Celebrating the best of television in the UK and beyond, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) held their TV awards ceremony—the 2019 Virgin Media British Academy Television Awards—12 May at the Royal Festival Hall in London. Hosted by Graham Norton, the ceremony ended with many creative women, in front of and behind the camera, taking home trophies.
BBC America and BBC One’s witty thriller Killing Eve, created by Phoebe Waller-Bridge and starring Jodie Comer, Sandra Oh, and Fiona Shaw, earned three BAFTA awards, for best drama series plus acting prizes for Comer and Shaw. Its inclusion in this year’s lineup involved a slight bending of BAFTA’s eligibility rules; with three wins and 14 nods, it’s clearly one of this year’s buzziest dramas. (Could the 2019 Emmy Awards follow suit?)
Sky Vision and Showtime’s mini-series Patrick Melrose, based on Edward St Aubyn’s novels and starring Benedict Cumberbatch, notched wins for best mini-series and leading actor. Cumberbatch triumphed over Hugh Grant of BBC One and Amazon’s A Very English Scandal, although that mini-series’ star Ben Whishaw won in the supporting actor category, in addition to three awards at BAFTA’s TV craft ceremony 28 April. Sky One’s A League of Their Own and Sky Atlantic’s scripted series Sally4Ever earned wins in the comedy categories.
The highest accolade the Academy bestows, The Fellowship, was given to Joan Bakewell for her decades-long career of presenting non-fiction TV programmes.
For more information and a full list of this year’s BAFTA TV nominees and winners, visit their website.
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