The British Academy of Film and Television Arts has announced the winners of the 2017 Virgin TV British Academy Television Awards, celebrating and rewarding the very best programmes and performances of 2016.
There were two awards for Damilola, Our Loved Boy, with first-time winner Wunmi Mosaku receiving the BAFTA for Supporting Actress. The true-crime drama, written by Levi David Addai, which retells the story of Damilola Taylor’s tragic murder and his family’s fight for justice, also received the award for Single Drama.
In the Leading Actress category, Sarah Lancashire won the BAFTA for her performance in Happy Valley. The West Yorkshire drama also won a second BAFTA for Drama Series, adding to the BAFTA that writer Sally Wainwright won at the British Academy Television Craft Awards last month.
Adeel Akhtar won the BAFTA for Leading Actor for his portrayal of a single father juggling the pressures of a community where honour means everything, for one-off drama Murdered by My Father. In Supporting Actor, Tom Hollander took the BAFTA for his performance as Lance ‘Corky’ Corkoran in The Night Manager, while National Treasure fought off the competition to win in Mini Series.
Phoebe Waller-Bridge won in the Female Performance in a Comedy Programme category for Fleabag. Steve Coogan won Male Performance in a Comedy Programme for Alan Partridge's Scissored Isle, the sixth BAFTA of his career. Meanwhile, the mockumentary series that follows pirate radio station Kurupt FM in west London, People Just Do Nothing, triumphed in Scripted Comedy.
In the International category the BAFTA was awarded to The People v OJ Simpson: American Crime Story, the dramatisation of the infamous OJ Simpson murder trial. The BAFTA for Soap & Continuing Drama, which recognises the exceptional talent required to deliver stories that hold an audience over days, weeks and months, was awarded to Emmerdale for the second time. The BAFTA for Entertainment Performance was presented to Michael McIntyre for Michael McIntyre’s Big Show, while the award for Entertainment Programme went to Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, the programme’s third BAFTA in this category to date. Charlie Brooker’s 2016 Wipe won for Comedy & Comedy Entertainment Programme.
The BAFTA for Reality & Constructed Factual was won by Muslims Like Us, while the long-running series Who Do You Think You Are? took the BAFTA in Features. The award for News Coverage went to Victoria Derbyshire: Footballers’ Abuse, and Teenage Prison Abuse Exposed (Panorama) received the BAFTA for Current Affairs. Exodus: Our Journey to Europe, which revealed the gruelling journeys of people smuggling themselves into Europe, received the BAFTA for Factual Series. Hillsborough secured the BAFTA for Single Documentary, while the BAFTA for Specialist Factual went to Planet Earth II, which was also awarded two BAFTAs at the recent British Academy Television Craft Awards. The Open took home the BAFTA for Sport, while the award for Live Event was presented to The Queen’s 90th Birthday Celebration.
The Special Award was presented to Nick Fraser, one of Britain’s leading figures in the documentary field, in recognition of his outstanding creative contribution to television throughout a career that saw him launch and grow BBC’s Storyville strand and fund and develop hundreds of award-winning documentaries. His work includes India’s Daughter, Man on Wire, Notes on Blindness, Project Nim and Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer.
The Fellowship, the highest accolade the Academy bestows, was presented to Joanna Lumley. With a career spanning 40 years, she has become one of the most acclaimed and distinctive performers in British television. Previous BAFTA recognition of Lumley’s work includes six BAFTA nominations, and awards for Comedy Performance (1995) and Light Entertainment Performance (1993) for Absolutely Fabulous. In 2000, she received the Special Award for The Avengers.
The Virgin TV’s Must-See Moment, the only award voted for by the public, was won by Planet Earth II: Snakes vs Iguana Chase.
Congrats to all of the winners! For the full list, see below. Red carpet highlights, backstage interviews with all the winners, clips of the nominated programmes and all the latest images from the night’s events are available at www.bafta.org/awards/television.
