Former Doctor Who showrunner, Steven Moffat, has reflected on the real-life inspiration for his latest ITV show, Douglas Is Cancelled.

The TV drama stars Karen Gillan (ex-companion, Amy Pond) and Hugh Bonneville (The Curse of the Black Spot) as two TV presenters, and features the latter’s character getting in hot water over something he said at a party. He then has to prepare himself for a flurry of proving questions from the media, so has a rehearsal interview. And something similar happening in real life inspired Moffat, as he recalls:

“[A] prominent individual was being rehearsed for an interview by a junior colleague. That’s exactly what happened, someone told me, and I can’t give you names. I just thought, ‘Oh wow, I would love to be in that room to see what goes on there’ because surely the junior colleague is going to stick it to the senior colleague as best they can. I mean, that’s just an extraordinary psychological challenge there.”

And no, he says no particular “cancellation” inspired him as “the reality is, TV presenters have been getting themselves in trouble all the time, forever.” He further explains:

“I could have proposed this show in any time, and someone would have said, ‘isn’t there a story related to this?’ That’s just the reality of what happens if you insist on recruiting humans to do jobs where human frailty is regarded as a deficit.”

Gillan and Bonneville are excellent in the show, as is Alex Kingston (River Song), who plays Hugh’s wife.

The drama starts off comedic but quickly turns devastating — and it’s brilliant. I loved it.

So catch Douglas Is Cancelled when you can!