Industry-renowned prop master Bobby Warans will be honoured with the BAFTA Special Award at this year’s British Academy Television Craft Awards, taking place on Sunday 23 April at The Brewery, London.
The Special Award recognises Warans’ outstanding contribution to production design across over 100 best-loved television programmes, including Absolutely Fabulous, Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, French and Saunders, Harry Hill’s TV Burp, Morecombe and Wise, Noel’s House Party, Strictly Come Dancing and The Two Ronnies.
Krishnendu Majumdar, Chair of BAFTA’s Television Committee, said: “Bobby Warans is a true legend in the props industry so it’s no surprise that he will be receiving the Special Award this year. With a career spanning five decades, he has played an integral behind-the-scenes role on so many critically acclaimed productions, from the classic comedy sketch show; The Two Ronnies, to the more recent BAFTA-winning series Strictly Come Dancing. The breadth of his work is admirable, a testament to years of his hard work and dedication in bringing excellence to every programme he’s worked on and this is why the award is thoroughly deserved.”
Bobby Warans said: “I’m incredibly humbled to be receiving such a prestigious award from BAFTA. When I left Art College, I didn’t know that jobs like this existed, so to start my career as the youngest prop buying assistant at the BBC, to now being the Special Award recipient is an honour. I have had the privilege of working on some great productions with talented individuals and I look forward to celebrating this award with them and my peers on Sunday 23 April.”
Warans began his career in production buying with the BBC, where he took on a six-month contract and became their youngest prop buying assistant in early 1970. He then went on to be a production buyer on Top of the Pops. Over the course of his career, he has become known for his work on many award-winning entertainment television series and has also contributed to a variety of dramas and live awards shows.
Warans worked with legendary comedy duos Eric Morecambe OBE and Ernie Wise OBE as well as Ronnie Barker OBE and Ronnie Corbett CBE as a production buyer on their BAFTA-winning programmes The Morecambe and Wise Show and The Two Ronnies, respectively (Warans still has Ronnie Corbett’s iconic chair!). More recently, he has been staple member of the Strictly Come Dancing team, dressing the iconic ballroom set for each live show.
The British Academy Television Craft Awards honours the very best behind-the-scenes talent working in television. This year’s ceremony will be held at The Brewery, London on Sunday 23 April and will be hosted for the sixth time by Stephen Mangan.
For further information:
Amanda Hearn / Hep Kwakye-Saka
freuds
T: 0203 003 6456 / 482
E: [email protected] / [email protected]
For press images, BAFTA logos, press releases and more visit www.bafta.org/press
Accreditation:
Red Carpet media accreditation for the Craft Awards on the 23 April and Television Awards on 11 April.
www.bafta.org/press/accreditation
