s driver.
Where will it go from here? Surely Lord Grantham can never do anything very wrong in the eyes of the nation.
Across on the BBC, we had the final instalment of The Outlaws (Thurs). When you have so many stories and characters to juggle as a writer, as Stephen Merchant did here, something had to give – and that was himself!
He hardly appeared in the final episode, which saw his gang get the upper hand over their nasty foes led by actor Claes Bang, who I last saw recently playing a Nazi on Apple TV. I think the word is “versatility”.
In the absence of Merchant, actress Jessica Gunning (Baby Reindeer) stole the show with her Mall Cop turn on a Segway scooter. She also knows how to deliver a comic line, so let’s hope she’s locked in for another series.
It would be criminal otherwise.
You always know when you’re watching a Gordon Ramsay show – even if you’ve drifted into the wrong room where his new show, Gordon Ramsay Uncharted (Nat Geo, Sun) happens to be playing.
The inveterate Scottish swear box was a passenger on a light plane coming into land in Ireland, propping his hand against the ceiling to hold himself steady.
“Don’t f***ing send me next time!!” he barked. Okay, happy to oblige.
Later, he was on a clifftop, challenging a former employee of his, Anna, to a cook off with local produce.
You can imagine what he did when he heard the word “shuck” for the first time on the trip.
I thought he would need hospitalisation.
In the end, he lost both competitions – against his chef friend, but more importantly, in a “shuck off” – opening oysters – with the former world champion.
Of course, there is one.
Been watching too much football? Need a good laugh? Might I recommend a new documentary on Gold, increasingly the home of funny! Paul Whitehouse’s Sketch Show Years (Gold, Thurs) will have you rolling off the sofa. Not in a dangerous way of course.
The first episode mentioned everyone from Tommy Handley to the Two Ronnies, showcasing the good, the bad and the downright offensive. Or was it? After watching this, my conclusion was that it’s all pretty harmless stuff. Benny Hill didn’t go on for four decades without bringing consistent entertainment to millions.
Whitehouse did rightly highlight how few women were featured in the sketches with most of the male comedians dragging up when they needed a lead female character.
The best sketches of them all – Les Dawson on the keyboard, and Two Ronnies mangling Mastermind. Peerless.
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