Viewers already ‘scared’ to watch comedy-drama that hasn't even aired yet

Between Love Island, Bridgerton and a whole bunch of new Netflix releases - we've been far from short of choice when it comes to what to watch on telly.

Now, if you're anything like me, you'll already have an eternally growing 'to watch' list but - brace yourselves - as there's yet another ITV series you'll be wanting to add.

The upcoming four-part British comedy drama TV series, written by Steven Moffat and directed by Ben Palmer, boasts a star-studded cast including the likes of Downtown Abbey's Hugh Bonneville and Guardians of the Galaxy's Karen Gillan.

The series is set to hit our screens tomorrow. (ITV)

The series follows Douglas Bellowes, played by Bonneville, a widely respected news anchor at fictional news programme Live at Six alongside his co-anchor Madeline (Gillan) and newspaper editor wife Sheila (Kingston), who he makes a controversial misogynistic 'joke' at a wedding.

Then, when a fellow wedding guest tweets about the incident and it goes viral, Bellowes and the Live at Six team are left to pick up the pieces after being faced with 'cancel culture'.

Joining Bonneville and Gillan in the series include; Alex Kingston, Ben Miles, Simon Russell Beale and Nick Mohammed.

While the story may somewhat resemble other high-profile cancellations of media personalities, Moffat did confirm that he first started writing the series as a play years back in 2018.

The series follows a widely respected news anchor who finds himself being 'cancelled' after making a misogynistic 'joke' at a wedding. (ITV)

"I wrote the first version of this – as a stage play that didn’t get put on – five years ago, long before the cases you mention," he told The Guardian.

"It doesn’t matter which period you put this story in: there will be somebody who fell from grace in TV."

The series is none other than Douglas is Cancelled and it's clear that ITV viewers can't wait to sink their teeth into it. Check out the official trailer here:

One X user penned: "Can’t wait to see Douglas Is Cancelled on Thursday!"

"Welp that sure was a season finale that happened," quipped a second, "anyway LESS THAN A WEEK UNTIL DOUGLAS IS CANCELLED."

A third gushed: "Just read more about Douglas is Cancelled and it sounds fantastic! I can’t wait!!"

And a final X user admitted: "So scared for Douglas is Cancelled omg."

Talking about the 'pace' of the series, Moffat added: "The speed is interesting. Because – I shouldn’t tell you this – the episodes kept coming in short. I wrote the 'right' number of pages but they didn’t fill the slot. I had to keep writing extra stuff.

Nick Mohammed in Douglas is Cancelled. (ITV)

"The reason it happened is that the actors took it at an incredible lick. The producers kept saying, 'Jesus, we’ve lost five minutes!' But I felt this is how my dialogue should be played.

"In real-life conversations, no one ever pauses because someone else will cut in. Pausing in the middle of sentences or between them is a dramatic convention. So an entirely new character – a cab driver with comedy ambitions – was added to fill more time."

Douglas is Cancelled will be available to stream on ITV this Thursday (27 June)