BAFTA announces winners of the Virgin Media British Academy Television Awards

Jun 7, 2021

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts has announced the winners of this year’s Virgin Media British Academy Television Awards, celebrating and rewarding the very best programmes and performances of 2020.

The Awards were hosted by Richard Ayoade and featured performances by Years & Years and Alexis Ffrench and presenters including Adrian Dunbar, Bill Bailey, Catherine O’Hara, Jamie Demetriou, Jon Snow, Oti Mabuse, Rob Beckett, Rose Matafeo, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Tommy Jessops and Zawe Ashton.

Host Richard Ayoade

Following its three wins at the British Academy Television Craft Awards in May, I May Destroy You, the drama series featuring a woman who seeks to rebuild her life after a sexual assault, won two more BAFTAs, for Mini-Series and Leading Actress for Michaela Coel.

The Leading Actor award was won by first-time nominee Paul Mescal for his performance as Connor in Normal People.

Leading Actor – Paul Mescal – Normal People

Malachi Kirby, another first-time winner, won for his performance in Small Axe in the Supporting Actor category. Rakie Ayola won her first BAFTA for Supporting Actress for her performance in Anthony.

Another first-time nominee, Aimee Lou Wood won in Female Performance in a Comedy Programme for playing Aimee Gibbs in Sex Education. Male Performance in a Comedy Programme was awarded to Charlie Cooper for his performance in This Country. Romesh Ranganathan received the BAFTA for Entertainment Performance for The Ranganation.

Save Me Too received the BAFTA for Drama Series and Sitting in Limbo won for Single Drama.

The Big Narstie Show won Comedy Entertainment Programme, its first win following its previous nomination in 2019. The BAFTA for Entertainment Programme was awarded to Life & Rhymes.  Scripted Comedy was awarded to Inside No. 9.

Comedy Entertainment Programme – The Big Narstie Show – Obi Kevin Akudike, Nathan Brown, Rina Dayalji, Ben Wicks, Toby Baker

The School That Tried to End Racism received the BAFTA for Reality & Constructed Factual. Long Lost Family: Born Without Trace won in the Features category. They Saw the Sun First won the BAFTA for Short Form Programme.

Casualty was awarded the BAFTA for Soap & Continuing Drama, its first since 2018. The Great House Giveaway won the BAFTA in the new Daytime category.

News Coverage was awarded to Sky News’ Inside Idlib, and the award for Current Affairs was presented to America’s War on Abortion (Exposure). International was awarded to Welcome to Chechnya: The Gay Purge (Storyville).

Once Upon a Time in Iraq received the BAFTA for Factual Series, Locked In: Breaking the Silence (Storyville) won Single Documentary and The Surgeon’s Cut won Specialist Factual.

England V West Indies Test Cricket triumphed in the Sport category, while the award for Live Event was presented to Springwatch 2020.

Virgin Media’s Must-See Moment, the only award voted for by the public, was won by Britain’s Got Talent for the moment when Diversity performed a routine inspired by the events of 2020.

You can see the full list of nominees below (winners in bold):

COMEDY ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAMME

THE BIG NARSTIE SHOW Obi Kevin Akudike, Nathan Brown, Rina Dayalji, Ben Wicks, Toby Baker – Expectation, Dice Productions Entertainment/Channel 4
CHARLIE BROOKER’S ANTIVIRAL WIPE Charlie Brooker, Annabel Jones, Ali Marlow – Broke & Bones, Endemol Shine Group/BBC Two
THE RANGANATION Production Team – Zeppotron/BBC Two
ROB & ROMESH VS Jack Shillaker, David Taylor, Murray Boland, Danielle Lux, Bill Righton – CPL Productions/Sky One

CURRENT AFFAIRS

AMERICA’S WAR ON ABORTION (EXPOSURE) Deeyah Khan, Darin Prindle, Andrew Smith – Fuuse Films/ITV
THE BATTLE FOR HONG KONG (DISPATCHES) Robin Barnwell, Gesbeen Mohammad, Guy Creasey, David Henshaw, Evan Williams – Hardcash Productions, Evan Williams Productions/Channel 4
THE CYPRUS PAPERS UNDERCOVER (AL JAZEERA INVESTIGATIONS) Phil Rees, Sarah Yeo, Leonidas Sofogiannis, James Kleinfeld, David Harrison, Jason Gwynne – Al Jazeera Media Network/Al Jazeera English
ITALY’S FRONTLINE: A DOCTORS DIARY Sasha Joelle Achilli, Dan Edge, Ella Newton, Paul van Dyck, Sarah Waldron – Mongoose Pictures/BBC Two

