Doctor Who fans were in for a Steven Moffatt-era reunion on new ITV drama Douglas Is Cancelled.
Starring Downton Abbey's Hugh Bonneville in the titular role of anchorman Douglas Bellowes, the four-part series follows the aftermath of a sexist incident going viral and threatening the presenter's job.
In the first episode that aired tonight (June 27), Douglas' co-presenter Madeline Crow (Karen Gillan) retweets a post about her colleague's sexist joke, causing more and more people to know about it. Meanwhile, Douglas' wife, newspaper editor Sheila (Alex Kingston) is worried on the impact Madeline's tweet can have on her husband's career.
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The wait for the big joke reveal was soothed by seeing Gillan and Kingston on the same show once again after their Doctor Who antics. The two stars have shared the screen before on BBC's beloved sci-fi series in which they played mother-daughter duo Amy Pond and River Song.
Fans were quick to draw the connection, though Madeline and Sheila don't have any scenes together in episode one.
"Douglas is Cancelled featuring Amy Pond, River Song and Heather really is the Moffat era reunion show and I love that," one person wrote on Twitter/X, pointing out that Sheila's PA is played by another Doctor Who star, Stephanie Hyam.
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They added: "Stephanie Hyam (who played Bill's love interest, and puddle girl in Who) plays a girl working for Sheila's newspaper and she's the one to first tell Sheila about the tweet about Douglas' sexist joke."
"Amy Pond and River Song in same program!!!! Who is the mother?" another person noted, with a nod at Doctor Who's Amy and Melody Song's complicated parentage timeline.
Obviously, Doctor Who lovers can't forget that Bonneville has also appeared on the show as Captain Henry Avery in season 6, making Douglas Is Cancelled an unexpected Moffat's Doctor get-together.
Douglas Is Cancelled airs on ITV1, with all four episodes available to stream on ITVX.
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Reporter, Digital Spy
Stefania is a freelance writer specialising in TV and movies. After graduating from City University, London, she covered LGBTQ+ news and pursued a career in entertainment journalism, with her work appearing in outlets including Little White Lies, The Skinny, Radio Times and Digital Spy.
Her beats are horror films and period dramas, especially if fronted by queer women. She can argue why Scream is the best slasher in four languages (and a half).
