Last night, the annual BAFTA TV Awards was held at the Royal Opera House in London’s Covent Garden. Running every year since 1954, the ceremony saw many well-deserved winners across the British television industry. Actor Richard Ayoade hosted the awards, and despite COVID-19 and social distancing, many attended in-person, while others accepted and attended remotely.
Channel 4 had a good night, with Big Narstie and Mo Gilligan’s The Big Narstie Show bagging the award for Best Comedy Entertainment, while The School That Tried To End Racism won Best Reality Constructed Factual Show.
Other notable winners included Sir Steve McQueen’s Black anthology series, Small Axe. The show took home just one award, in the Best Supporting Actor category, for Malachi Kirby’s portrayal of Darcus Howe in Small Axe: Mangrove.
Michaela Coel’s hard-hitting series, I May Destroy You, won big on the night too, bagging four awards for Best Mini-Series, Actress, Writing and Director. Coel was the visionary behind the BBC One/HBO series, starring, writing, executive producing and directing the show herself.
In a tonal contrast to her Coel’s breezy comedy series Chewing Gum in 2015, I May Destroy You was entrenched in realism, tackling topics such as rape, sexual assault and identity. In one of her acceptance speeches, Coel said: “I know what it’s like to shoot without an intimacy director—the messy, embarrassing feeling for the crew, the internal devastation for the actor. Using such co-ordinators is essential for every production company that wants to make work exploring themes of consent.”
The BAFTAs received backlash in April after Kidulthood and Bulletproof actor Noel Clarke was honoured with Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema, despite being made aware of the sexual assault allegations against him. After the allegations were made public, the BAFTAs suspended Clarke’s membership and revoked his award.
The ceremony saw a significant increase in the number of varied winners this year. Last year, Steve McQueen called them out, saying they were close to “becoming irrelevant” if they did not address their diversity issue.
The full list of winners are below.
Drama Series
Gangs Of London – Sky Atlantic
I Hate Suzie – Sky Atlantic
Save Me Too – Sky Atlantic
The Crown – Netflix
Comedy Entertainment Programme
Charlie Brooker’s Antiviral Wipe – BBC Two
Rob & Romesh Vs – Sky One
The Big Narstie Show – Channel 4
The Ranganation – BBC Two
Entertainment Performance
Adam Hills, The Last Leg – Channel 4
Bradley Walsh, Beat The Chasers – ITV
Claudia Winkleman, Strictly Come Dancing – BBC One
David Mitchell, Would I Lie To You? At Christmas – BBC One
Graham Norton, The Graham Norton Show – BBC One
Romesh Ranganathan, The Ranganation – BBC Two
Entertainment Programme
Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway – ITV
Life & Rhymes – Sky Arts
Strictly Come Dancing – BBC One
The Masked Singer – ITV
Factual Series
Crime & Punishment – Channel 4
Hospital – BBC Two
Losing It: Our Mental Health Emergency – Channel 4
Once Upon A Time In Iraq – BBC Two
Features
Big Zuu’s Big Eats – Dave
Long Lost Family: Born Without Trace – ITV
Mortimer And Whitehouse: Gone Fishing – BBC Two
The Repair Shop – BBC One
Leading Actress
Billie Piper, I Hate Suzie – Sky Atlantic
Daisy Edgar-Jones, Normal People – BBC Three
Hayley Squires, Adult Material – Channel 4
Jodie Comer, Killing Eve – BBC One
Letitia Wright, Small Axe – BBC One
Michaela Coel, I May Destroy You – BBC One
Female Performance In A Comedy Programme
Aimee Lou Wood, Sex Education – Netflix
Daisy Haggard, Breeders – Sky One
Daisy May Cooper, This Country – BBC Three
Emma Mackey, Sex Education – Netflix
Gbemisola Ikumelo, Famalam – BBC Three