DAYTIME

THE CHASE Michael Kelpie, Martin Scott, Helen Tumbridge – Potato/ITV
THE GREAT HOUSE GIVEAWAY Production Team – Chwarel/Channel 4
JIMMY MCGOVERN’S MOVING ON Production Team – LA Productions/BBC One
RICHARD OSMAN’S HOUSE OF GAMES Production Team – Remarkable TV/BBC Two

DRAMA SERIES

THE CROWN Peter Morgan, Suzanne Mackie, Michael Casey, Oona O’Beirn, Andy Stebbing, Martin Harrison – Left Bank Pictures in association with Sony Pictures Television/Netflix
GANGS OF LONDON Gareth Evans, Matt Flannery, Thomas Benski, Jane Featherstone, Lucas Ochoa, Hugh Warren – Pulse Films, SISTER/Sky Atlantic
I HATE SUZIE Lucy Prebble, Billie Piper, Andrea Dewsbery, Julie Gardner, Georgi Banks-Davies, Anthony Neilson – Bad Wolf/Sky Atlantic
SAVE ME TOO Simon Heath, Jessica Sykes, Lennie James, Lizzie Rusbridger, Coky Giedroyc, Jim Loach – World Productions/Sky Atlantic

ENTERTAINMENT PERFORMANCE

ADAM HILLS The Last Leg – Open Mike Productions/Channel 4
BRADLEY WALSH Beat the Chasers – Potato/ITV
CLAUDIA WINKLEMAN Strictly Come Dancing – BBC Studios/BBC One
DAVID MITCHELL Would I Lie to You? At Christmas – Zeppotron/BBC One
GRAHAM NORTON The Graham Norton Show – So Television/BBC One
ROMESH RANGANATHAN The Ranganation – Zeppotron/BBC Two

ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAMME

ANT & DEC’S SATURDAY NIGHT TAKEAWAY Production Team – Lifted Entertainment, Mitre Studios/ITV
LIFE & RHYMES Production Team – CPL Productions, Licklemor Productions/Sky Arts
THE MASKED SINGER Daniel Nettleton, Derek McLean, Claire Horton, Marc Bassett, Simon Staffurth – Bandicoot Scotland/ITV
STRICTLY COME DANCING Production Team – BBC Studios/BBC One

FACTUAL SERIES

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT Production Team – 72 Films/Channel 4
HOSPITAL: FIGHTING COVID -19 Production Team – Label1/BBC Two
LOSING IT: OUR MENTAL HEALTH EMERGENCY Production Team – Story Films/Channel 4
ONCE UPON A TIME IN IRAQ James Bluemel, Jo Abel, Miriam Walsh, Simon Sykes, Andrew Palmer, Will Anderson – KEO Films/BBC Two

FEATURES

BIG ZUU’S BIG EATS Production Team – Boomerang/Dave
LONG LOST FAMILY: BORN WITHOUT TRACE Sally Benton, Rosie Schellenberg, Alice Goodyear, Paddy Lynas – Wall to Wall Media/ITV
MORTIMER & WHITEHOUSE: GONE FISHING Bob Mortimer, Paul Whitehouse, Lisa Clark, Rob Gill, Stephanie Fyfe, Doug Bryson – Owl Power/BBC Two
THE REPAIR SHOP Production Team – Ricochet/BBC One

FEMALE PERFORMANCE IN A COMEDY PROGRAMME

AIMEE LOU WOOD Sex Education – Eleven Film/Netflix
DAISY HAGGARD Breeders – Avalon, FX Productions/Sky One
DAISY MAY COOPER This Country – BBC Studios/BBC Three
EMMA MACKEY Sex Education – Eleven Film/Netflix
GBEMISOLA IKUMELO Famalam – BBC Studios/BBC Three
MAE MARTIN Feel Good – Objective Fiction, Objective Media Group Scotland/Channel 4

INTERNATIONAL

LITTLE AMERICA Lee Eisenberg, Alan Yang, Kumail Nanjiani, Emily V Gordon, Sian Heder – Apple, Universal Television/Apple TV+
LOVECRAFT COUNTRY Production Team – Afemme, Monkeypaw, Bad Robot, Warner Bros., HBO/Sky Atlantic
UNORTHODOX Anna Winger, Alexa Karolinski, Maria Schrader – Studio Airlift, Real Film Berlin/Netflix
WELCOME TO CHECHNYA: THE GAY PURGE (STORYVILLE) David France, Alice Henty, Askold Kurov, Joy A Tomchin – Public Square Films/BBC Four

LEADING ACTOR

JOHN BOYEGA Small Axe – Turbine Studios, Lammas Park /BBC One
JOSH O’CONNOR The Crown – Left Bank Pictures, Sony Pictures Television/Netflix
PAAPA ESSIEDU I May Destroy You – Various Artists, FALKNA/BBC One
PAUL MESCAL Normal People – Element Pictures/BBC Three
SHAUN PARKES Small Axe – Turbine Studios, Lammas Park/BBC One
WALEED ZUAITER Baghdad Central – Euston Films/Channel 4

