On May 11, this year’s TV BAFTAs will be handed out to some of the best actors and showrunners working today. These are the Emmys of the UK television industry, and a ceremony that fans of the best TV around the world might want to seek out. While there will be some names up for prizes that are not terribly familiar outside the UK – local favourites and perennial nominees like game show presenters Ant and Dec, for example – what’s remarkable this year is how many internationally renowned, big-name nominees there are. These are shows and stars who have already won or been nominated for Emmys, Golden Globes and more, and who are now hoping to repeat that success on their home turf.
Take the most nominated show of the year, for instance: Baby Reindeer. The blockbuster hit combines funny moments – courtesy of comedian and writer Richard Gadd (Outlander), who originated the show based on his own experiences and who’s nominated for Leading Actor here – but also genuinely heart-breaking, dramatic moments in its depiction of the effects of stalking. That’s where Jessica Gunning (Pride, Fortitude) and Nava Mau come in, both landing nominations for Supporting Actress. Including the Craft nominations, the show has a whopping eight nods, and after winning six Emmys already, it seems unlikely to go home empty handed.
But that’s not to say there won’t be intense competition. The drama Mr Bates vs. The Post Office, with Toby Jones (the Harry Potter films, Empire of Light), chronicled a huge miscarriage of justice in the UK, and had such a seismic impact that it led directly to legislation in parliament to clear and compensate the victims, and to King Charles formally reversing the award of a CBE to one of those involved in the scandal. Mr Bates is up for six awards, including Limited Drama, Leading Actor and Leading Actress for Monica Dolan (Cyrano, A Very English Scandal). Dolan, incidentally, is also in the Supporting Actress running for her role in police drama Sherwood, so expect her career to reach new heights in the next few years.
Baby Reindeer
Mr Bates vs. The Post Office
Also up for six awards are Slow Horses and Rivals. The former stars Gary Oldman (Darkest Hour, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) and Jack Lowden (Mary Queen of Scots, Dunkirk) as disgraced spies consigned to the least glamorous jobs possible – and yet it’s somehow at least as gripping as James Bond. That has nominations for Oldman as Leading Actor and both Christopher Chung (Blitz, Doctors) and Jonathan Pryce (The Two Popes, Game of Thrones) as Supporting Actor this year. Rivals, meanwhile, is the ultra-glam adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s iconic ‘80s novel, chronicling the infidelities and machinations of a disgraceful gang of posh country residents. The star-studded cast includes David Tennant (Doctor Who, Broadchurch), Aidan Turner (Poldark), Danny Dyer (Adulthood) and Katherine Parkinson (Humans, Sherlock). Both Tennant and Parkinson are up for acting prizes this year, which would delight their status-chasing characters. Expect less back-stabbing from Tennant and Parkinson, however.
Those are far from the only shows with multiple nominations. Lenny James (The Walking Dead, Line of Duty) and his co-stars Sharon D. Clarke (Rocks) and Ariyon Bakare (His Dark Materials) are all nominated for Mr Loverman, adapted from the novel of the same name by Booker Prize-winning author Bernardine Evaristo. Damian Lewis (Our Kind of Traitor) is nominated after returning to his role as Henry VIII for Wolf Hall: The Mirror and The Light, which is itself up for Drama Series. There, it will compete against the gritty superheroics of Supacell and two exceptional crime dramas: the Northern Ireland-set Blue Lights and Sherwood, which despite the name does not focus on Robin Hood.
Slow Horses
Supercell
As you’d expect, the comedy categories are a diverse and lively bunch. There’s more from the all-female, Muslim punk rockers of We Are Lady Parts, with a nomination for Anjana Vasan for Female Performance in a Comedy. She’ll compete against the likes of Kate O’Flynn for the fundamentalist comedy Everyone Else Burns, and Bridgerton star Nicola Coughlan’s role in 20-somethings dark comedy Big Mood. In the equivalent male category, there are nominations for Bilal Kasna for superhero comedy Extraordinary, and recent BAFTA Rising Star nominee Nabhaan Rizwan (Mogul Mowgli, 1917) for Kaos.
There are well-established names also in the running for acting prizes this year. Martin Freeman (Sherwood, The Office) has been recognised for his work in tough crime drama The Responder, while the always impressive Anna Maxwell-Martin (Line of Duty, Motherland) is nominated for true-life serial killer drama Until I Kill You. Billie Piper (Doctor Who, Collateral) is nominated for another true life drama, the investigative journalist saga Scoop, while Marisa Abela, who recently starred in the Amy Winehouse biopic Back to Black, is nominated for her role in financial sector drama Industry. Other familiar names include the TV adaptation of the best-selling book One Day, up for Limited Drama. That stars Leo Woodall (Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy) and Ambika Mod (This is Going to Hurt) in a slow burning romance that has captivated generations of readers and viewers.
We Are Lady Parts
One Day
These stars, and many more, will learn their fates on May 11, at a ceremony hosted by Alan Cumming (Emma, Battle of the Sexes). The voters face tough choices between shows that run the gamut from sci-fi to crime to mythology, but their dilemma is testament to another outstanding year of UK TV.