Leading actor
Adeel Akhtar – Murdered By My Father – WINNER
Babou Ceesay – Damilola, Our Loved Boy
Benedict Cumberbatch – The Hollow Crown: The War of the Roses
Robbie Coltrane – National Treasure
Leading actress
Claire Foy – The Crown
Jodie Comer – Thirteen
Nikki Amuka-Bird – NW
Sarah Lancashire – Happy Valley – WINNER
Supporting actor
Daniel Mays – Line of Duty Jared Harris – The Crown
John Lithgow – The Crown
Tom Hollander – The Night Manager – WINNER
Supporting actress
Nicola Walker – Last Tango in Halifax
Siobhan Finneran – Happy Valley
Vanessa Kirby – The Crown
Wunmi Mosaku – Damilola, Our Loved Boy – WINNER
Entertainment performance
Adam Hills – The Last Leg
Claudia Winkleman – Strictly Come Dancing
Graham Norton – The Graham Norton Show
Michael McIntyre – Michael McIntyre's Big Show – WINNER
Female performance in a comedy programme
Diane Morgan – Cunk on Shakespeare
Lesley Manville – Mum
Phoebe Waller-Bridge – Fleabag – WINNER
Olivia Colman – Fleabag
Male performance in a comedy programme
Asim Chaudhry – People Just Do Nothing
David Mitchell – Upstart Crow
Harry Enfield – The Windsors
Steve Coogan – The Scissored Isle – WINNER
Single drama
Aberfan: The Green Hollow
Damilola, Our Loved Boy – WINNER
Murdered By My Father
NW
Mini-series
The Hollow Crown: The War of the Roses
National Treasure – WINNER
The Secret
The Witness for the Prosecution
Drama series
The Crown
The Durrells
Happy Valley – WINNER
War and Peace
International
The Night Of
American Crime Story – The People Vs OJ Simpson – WINNER
Stranger Things
Transparent
Factual series
24 Hours in Police Custody
Exodus: Our Journey to Europe – WINNER
Kids on the Edge
The Prosecutors: Real Crime and Punishment
Soap & Continuing Drama
Casualty
EastEnders
Emmerdale – WINNER
Hollyoaks
Specialist factual
Alan Bennett’s Diaries
Attenborough’s Life That Glows
Grayson Perry’s All Man
Planet Earth II – WINNER
Single documentary
Behind Closed Doors
Hillsborough – WINNER
How to Die: Simon’s Choice
Hypernormalisation
Features
The Doctor Who Gave Up Drugs
The Great British Bake Off
Travel Man: 48 Hours In…
Who Do You Think You Are? – WINNER
Reality and constructed factual
First Dates
Muslims Like Us – WINNER
The Real Marigold Hotel
The Secret Life of Five Years Olds
Current affairs
Inside Obama's White House
Teenage Prison Abuse Exposed – Panorama – WINNER
Three Days of Terror: The Charlie Hebdo Attacks – This World
Unarmed Black Male – This Wordld
News coverage
Channel 4 News: Brexit Day One
BBC North West Tonight: Hillsborough Inquests
Sky News Tonight – Aleppo: Death of a City
Victoria Derbyshire – WINNER
Sport
The Open – WINNER
2016 Rio Olympics
Rio 2016 Paralympics
Six Nations – England V Wales
Live event
The Centenary of the Battle of The Somme: Thiepval
Shakespeare Live! From the RSC
Stand Up to Cancer
The Queen’s 90th Birthday Celebration – WINNER
Entertainment programme
Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway – WINNER Britain’s Got Talent
Michael McIntyre’s Big Show
Strictly Come Dancing
Comedy & Comedy Entertainment Programme
Charlie Brooker’s 2016 Wipe – WINNER
Cunk on Shakespeare
The Last Leg
Taskmaster
Virgin TV’s Must See Moment
Game of Thrones: Battle of the Bastards
The Late Late Show with James Corden: Carpool Karaoke with Michelle Obama
Line of Duty: Urgent Exit Required
Planet Earth II: Snakes vs Iguna Chase – WINNER
Strictly Come Dancing: Ed Balls’ Gangnam Style
Who Do You Think You Are?: Danny Dyer’s Origins
Scripted Comedy
Fleabag
Flowers
Camping
People Just Do Nothing – WINNER
BAFTA Fellowship Award
Joanna Lumley – WINNER
Special Award
Nick Fraser – WINNER