LEADING ACTRESS

BILLIE PIPER I Hate Suzie – Bad Wolf/Sky Atlantic
DAISY EDGAR-JONES Normal People – Element Pictures/BBC Three
HAYLEY SQUIRES Adult Material – Fifty Fathoms Productions/Channel 4
JODIE COMER Killing Eve – Sid Gentle Films/BBC One
LETITIA WRIGHT Small Axe – Turbine Studios, Lammas Park/BBC One
MICHAELA COEL I May Destroy You – Various Artists, FALKNA/BBC One

LIVE EVENT

LIFE DRAWING LIVE! Emyr Afan, Sally Dixon, Josie d’Arby, Lachlan Goudie, Diana Ali, Nicky Philipps – Avanti Media/BBC Four
THE ROYAL BRITISH LEGION FESTIVAL OF REMEMBRANCE Production Team – BBC Studios/BBC One
SPRINGWATCH 2020 Production Team – BBC Studios Natural History Unit, The Open University/BBC Two
THE THIRD DAY: AUTUMN Production Team – Sky Studios, Plan B Entertainment, Punchdrunk, HBO/Sky Arts

MALE PERFORMANCE IN A COMEDY PROGRAMME

CHARLIE COOPER This Country – BBC Studios/BBC Three
GUZ KHAN Man Like Mobeen – Tiger Aspect Productions/BBC Three
JOSEPH GILGUN Brassic -Calamity Films/Sky One
NCUTI GATWA Sex Education – Eleven Film/Netflix
PAUL RITTER Friday Night Dinner – Popper Pictures, Big Talk Productions/Channel 4
REECE SHEARSMITH Inside No.9 – BBC Studios/BBC Two

MINI-SERIES

ADULT MATERIAL Lucy Kirkwood, Dawn Shadforth, Sara Hamill, Patrick Spence – Fifty Fathoms Productions/Channel 4
I MAY DESTROY YOU Production Team – Various Artists, FALKNA/BBC One
NORMAL PEOPLE Lenny Abrahamson, Alice Birch, Ed Guiney, Emma Norton, Catherine Magee, Sally Rooney – Element Pictures/BBC Three
SMALL AXE Steve McQueen, Tracey Scoffield, David Tanner, Michael Elliott, Anita Overland – Turbine Studios, Lammas Park/BBC One

NEWS COVERAGE

BBC NEWS AT TEN: PRIME MINISTER ADMITTED TO INTENSIVE CARE Production Team -BBC News/BBC One
CHANNEL 4 NEWS: DETERRING DEMOCRACY Production Team – ITN, Channel 4 News/Channel 4
NEWSNIGHT: COVID CARE CRISIS Production Team – BBC Newsnight/BBC Two
SKY NEWS: INSIDE IDLIB Production Team – Sky News/Sky News

REALITY & CONSTRUCTED FACTUAL

MASTERCHEF: THE PROFESSIONALS David Ambler, Katie Attwood, Genevieve Welch, Anthony Crumpton – Shine TV/BBC One
RACE ACROSS THE WORLD Production Team – Studio Lambert/BBC Two
THE SCHOOL THAT TRIED TO END RACISM Production Team – Proper Content/Channel 4
THE WRITE OFFS Production Team – Shine TV/Channel 4

SCRIPTED COMEDY

GHOSTS Production Team – Monumental Television, Them There/BBC One
INSIDE NO. 9 Adam Tandy, Steve Pemberton, Reece Shearsmith, Matt Lipsey, Guillem Morales – BBC Studios/BBC Two
MAN LIKE MOBEEN Guz Khan, Andy Milligan, Gill Isles, Ollie Parsons, David Simpson – Tiger Aspect Productions/BBC Three
THIS COUNTRY Daisy May Cooper, Charlie Cooper, Tom George, Simon Mayhew-Archer – BBC Studios/BBC Three

SHORT FORM PROGRAMME

CRIPTALES Mat Fraser, Amit Sharma, Ewan Marshall, Jenny Sealey, Debbie Christie – BBC Studios/BBC Four
DISABLED NOT DEFEATED: THE ROCK BAND WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES – DELTA 7 Rosie Baldwin, Holly Stimson, Dan Knight – Vice/Noisey
THE MAIN PART Rosie Westhoff, Jen Wakefield, Sara Huxley, Tom Payne, Jody Smith – Studio71 UK/BBC iPlayer
THEY SAW THE SUN FIRST Stefan Hunt, Jess Lowe, Adam Gee – Fresh Film, Red Bull Media House/Red Bull TV

