Mr Bates Vs The Post Office and Mr Loverman were among the big winners at this year’s BAFTA TV awards – with Danny Dyer and Ruth Jones picking up comedy prizes.
After Mr Bates was named the winner of the TV BAFTA for best limited drama, ITV was also given a special award for commissioning a show that “brought dynamic change”.
The four-part series, which aired in January 2024, depicted how former subpostmasters and subpostmistresses were held liable by the Post Office for financial discrepancies thrown up by its computerised accounting system, Horizon – shining a light on one of the widest miscarriages of justice in UK legal history.
Producer Patrick Spence said the show could never have been made without ITV, as well as the journalists who covered the wrongful convictions, and those who campaigned about the scandal.
“Our show didn’t change the law, the people of this nation did that,” he said.
Mr Bates stars Toby Jones and Monica Dolan missed out on prizes in the acting categories, with Marisa Abela named best actress for her performance in Industry and Lennie James named best actor for Mr Loverman, a series based on the novel of the same name by Booker Prize winner Bernadine Evaristo.
Both winners seemed shocked to receive the gongs, with first-time nominee Abela saying: “Oh my god, I really wasn’t expecting that at all… This is insane.”
James described the win as a “fantastic honour”.
Earlier in the night, his co-star Ariyon Bakare took home the prize for best supporting actor, while Baby Reindeer’s Jessica Gunning picked up the gong for best supporting actress.
Elsewhere, Dyer got one of the night’s biggest cheers as his first ever BAFTA was announced – the award for male performance in a comedy, for his role in Sky’s Mr Bigstuff – while Jones’s final performance as Nessa in the long-awaited Gavin & Stacey: The Finale earned her the female comedy performance gong.
Accepting his prize, Dyer said “the acting was so bad it was funny”, before he swore several times despite being warned about the rules. He also thanked his family, and writer and actor Ryan Sampson, who he called the “best thing to come out of Rotherham”.
“I’m not going to lie this is immense,” said Jones as she collected her award. “The person I would like to thank most his my dear, dear talented friend James Corden.”
She said without British actor Corden, her co-creator and co-star, “Vanessa Shanessa Nessa’ Jenkins would not exist”.
Read more:
The full list of winners
The red carpet in pictures
TV Awards – as it happened
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Wins for other shows included best drama for Blue Lights, best soap for EastEnders, best scripted comedy for Alma’s Not Normal, best entertainment performance for Joe Lycett’s Late Night Lycett, and best entertainment programme for Would I Lie To You?
This year’s BAFTA Fellowship, the highest accolade given by the organisation, in recognition of an outstanding and exceptional contribution to film, games or television, was presented to broadcaster Kirsty Wark for her “unwavering dedication and unmatched legacy in the world of news and current affairs broadcasting”.
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Two new categories celebrating children’s television were also introduced this yearm with CBeebies As You Like It at Shakespeare’s Globe taking home the inaugural prize for best children’s scripted, and Sky’s Disability and Me (FYI Investigates) winning the non-scripted prize.
The main ceremony, which was hosted by actor and presenter Alan Cumming at London’s Royal Festival Hall, came two weeks after the BAFTA craft ceremony for technical awards – where Baby Reindeer, Rivals and Slow Horses each picked up two prizes.
