To celebrate and honor the best of British television, the renowned BAFTA TV Awards took place at the Royal Festival Hall in London. One of the biggest nights in television saw some significant hits and misses that weren’t anticipated by fans.
The evening was hosted by comedians Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan, with a star-studded lineup of presenters including Richard Gadd, Martin Freeman, Jessica Gunning, Jeff Goldblum, and Lashana Lynch, who came together to recognize the best artists and works of British television in the past year.
The nominations were announced earlier in March, with ‘The Crown’ and ‘Black Mirror’ being the frontrunners with eight and seven nominations, respectively. It came as a surprise to viewers and fans that neither of the shows was able to secure a win. Keeping up with the big moments of surprise, ‘Class Act’ beat the widely beloved shows ‘Succession’ and ‘The Bear’ to take home the Best International Show award. Leaving a mark on the glamorous night full of surprises, some of the big wins of the evening were ‘Top Boy,’ ‘The Sixth Commandment,’ and ‘Happy Valley,’ which each secured two recognitions.
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Sarah Lancashire grabbed the night’s biggest award for Best Leading Actress for her outstanding performance in the Yorkshire-based crime-drama political thriller, ‘Happy Valley,’ while Timothy Spall took home the Best Leading Actor for his contributions to the true-crime TV drama, ‘The Sixth Commandment.’
Drug gang drama ‘Top Boy’ secured two wins, with Jasmine Jobson taking home the Best Supporting Actress award, along with the show winning the prestigious Best Drama Award. Continuing the celebrations, ‘The Sixth Commandment’ claimed the Best Limited Drama award, beating out ‘The Long Shadow’ and ‘Best Interests.’
The highly successful and popular HBO black-comedy drama, ‘Succession,’ was able to secure only one award, surprising fans, with Matthew Macfadyen winning the Best Supporting Actor. ‘Squid Game: The Challenge’ received the Best Reality award, ‘Ellie Simmonds: Finding My Secret Family’ bagged the Best Single Documentary, and the sitcom ‘Such Brave Girls’ took home the Best Scripted Comedy award.
Some of the first-time BAFTA TV awards nominees included talented artists Hannah Waddingham, David Tennant, Bella Ramsey, and Elizabeth Debicki. The night also paid tribute to some of the beloved stars who passed away the previous year, including Matthew Perry, Ray Stevenson, Annie Nightingale, and Sir Michael Parkinson, among others.
The complete list of winners who took home the golden award this year are:
- Best Single Documentary: Ellie Simmonds: Finding My Secret Family (ITV1)
- Special Award: Lorraine Kelly
- Best Drama Series: Top Boy (Netflix)
- Best Scripted Comedy: Such Brave Girls (BBC Three)
- BAFTA Fellowship Award: Baroness Floella Benjamin
- Best Entertainment Performance: Joe Lycett for Late Night Lycett (Channel 4)
- Best Limited Drama: The Sixth Commandment (BBC One)
- Best International Series: Class Act (Netflix)
- Best Leading Actress: Sarah Lancashire for Happy Valley (BBC One)
- Best Leading Actor: Timothy Spall for The Sixth Commandment (BBC One)
- Best Supporting Actor: Matthew MacFadyen for Succession (Sky Atlantic)
- Best Supporting Actress: Jasmine Jobson for Top Boy (Netflix)
- Best Male Performance in a Comedy Programme: Mawaan Rizwan for Juice (BBC Three)
- Best Female Performance in a Comedy Programme: Gbemisola Ikumelo for Black Ops (BBC One)
- Best Comedy Entertainment ProgrammeL Rob & Romesh Vs… (Sky Max)
- Best Entertainment Programme: Strictly Come Dancing (BBC One)
- Best Factual Entertainment: Celebrity Race Across the World (BBC One)
- Best Factual Series: Lockerbie (Sky Documentaries)
- Best Reality: Squid Game: The Challenge (Netflix)
- Best Specialist Factual: White Nanny, Black Child (Channel 5)
- Best Live Event: Eurovision Song Contest (BBC One)
- Best Short Film: Mobility (BBC Three)
- Best Sport Programme: Cheltenham Festival Day One (ITV1)
- Best News Coverage: Channel 4 News: Inside Gaza, Israel and Hamas at War (Channel 4)
- Best Current Affairs: The Shamima Begum Story (BBC Two)
- Best Daytime: Scam Interceptors (BBC One)
- Best Soap: Casualty (BBC One)
- P&O Cruises Memorable Moment: Happy Valley: Catherine Cawood and Tommy Lee Royce’s final kitchen showdown (BBC One)