Tara Ward: Douglas is Cancelled, Kidnapped: The Chloe Ayling Story, Wheel Blacks: Bodies on the Line

Douglas is Cancelled  

Douglas Bellowes is a widely respected middle news anchor with a sidekick Madeline and newspaper editor wife Sheila, when he makes an ill-advised joke at a wedding and is faced with cancel culture (ThreeNow). 

 

Kidnapped: The Chloe Ayling Story 

Based on the shocking true story of model Chloe Ayling, who was lured to a fake photoshoot and abducted by human traffickers - then found herself at the centre of a media storm, accused of staging the whole thing as a publicity stunt (TVNZ+). 

 

Wheel Blacks: Bodies on the Line  

This three-part docuseries follows New Zealand's wheelchair rugby team in their bid to qualify for the Paris Paralympics. Despite having to rely on fundraising, charity, and volunteers, these Kiwi underdogs are determined to rise to the challenge (Neon). 

 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack Team podcast
from News Talks atb.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Tara Award, our screen time expert, is here with her
picks for this weekend. I don't want to suggest for
a moment, Tara, that you're not a literary person, that
you aren't intellects. She'll learn any sense, But you know
what I mean. Sometimes it's nicest to be down on
the couch.

Speaker 3 (00:28):
Absolutely, I'm here for all in any kind of veting.

Speaker 2 (00:31):
Yeah, very good, me too. That makes two of us. Okay,
three shows to work through this morning. Let's begin with
one that is streaming on three Now. Tell Us About
Douglas Is Canceled.

Speaker 3 (00:42):
This is a new British comedy drama that was written
by Stephen Moffett, who wrote shows like Doctor Who and Sherlock.
And it stars Hugh Boniville and Karen Gillen and it's
about what happens when a public figure is canceled. Hugh
Boniville plays a well known newsreader called Douglas, who, after
a few drinks at a family wedding, makes a sexist

(01:02):
joke and that moment goes a viral on social media
and douglas Face is a public backlash and has to
try and save his reputation, and the show is a
satire about navigating the modern world of social media and
spines and how different generations few different issues in a
different way and you never know what the terrible joke is.

(01:23):
Douglas doesn't remember it, and so there's this ambiguity that
runs through the show about what he really said and
how bad was it really. This reminded me a bit
of a mix between The Morning Show with the newsroom
set up and the issues around sexism and something like
The Thick of It. It's got that really fast, sharp
British dialogue that pokes fun at a lot of ridiculous

(01:44):
things in the world. The first two episodes feel like
a comedy, and then by the third the tone shifts
a bit and it's a lot darker and more intense
and takes you somewhere else. So it's not always the
most subtle of shows, but it's very topical and I
think it will resonate with a lot of people.

Speaker 2 (01:59):
But isn't that yeah, okay, cool, that sounds interesting. What
a good premise that you never know exactly what Douglas
has said or done? And Stephen Moffett oh, like one
of the absolute greats, right, Himan? Is it an Ando Ynachi?
Yeah for me? Other test Okay, So that's Douglas's canceled.
That's on three now on TVNZ plus. Kidnapped The Chloe
Ailing Story.

Speaker 3 (02:21):
This is a new true crime drama that started on
TVNZ Plus this week. It's made by the BBC and
it's based on a true story from twenty seventeen about
a young woman named Chloe Ailing. And Chloe was working
in Italy as a model. She was booked for a
photoshoot that wasn't real and she was kidnapped and held
hostage for a week. And this drama tells that story
from Chloe's perspective, because when she was released and went

(02:45):
back to Britain, she was very upfront in the media
about what had happened to her. There was a lot
of doubt about her story. She was accused of making
it up, and part of that was because Chloe didn't
fit the stereotypes or the public perception of how a
woman should act after she'd been through something like this.
So this drama is about both the kidnap ordeal and
the trial by media that she faced when she got

(03:06):
back to Britain and it's a pretty gripping, thought provoking drama.
It's both fascinating and awful at the same time, and
they've really convincingly told told Chloe's story. It's just started
in the UK this week and TVNZ are getting the
episodes one day later, so there's not any time to
wait on that one. So if you are a true
crime fan, this is a muss watch.

Speaker 2 (03:26):
Yeah, oh superb okay, let's kidnapped the Chloe ailing story
And on Neon just ahead of the Paralympics, wheel Blacks
Bodies on the Line.

Speaker 3 (03:35):
Yeah it was but lost this week without the Olympics
on to watch, but good news. The Paris Paralympics start
at the end of the month and TVNZ will have
the free to air coverage of that. In the meantime,
Neon have a new documentary series about the Wheelblacks which
drops on Monday, and the will Blacks are the new
Zealand wheelchair rugby team. Wheelchair rugby is a sport at
the Paralympics, of course, and this documentary series takes us

(03:57):
behind the scenes of the Willblacks as they try to
get to Paris and it's a really fascinating insight into
the sport of wheelchair rugby, but also so the challenges
that the will Blacks face in terms of getting players
and raising funds to compete at a top level and
to get that competition to help them play it better.
So it's about the challenges on and off the court.

(04:18):
You get to know the players and what the sport
means to them. And I mean wheelchair rugby that is
a fierce sport that hats in this game, not for
the faint hearted. So this is a great three part
documentary that really takes you into that world.

Speaker 2 (04:31):
I really enjoyed it. Nice. Okay, that sounds great. Takes
you back to the old murder ball days. Ah, absolutely
remember that. What a great film that was. Yeah, fantastic.
I thank you so much, Tara, very much appreciate that.
So those shows once again, Douglas is canceled. That's on
three Now TV, and z Plus has kidnapped the Chloe
Ailing story and we all Black's Bodies online. That is

(04:52):
on Neon.

Speaker 1 (04:53):
For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame, listen live
to news Talk zed B from nine am Saturday, or
follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.