Mae Martin, Feel Good – Channel 4
Leading Actor
John Boyega, Small Axe – BBC One
Josh O’Connor, The Crown – Netflix
Paapa Essiedu, I May Destroy You – BBC One
Paul Mescal, Normal People – BBC Three
Shaun Parkes, Small Axe – BBC One
Waleed Zuaiter, Baghdad Central – Channel 4
News Coverage
BBC News At Ten: Prime Minister Admitted To Intensive Care – BBC One
Channel 4 News: Deterring Democracy – Channel 4
Newsnight: Covid Care Crisis – BBC Two
Sky News: Inside Idlib – Sky News
International
Little America – Apple TV+
Lovecraft Country – Sky Atlantic
Unorthodox – Netflix
Welcome To Chechnya: The Gay Purge (Storyville) – BBC Four
Mini-Series
Adult Material – Channel 4
I May Destroy You – BBC One
Normal People – BBC Three
Small Axe – BBC One
Live Event
Life Drawing Live! – BBC Four
Springwatch 2020 – BBC Two
The Royal British Legion Festival Of Remembrance – BBC One
The Third Day: Autumn – Sky Atlantic
Reality & Constructed Factual
Masterchef: The Professionals – BBC One
Race Across The World – BBC Two
The School That Tried To End Racism – Channel 4
The Write Offs – Channel 4
Supporting Actor
Kunal Nayyar, Criminal: UK – Netflix
Malachi Kirby, Small Axe – BBC One
Michael Sheen, Quiz – ITV
Micheal Ward, Small Axe – BBC One
Rupert Everett, Adult Material – Channel 4
Tobias Menzies, The Crown – Netflix
Male Performance In A Comedy Programme
Charlie Cooper, This Country – BBC Three
Guz Khan, Man Like Mobeen – BBC Three
Joseph Gilgun, Brassic – Sky One
Ncuti Gatwa, Sex Education – Netflix
Paul Ritter, Friday Night Dinner – Channel 4
Reece Shearsmith, Inside No 9 – BBC Two
Scripted Comedy
Ghosts – BBC One
Inside No 9 – BBC Two
Man Like Mobeen Production Team – Tiger Aspect Productions/BBC Three
This Country – BBC Three
Short Form Programme
Criptales – BBC Four
Disabled Not Defeated: The Rock Band With Learning Disabilities – Vice/Noisey
The Main Part – BBC iPlayer
They Saw The Sun First – Red Bull TV
Single Drama
Anthony – BBC One
BBW (On The Edge) – Channel 4
Sitting In Limbo – BBC One
The Windermere Children – BBC Two
Soap & Continuing Drama
Casualty – BBC One
Coronation Street – ITV
EastEnders – BBC1
Hollyoaks – Channel 4
Supporting Actress
Helena Bonham Carter, The Crown – Netflix
Leila Farzad, I Hate Suzie – Sky Atlantic
Rakie Ayola, Anthony – BBC One
Siena Kelly, Adult Material – Channel 4
Sophie Okenedo, Criminal: UK – Netflix
Weruche Opia, I May Destroy You – BBC One
Current Affairs
America’s War On Abortion (Exposure) – ITV
Italy’s Frontline: A Doctor’s Diary – BBC Two
The Battle For Hong Kong (Dispatches) – Channel 4
The Cyprus Papers Undercover (Al Jazeera Investigations) – Al Jazeera Media Network/Al Jazeera English
Daytime
Jimmy McGovern’s Moving On – BBC One
Richard Osman’s House Of Games – BBC Two
The Chase – ITV
The Great House Giveaway – Channel 4
Virgin Media’s Must-See Moment (voted for by the public)
Bridgerton, Penelope is revealed as Lady Whistledown – Netflix
Britain’s Got Talent, Diversity perform routine inspired by events of 2020 – ITV
EastEnders, Gray kills Chantelle – BBC One
Gogglebox, reactions to Boris Johnson’s press conference – Channel 4
Nigella’s Cook, Eat, Repeat, Mee-Cro-Wah-Vay – BBC Two
The Mandalorian, Luke Skywalker arrives – Disney+
Sport
Bahrain Grand Prix – Sky Sports
England v France: The Final Of Autumn Nations Cup – Amazon Prime Video
England v West Indies Test Cricket – Sky Sports
London Marathon 2020 – BBC
Specialist Factual
Extinction: The Facts – BBC One
Putin: A Russian Spy Story – Channel 4
The Rise Of The Murdoch Dynasty – BBC Two
The Surgeon’s Cut – Netflix
Single Documentary
American Murder: The Family Next Door – Netflix
Anton Ferdinand: Football, Racism & Me – BBC One
Locked In: Breaking The Silence (Storyville) – BBC Four
Surviving Covid – Channel 4
