It was a big night in London on Sunday evening as the stars of the small screen came together to walk the red carpet and take a pew at the Theatre Royal on Drury Lane for the prestigious BAFTA Television Awards.
The awards, hosted by Graham Norton saw detective drama SHERLOCK win the Radio Times Audience Award, beating off tough competition from the likes of EASTENDERS, STRICTLY COME DANCING, THE GREAT BRITISH BAKE OFF and even the very popular GAME OF THRONES. However, Mr. Holmes himself could not attend the ceremony as Benedict Cumberbatch is due to be a father within the next few weeks. Despite being nominated for the Best Actor Award , it was Jason Watkins who came up trumps for his role in THE LOST HONOUR OF CHRISTOPHER JEFFRIES.
The programme was a real-life drama about a former teacher accused of the murder of Joanna Yeates, also received the award for Best Mini-Series.
Best Actress went to newcomer Georgina Campbell, who was superb in her portrayal of a 17-year-old victim of domestic abuse in MURDERED BY MY BOYFRIEND. A great achievement for the young actress who was against a very talented group of actresses including Keeley Hawes, Sheridan Smith and Sarah Lancashire, who rather adorably confessed that her speech was ad-lib as she did not think she would win, so she had not prepared a speech.
One of the night’s other big winners was BBC Two’s MARVELLOUS, which told the story of Neil Baldwin, a man with learning difficulties who became kit man with Stoke City Football Club. The programmed bagged the Best Single Drama, while Gemma Jones, who played Baldwin’s mother, Mary, won Best Supporting Actress.
It is no surprise to see Ant and Dec back on the stage once more after picking up two prizes for the second year in a row. They collected the awards for Best Entertainment Show and Best Entertainment Performance for their ITV show SATURDAY NIGHT TAKEAWAY.
In the battle of the soaps ITV’s CORONATION STREET won Best Soap, which provided an added gloss during their 60th anniversary celebrations. Very touchingly, Producer Stuart Blackburn dedicated the award to the late Anne Kirkbride, who died in January after 42 years playing Deidre Barlow.
In the International Category, two of the four nominations went to internet streaming service Netflix, which has been making big waves over the last few years.
Lifetime Achievement Awards were received by newscaster Jon Snow and screenwriter Jeff Pope, whose credits included CILLA and the feature film PHILOMENA.
Below is the full list of big winners:
Leading actor
Jason Watkins – The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies (ITV)
Leading actress
Georgina Campbell – Murdered By My Boyfriend (BBC3)
Supporting actor
Stephen Rea – The Honourable Woman (BBC2)
Supporting actress
Gemma Jones – Marvellous (BBC2)
Entertainment performance
Ant and Dec – Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway (ITV)
Female performance in a comedy programme
Jessica Hynes – W1A (BBC2)
Male performance in a comedy programme
Matt Berry – Toast of London (Channel 4)
Single drama
Marvellous (BBC2)
Mini-series
The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies (ITV)
Soap and continuing drama
Coronation Street (ITV)
International
True Detective (Sky Atlantic)
Factual series
Life and Death Row (BBC3)
Specialist factual
Grayson Perry: Who Are You? (Channel 4)
Single documentary
The Paedophile Hunter (Channel 4)
Features
Grand Designs (Channel 4)
Reality and constructed factual
The Island with Bear Grylls (Channel 4)
Current affairs
Children on the Frontline (Dispatches) (Channel 4)
News coverage
Sky News Live at Five: Ebola (Sky News)
Sport and live event
WWI Remembered – From the Battlefield & Westminster Abbey (BBC2)
Entertainment programme
Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway (ITV)
Comedy and comedy entertainment programme
The Graham Norton Show (BBC1)
Scripted comedy
Detectorists (BBC4)
Radio Times audience award (voted for by members of the public)
Sherlock
