Documentary hits the rails

 John Cleese‘s Channel 4 show about cancel culture has apparently ceased to be.

Industry website Deadline has reported that the show, first announced in 2021 has been dropped.

Nothing has yet been filmed and the website cited unnamed sources saying that either Channel 4 could not come to a deal with the Fawlty Towers co-creator, or that his diary was so busy it could not accommodate filming.

When the Monty Python star first announced the project in 2021, he said he planned to investigate how the ‘impeccable idea of "Let’s all be kind to people" has been developed in some cases ad absurdum’.

He  added: ‘I’m delighted to have a chance to find out, on camera, about all the aspects of so-called political correctness… I want to bring the various reasonings right out in the open so that people can be clearer in their minds what they agree with, what they don’t agree with, and what they still can’t make their mind up about.’

Cleese fronted a show for GB News last year, titled The Dinosaur Hour, in which he discussed issues including cancel culture and ‘wokery’.

Channel 4 has not yet responded to Chortle’s request for comment on the fate of the show, provisionally titled John Cleese: Cancel Me.

Originally, the  broadcaster said Cleese would ‘set forth into the minefield of cancel culture to explore why a new "woke" generation is trying to rewrite the rules on what can and can’t be said’.

Published: 19 Apr 2024