The British Academy of Film and Television Arts has announced the winners of this evening’s Virgin TV British Academy Television Awards, celebrating and rewarding the very best programs 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 honor 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 Miniseries.
Phoebe Waller-Bridge won in the Female Performance in a Comedy Program category for Fleabag. Steve Coogan won Male Performance in a Comedy Program 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 dramatization of the infamous OJ Simpson murder trial.
The BAFTA for Soap & Continuing Drama, which recognizes 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 Program went to Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, the program’s third BAFTA in this category to date. Charlie Brooker’s 2016 Wipe won for Comedy & Comedy Entertainment Program.
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.
The ceremony was hosted by Sue Perkins at the Royal Festival Hall, London, where presenters included Sean Bean, Kim Cattrall, Joan Collins, Rob Delaney, Anna Friel, Cuba Gooding Jr., David Haye, Adam Hills, Suranne Jones, James Nesbitt, Thandie Newton, Jennifer Saunders, Louis Theroux and Ed Westwick.
Here's a rundown of winners:
FELLOWSHIP
JOANNA LUMLEY
SPECIAL AWARD
NICK FRASER
COMEDY & COMEDY ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAM
CHARLIE BROOKER’S 2016 WIPE Production Team - House of Tomorrow/BBC Two
CURRENT AFFAIRS
TEENAGE PRISON ABUSE EXPOSED (PANORAMA) Production Team - BBC Productions/BBC One
DRAMA SERIES
HAPPY VALLEY Sally Wainwright, Juliet Charlesworth, Nicola Shindler, Neasa Hardiman - Red Production Company/BBC One
ENTERTAINMENT PERFORMANCE
MICHAEL MCINTYRE Michael McIntyre’s Big Show - Hungry McBear/BBC One
ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAM
ANT & DEC’S SATURDAY NIGHT TAKEAWAY Production Team - ITV Studios/Mitre Television/ITV
FACTUAL SERIES
EXODUS: OUR JOURNEY TO EUROPE Production Team - KEO Films/The Open University/BBC Two
FEATURES
WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? Colette Flight, Sarah Feltes, Anna Kirkwood, Helen Nixon - Wall to Wall Media/BBC One
FEMALE PERFORMANCE IN A COMEDY PROGRAM
PHOEBE WALLER-BRIDGE Fleabag - Two Brothers Pictures/BBC Three
INTERNATIONAL
THE PEOPLE V OJ SIMPSON: AMERICAN CRIME STORY Ryan Murphy, Nina Jacobson, Brad Simpson - Fox 21 Television Studios/FX Productions/BBC Two
LEADING ACTOR
ADEEL AKHTAR Murdered by My Father - BBC Studios/BBC Three
LEADING ACTRESS
SARAH LANCASHIRE Happy Valley - Red Production Company/BBC One
LIVE EVENT
THE QUEEN’S 90TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION Production Team - ITV Studios/Spun Gold Television/ITV
MALE PERFORMANCE IN A COMEDY PROGRAM
STEVE COOGAN Alan Partridge’s Scissored Isle - Baby Cow Productions/Sky Atlantic
MINISERIES
NATIONAL TREASURE George Ormond, Marc Munden, Jack Thorne, John Chapman - The Forge/Channel 4
NEWS COVERAGE
VICTORIA DERBYSHIRE: FOOTBALLERS’ ABUSE Victoria Derbyshire, Louisa Compton, Jo Adnitt - BBC News/BBC Two
REALITY & CONSTRUCTED FACTUAL
MUSLIMS LIKE US Kieran Smith, Nicholas Packer, Oliver Manley, Mobeen Azhar - Love Productions/BBC Two
SCRIPTED COMEDY
PEOPLE JUST DO NOTHING Production Team - Roughcut TV/BBC Three
SINGLE DOCUMENTARY
HILLSBOROUGH Production Team - Very Much So Productions/Passion Pictures/BBC Two
SINGLE DRAMA
DAMILOLA, OUR LOVED BOY Levi David Addai, Euros Lyn, Susan Horth, Colin Barr - Minnow Films/BBC One
SOAP & CONTINUING DRAMA
EMMERDALE Production Team - ITV Studios/ITV
SPECIALIST FACTUAL
PLANET EARTH II Michael Gunton, Tom Hugh-Jones, Elizabeth White, David Attenborough - BBC Studios/BBC Natural History Unit/BBC America/ZDF/France Television/BBC One
SPORT
THE OPEN Production Team - Sky Sports/European Tour Productions/Sky Sports 1
SUPPORTING ACTOR
TOM HOLLANDER The Night Manager - The Ink Factory/Demarest/Character Seven/BBC One
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
WUNMI MOSAKU Damilola, Our Loved Boy - Minnow Films/BBC One
VIRGIN TV’S MUST-SEE MOMENT
PLANET EARTH II: Snakes vs Iguana Chase - BBC Studios/BBC Natural History Unit/BBC America/ZDF/France Television/BBC One