SINGLE DOCUMENTARY

AMERICAN MURDER: THE FAMILY NEXT DOOR Jenny Popplewell, James Marsh, Jonathan Stadlen, Simon Barker – Netflix Originals/Netflix
ANTON FERDINAND: FOOTBALL, RACISM & ME Sian Guerra, Jeremy Lee, Wendie Ottewill, James Ross, Anton Ferdinand – Wonder, New Era Global Productions/BBC One
LOCKED IN: BREAKING THE SILENCE (STORYVILLE) Xavier Alford, Colette Hodges, Sacha Mirzoeff, Poppy Goodheart – Marble Films/BBC Four
SURVIVING COVID Production Team – Sandpaper Films/Channel 4

SINGLE DRAMA

ANTHONY Jimmy McGovern, Colin McKeown, Donna Molloy, Terry McDonough – LA Productions/BBC One
BBW (ON THE EDGE) Ben Bickerton, Philip Trethowan, Lisa Walters, William Stefan Smith, Yolanda Mercy – BlackLight Television/Channel 4
SITTING IN LIMBO Lila Rawlings, Andy Harries, Pier Wilke, Fiona Lamptey, Stephen S Thompson, Stella Corradi – Left Bank Pictures/BBC One
THE WINDERMERE CHILDREN Eleanor Greene, Leanne Klein, Tim Rostock, Simon Block, Michael Samuels, Alison Sterling – Wall to Wall Media, Warner Bros. ITVP Germany/BBC Two

SOAP & CONTINUING DRAMA

CASUALTY Simon Harper, Loretta Preece, Sarah Beeson, Jenny Thompson – BBC Studios/BBC One
CORONATION STREET Production Team – ITV Studios/ITV
EASTENDERS Jon Sen, Kate Oates, Sharon Batten, Liza Mellody – BBC Studios/BBC One
HOLLYOAKS Bryan Kirkwood, Hannah Sowden, Josie Day, Gary Sewell, Colette Chard – Lime Pictures/Channel 4

SPECIALIST FACTUAL

EXTINCTION: THE FACTS Serena Davies, Helen Thomas, Stephen Moore, Charlotte Lathane – BBC Studios/BBC One
PUTIN: A RUSSIAN SPY STORY James Rogan, Nick Green, Paul Mitchell, Adam Finch – Rogan Productions/Channel 4
THE RISE OF THE MURDOCH DYNASTY David Glover, Cate Hall, Jamie Roberts, Owen Phillips, Justin Badger, Sam Santana – 72 Films/BBC Two
THE SURGEON’S CUT Production Team – BBC Studios/Netflix

SPORT

BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX Production Team – Sky Sports F1/Sky Sports Formula 1
ENGLAND V FRANCE: THE AUTUMN NATIONS CUP FINAL Production Team – Sunset+Vine/Amazon Prime Video
ENGLAND V WEST INDIES TEST CRICKET Production Team – Sky Sports/Sky Sports Cricket
LONDON MARATHON 2020 Alastair McIntyre, Micky Payne, Matthew Griffiths, Adam Duncan – BBC Sport/BBC One

SUPPORTING ACTOR

KUNAL NAYYAR Criminal: UK – Idiotlamp Productions/Netflix
MALACHI KIRBY Small Axe – Turbine Studios, Lammas Park/BBC One
MICHAEL SHEEN Quiz – Left Bank Pictures/ITV
MICHEAL WARD Small Axe – Turbine Studios, Lammas Park/BBC One
RUPERT EVERETT Adult Material – Fifty Fathoms Productions/Channel 4
TOBIAS MENZIES The Crown – Left Bank Pictures, Sony Pictures Television/Netflix

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

HELENA BONHAM CARTER The Crown – Left Bank Pictures, Sony Pictures Television/Netflix
LEILA FARZAD I Hate Suzie – Bad Wolf/Sky Atlantic
RAKIE AYOLA Anthony – LA Productions/BBC One
SIENA KELLY Adult Material – Fifty Fathoms Productions/Channel 4
SOPHIE OKONEDO Criminal: UK – Idiotlamp Productions/Netflix
WERUCHE OPIA I May Destroy You – Various Artists, FALKNA/BBC One

VIRGIN MEDIA’S MUST-SEE MOMENT (voted for by the public)

BRIDGERTON Penelope is revealed as Lady Whistledown – Netflix Originals, Shondaland/Netflix
BRITAIN’S GOT TALENT Diversity perform a routine inspired by the events of 2020 – Thames, Syco/ITV
EASTENDERS Gray kills Chantelle – BBC Studios/BBC One
GOGGLEBOX Reactions to Boris Johnson’s press conference – Studio Lambert/Channel 4
NIGELLA’S COOK, EAT, REPEAT Mee-cro-wah-vay  BBC Studios Unscripted Productions/BBC Two
THE MANDALORIAN Luke Skywalker arrives – Lucasfilm/Disney+

Related Posts

Related Articles