Television's finest lined the Southbank last night to celebrate the annual BAFTA Television Awards, walking the disturbingly nationalistic “red” carpet that was so incredibly vibrant and Union Flag-esque that it was hard to take your eyes off of it. It was certainly an evening of great spectacle; Moriarty beat Doctor Watson as Andrew Scott took home the closely contested Supporting Actor BAFTA; Sherlock and the Doctor teamed up to hand the Special Award to head writer and executive producer of their two realities, Steven Moffat; and Dominic West couldn't see any of it because he'd forgotten his glasses.
A lot of the categories were packed with an array of fantastic nominees, and the competition was certainly close. With the supporting actor's category alone a heady mix of Stephen Rae (The Shadow Line), Birdsong's Joseph Mawle, and Sherlock co-stars Andrew Scott and Martin Freeman, it was inevitably going to be a bitter-sweet ceremony – someone brilliant would win, but someone equally as brilliant would not.
Appropriate Adult, the controversial drama about the Fred and Rose West murder investigation, dominated the BAFTAs, taking away three awards; Dominic West and Emily Watson for Leading Actor/Actress, and Monica Dolan for Supporting Actress.
The YouTube Audience Award once again made me question the sanity of the viewing audience, as the likes of Sherlock and Frozen Planet lost out to Celebrity Juice. Maybe it's just not my kind of humour, but I've never found anything particularly entertaining about Leigh Francis, nor his plethora of irritating characters – evidently someone, somewhere likes it though! It just strikes me as if he's adopting these façades as a thinly veiled excuse to behave like a puerile fifteen year old who refuses to grow up... But, as people say, if you don't like it, don't watch it – and I don't, so I don't; but it doesn't stop it winning awards instead of brilliant things like Sherlock, now does it?!
On that note, I feel there should be mention of television's unsung(ish) hero, Benedict Cumberbatch. Frequently praised for his fantastic performances, immortalised as one of the most iconic portrayals of Sherlock Holmes, and rapidly making his way into the lime-light with two inevitable Hollywood blockbusters later this year/early next (The Hobbit and Star Trek), Cumberbatch is often nominated for prestigious awards. His superb performance in Danny Boyle's National Theatre production of Frankenstein led to him being jointly awarded the Laurence Olivier award for Best Actor with his co-star Jonny Lee Miller (who, coincidentally, also plays a modernised Sherlock Holmes in CBS's Elementary... Small world, huh?), and is certainly a very celebrated actor. However, in some cases it feels as if his brilliant performances have been overlooked and not given due credit, nominated only to leave empty handed - but with John Simm, Joseph Gilgun and Dominic West also up for the Leading Actor award, it was a bloody close competition!
Ultimately, the Leading Actor award was presented to Dominic West for his performance of Fred West (no relation, thankfully!) in ITV's chilling drama, Appropriate Adult. West provided a touching speech as he accepted the award, saying “When I first met Janet [Leach], she said she hoped the film would bring some closure to the misunderstanding and pain she suffered. I hope she feels some closure and that we honoured the suffering she endured and the suffering of all of the West victims, living and dead.” West also mentioned the good work of Barnardo's Cut Them Free campaign, protecting children from sexual exploitation.
Fans of Sherlock and Doctor Who were treated to a surreal moment when the two characters shared the stage, as Benedict Cumberbatch and Matt Smith (who sadly was not nominated for his outstanding performances this year) presented the BAFTA Special Award to Steven Moffat, executive producer and lead writer of Doctor Who and co-creator of Sherlock. Renowned for his remarkable narratives and often mind-bending plot twists, Moffat is certainly revered for his contribution to television from both fans and colleagues, and evidently by the BAFTA Council too!
Finally, being awarded the BAFTA Fellowship was Rolf Harris, a very well deserved award indeed for such a talented man who has contributed so much to the media industry. And that was very much the theme of the BAFTAs – every award was incredibly well deserved (Celebrity Juice aside...), and the nominations themselves were great recognition of the truly outstanding work that has graced our televisions this past year.
Far be it for me to sound cliché, but to be nominated for a BAFTA is in itself an award, and every nominee was indeed well deserving of such an accolade.
To see the full list of this years nominees and winners, click here. A full list of the winners can be found below.
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Leading actor - Dominic West (Appropriate Adult, ITV1)
Leading actress - Emily Watson (Appropriate Adult, ITV1)
Supporting actor - Andrew Scott (Sherlock, BBC1)
Supporting actress - Monica Dolan (Appropriate Adult, ITV1)
Entertainment performance - Graham Norton (The Graham Norton Show, BBC1)
Female performance in a comedy programme - Jennifer Saunders (Absolutely Fabulous, BBC1)
Male performance in a comedy programme - Darren Boyd (Spy, Sky One)
Special Award - Steven Moffat
Bafta Fellowship - Rolf Harris
Single drama - Random (Channel 4)
Mini series - This Is England '88 (Channel 4)
Drama series - The Fades (BBC3)
Soap and continuing drama - Coronation Street(ITV1)
International - Borgen (BBC4)
Factual series - Our War (BBC3)
Specialist factual - Mummifying Alan: Egypt's Last Secret (Channel 4)
Single documentary - Terry Pratchett: Choosing To Die (BBC2)
Features - The Great British Bake Off (BBC2)
Reality & Constructed Factual - The Young Apprentice (BBC1)
Current Affairs - Panorama: Undercover Care - The Abuse Exposed (BBC1)
News Coverage - Channel 4 News: Japan Earthquake (Channel 4)
Sport & Live Event - The Royal Wedding (BBC1)
New Media - Psychoville (BBC Online)
Entertainment Programme - Derren Brown: The Experiments (Channel 4)
Comedy Programme - Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle (BBC2)
Situation Comedy - Mrs Brown's Boys (BBC1)
YouTube Audience Award - Celebrity Juice (ITV2)
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