[pressgang] Douglas is Cancelled

[Vince Deehan]

I just finished watching the last episode of DOUGLAS IS CANCELLED.

The first two episodes were really good, but it's episode three where the
show really lifts off.
I won't say what happens, but it's essentially a two-hander episode with
just two characters
in one location.

Steven's writing is superb and the acting is excellent, especially Karen
Gillan who was
simply amazing in a highly complex role which she pulled off with great
skill.

The end credit scenes with the car driver talking into his dictaphone were
really
funny. He doesn't say much but the actor's use of long pauses were really
amusing.

I know that Matt liked it, but has anyone else here seen it.

On an unrelated note, I had difficulty getting to sleep a few nights ago,
and decided
on a whim to dig out a Press Gang DVD. I chose the Series 4 episode
'A Quarter to Midnight'. I could not have enjoyed it more. Just brilliant!

I did find it funny that the team were having a very late night restaurant
meal
at around 11pm. Do many restaurants serve meals past 11pm? A minor point
really. You can hear Colin say something like "Can I have another Vimto,
please waiter"
and Julie says "Can I have another Diet Coke". I guess it would be a bit
difficult
to have characters on a show screened in the children's TV slot, ordering
alcoholic drinks!

The way Julia Sawalha shows her increasing desperation as the air is
running out, is a testament
to her superb acting skills.

I get the impression that Julia rarely seems to do any acting these days, I
don't know why. Though I notice she did appear in a recent
episode of the TV drama VERA. Season 13, episode 2.

Vince Deehan




On Mon, Jul 8, 2024 at 11:43 PM Matt Saunders <matts at yoyo.org> wrote:

> Thanks Vince - I love that you're still here. :-)
>
> Well, Douglas is Cancelled took me on a journey I didn't expect ...
>
> I was ready to give up in the first episode and almost didn't bother
> finishing it!  Came back to it a couple of weeks later and binged the
> final three during which you find out what it's *really* about, by way
> of an absolute tour-de-force from Karen Gillan - including her being
> even more Lynda Day than she was in the Amy Pond days.
>
> Haunting, twisty and sublime ... one of Moffat's finest.  Go watch it if
> you haven't already.
>
>
> On Jun 21, Vince Deehan wrote:
> > Hi Matt,
> >
> > Great to hear from you. The Boss!
> >
> > I too read that article and am really looking forward to Steven Moffat's
> new
> > show.
> >
> > I don't think we can judge Press Gang harshly for not having any gay
> > characters,
> > as almost no TV shows did back then. Off the top of my head, I don't
> recall any
> > gay characters on TV in those days.
> >
> > It really was a very long time ago. Thirty five years since the
> broadcast of
> > series 1, in 1989.
> >
> > Vince Deehan
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On Fri, Jun 21, 2024 at 2:19 PM Matt Saunders <matts at yoyo.org> wrote:
> >
> >     Steven Moffat's newest creation is on ITV in the UK next week:
> >
> >     https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/article/2024/jun/17/
> >
>  douglas-is-cancelled-hugh-bonneville-alex-kingston-steven-moffat-cancel-comedy
> >
> >     I'm looking forward to this (as ever with anything that the Moff
> >     writes!) - hoping for typical Moff cleverness and humour.
> >
> >     There's a small mention of PG in the article - Steven's regret about
> the
> >     lack of gay characters.  With hindsight, the imposition of a
> >     heteronormative love life on every key character at some point in the
> >     show feels clumsy in today's world, but would including some gay
> >     representation more than 30 years ago have felt token?  I don't
> think so
> >     but interested in what others think.
> >
> >
> >     Matt.
> >     --
> >       Matt Saunders
> >       07506 857125
> >
> >
> >     _______________________________________________
> >       Press Gang Mailing List - pressgang at lists.yoyo.org
> >       http://www.yoyo.org/mailman/listinfo/pressgang
> >       'Reply' will send your mail to the list, not to the message author
> >
> --
>   Matt Saunders
>   07506 857125
>
>
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