TV BAFTAS | What they got right and what they got wrong

Sunday’s TV BAFTAs showed a lot of love for Killing Eve – which we can’t argue with – but a lot of questionable preferences elsewhere. We go through what they got very right and what they got very wrong.

RIGHT: Killing Eve slays the opposition
BBC’s all-conquering Killing Eve continued its impressive awards run. Jodie Comer edged out co-star Sandra Oh for Leading Actress and Fiona Shaw took home the award for Supporting Actress. Killing Eve’s success also meant Jed Mercurio’s massively overrated Bodyguard won only one statuette ­­– the audience-voted ‘Must See Moment’ award.

WRONG: Hugh was robbed
Benedict Cumberbatch was excellent in Patrick Melrose, but Hugh Grant’s performance in A Very English Scandal is tied for the best of his career with Paddington 2 and should have been a sure-thing for Leading Actor. Thankfully BBC One’s brilliant miniseries didn’t go home empty handed, Ben Whishaw deservedly winning Supporting Actor.

RIGHT: Succession success
The nominees for International Series were an odd bunch, suggesting that BAFTA members don’t get an awful lot of time to watch international TV, but Succession would probably have defeated even the strongest field. Consistently razor-sharp writing and top-drawer performances across the board singled Jesse Armstrong’s show out as one of the best of 2018 and its lack of love elsewhere is salved by a well-deserved win here.

WRONG: No love for Derry Girls
The cast of Derry Girls could have filled the Female Comedy Performance category and then some, so it was especially egregious that not a single one (not even the utterly brilliant Nicola Coughlan or Saorise-Monica Jackson) were nominated. That the show itself lost out (to the admittedly great Sally4Ever) on Scripted Comedy starts to suggest that maybe, just maybe, BAFTA is uncomfortable with the Troubles being used as the basis for a coming-of-age comedy. It’s a real shame as no other TV show has managed to educate the rest of the UK about Northern Ireland while delivering laughs at such an astounding rate.

RIGHT: We love Louis
Louis Theroux’s move towards darker, more serious subject matter has only highlighted his considerable talent and boundless compassion. Altered States showcased this brilliantly, while also allowing a little room for fun, awkward Louis to pop in on occasion. It’s hard to think of another documentarian who comes close.

WRONG: What’s up with docs?
While Louis’s win was hugely deserved, the other documentary categories through up some surprise winners. Lucy Worseley’s Suffragettes was up to her usual high standards but was it in the same league as the hilarious Bros: After The Screaming Stops or the incredibly moving Grayson Perry: Rites of Passage? Absolutely not. In the Single Documentary category, the lack of love for Patrick Kielty’s deeply personal My Dad, The Peace Process And Me would back up the issues suggested by the Derry Girls snub.

THE FULL LIST OF WINNERS AND NOMINEES

LEADING ACTRESS
Jodie Comer, Killing Eve
Keeley Hawes, Bodyguard
Ruth Wilson, Mrs Wilson
Sandra Oh, Killing Eve

LEADING ACTOR
Benedict Cumberbatch, Patrick Melrose
Chance Perdomo, Killed By My Debt
Hugh Grant, A Very English Scandal
Lucian Msamati, Kiri

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Fiona Shaw, Killing Eve
Billie Piper, Collateral
Keeley Hawes, Mrs Wilson
Monica Dolan, A Very English Scandal

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Ben Whishaw, A Very English Scandal
Alex Jennings, Unforgotten
Kim Bodnia, Killing Eve
Stephen Graham, Save Me

ENTERTAINMENT PERFORMANCE
Lee Mack, Would I Lie To You?
Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway
David Mitchell, Would I Lie To You?
Rachel Parris, The Mash Report

MALE PERFORMANCE IN A COMEDY PROGRAMME
Steve Pemberton, Inside No 9
Alex Macqueen, Sally4Ever
Jamie Demetriou, Stath Lets Flats
Peter Mullan, Mum

FEMALE PERFORMANCE IN A COMEDY PROGRAMME
Jessica Hynes, There She Goes
Daisy May Cooper, This Country
Julia Davis, Sally4Ever
Lesley Manville, Mum

DRAMA SERIES
Killing Eve
Bodyguard
Informer
Save Me

SINGLE DRAMA
Killed By My Debt
Bandersnatch (Black Mirror)
Care
Through The Gates (On The Edge)

MINI-SERIES
Patrick Melrose
A Very English Scandal
Kiri
Mrs Wilson

SOAP AND CONTINUING DRAMA
EastEnders
Casualty
Coronation Street
Hollyoaks

INTERNATIONAL
Succession
54 Hours – The Gladbeck Hostage Crisis
The Handmaid’s Tale
Reporting Trump’s First Year: The Fourth Estate (Storyville)

ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAMME
Britain’s Got Talent
Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway
Michel McIntyre’s Big Show
Strictly Come Dancing

COMEDY AND COMEDY ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAMME
A League Of Their Own
The Big Narstie Show
The Last Leg
Would I Lie To You?

SCRIPTED COMEDY
Sally4Ever
Derry Girls
Mum
Stath Lets Flats

FEATURES
Who Do You Think You Are?
Gordon, Gino and Fred’s Road Trip
The Great British Bake Off
Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing

MUST-SEE MOMENT
Bodyguard – Julia Montague assassinated
Coronation Street – Gail’s monologue on the suicide of Aidan Connor
Doctor Who – Rosa Parks, the Doctor and her companions make sure historical moments remain
Killing Eve – Eve stabs Villanelle
Peter Kay’s Car Share – The Finale
Queer Eye – Tom completes his transformation

CURRENT AFFAIRS
Myanmar’s Killing Fields (Dispatches)
Football’s Wall of Silence Al Jazeera English
Iran Unveiled: Taking on the Ayatollahs (Exposure)
Massacre at Ballymurphy

SINGLE DOCUMENTARY
Gun No 6
Driven: The Billy Monger Story
My Dad, The Peace Deal And Me
School For Stammerers

FACTUAL SERIES
Louis Theroux’s Altered States
24 Hours in A&E
Life and Death Row: The Mass Execution
Prison

REALITY AND CONSTRUCTED FACTUAL
I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here!
Dragon’s Den
Old People’s Home for 4-Year-Olds
The Real Full Monty: Ladies’ Night

SPECIALIST FACTUAL
Suffragettes With Lucy Worsley
Bros: After The Screaming Stops
Grayson Perry: Rites Of Passage
Superkids: Breaking Away From Care

NEWS COVERAGE
Cambridge Analytica Uncovered
Bullying and Harassment In The House Of Commons (Newsnight)
Good Morning Britain: On A Knife Edge
Good Morning Britain: Thomas Markle Exclusive

SPORT
2018 World Cup Quarter Final: England v Sweden
2018 Six Nations: Scotland v England
England’s Test Cricket ­– Cook’s Farewell
Winter Olympics

LIVE EVENT
Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance
Open Heart Surgery: Live
The Royal Wedding: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle
Stand Up to Cancer

SHORT-FORM PROGRAMME
Missed Call Real Stories
Bovril Pam (Snatches From Women’s Lives)
The Mind Of Herbert Clunkerdunk
Wonderdate