Judi Dench receives record 24th BAFTA nomination (i)
Paul Merton receives his 11th nomination but not for HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU
CRANFORD garners the most nominations with three
BRITAIN’S GOT TALENT and STRICTLY COME DANCING in face-off
First BAFTA nominations for Simon Amstell, Alexander Armstrong, Heston Blumenthal Russell Brand, James Corden, Alan Carr, Justin Lee Collins & Ben Miller
THE BILL & HOLBY CITY nominated in Continuing Drama against EMMERDALE and EASTENDERS
In the Actress category Judi Dench receives her 12th BAFTA television nomination for her role in _Cranford_, alongside her screen sister Eileen Atkins whose last BAFTA TV nomination was back in 1969. They are joined by first-time nominee Kierston Wareing for _It’s A Free World_, and previous winner Gina McKee who receives her third nomination, this time for her role in _The Street_. _Cranford_ receives the most nominations with three, and is also nominated for the Sky+ Audience Award, the only award within the ceremony voted-for by the public.
Four first-time nominees make up the Actor category; Andrew Garfield for _Boy A_, Tom Hardy for _Stuart: A Life Backwards_, Matthew Macfadyen for _Secret Life_ while Antony Sher receives his first nomination, after a career spanning some thirty years, for _Primo_.
Following his ten previous nominations for _Have I Got News For You_, Paul Merton picks up his 11th in the Factual Series category for _Paul Merton in China_, (one of two nominations for Five this year). Fellow nominees in this category are _Meet The Natives_, _The Tower : A Tale of Two Cities_ and _Tribe_.
In the Entertainment Programme(1) category, _Britain’s Got Talent_ goes head-to-head with three-times nominated _Strictly Come Dancing_, nine-time nominee _Have I Got News For You_ (ii) and second-time nominee _Harry Hill’s TV Burp_. Harry Hill receives his first nomination in the Entertainment Performance category alongside first-time nominees Simon Amstell for _Never Mind The Buzzcocks_, Alan Carr and Justin Lee Collins for _The Friday Night Project_ and fourth-time nominee in this category Stephen Fry for _QI_.
Heston Blumenthal receives his first nomination in the Features category for _Heston Blumenthal: In Search of Perfection_, nominated alongside culinary opponent _Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares_, _The Secret Millionaire_ and _Top Gear_.
The Comedy Programme category exclusively comprises first time nominees with _The Armstong & Miller Show_, and _Russell Brand’s Ponderland_ competing with _Star Stories_ and _Fonejacker_.
The BBC’s _Men’s Wimbledon Final_ is nominated for the first time since Bjorn Borg faced John McEnroe in 1980, the 2007 tennis final faces three ITV rivals in the Sport category including second-time nominee the _Boat Race_, last year’s winner _Formula One_ (this time for _F1:Canadian Grand Prix Live_) and the _Rugby World Cup 2007, England V France Semi-Final_.
Each of the major news outlets is nominated for this year’s News Coverage category: _BBC Ten O’Clock News: War in Afghanistan_, _Channel 4 News: Iraq – The Surge_, _ITV Evening News: Zimbabwe – The Tyranny & the Tragedy_ and Sky News for its _Glasgow Airport Attack_. Whilst in Interactivity, _Dr Who Comic Maker_, _Spooks Interactive_, _The X Factor_ and Channel 4’s _Big Art Mob_ fight it out.
_Life On Mars_, last year’s Audience Award winner and Drama Series nominee is once again nominated in the latter category competing with E4’s _Skins_, BBC Two’s _Rome_ and last year’s winner _The Street_.
In the Single Drama category, More4 receives its first nomination this year for _The Trial of Tony Blair_, up against _The Mark of Cain_, _Coming Down The Mountain_ and two-time nominee _Boy A_. In the hotly-contested Continuing Drama category, _The Bill_ receives its second BAFTA nomination, joined by fourth-timer _Holby City_ and previous winners _EastEnders_ and _Emmerdale_. In the last of the drama categories, Drama Serial, _Murphy’s Law_ gets its first-ever nomination, facing competition from _Five Days_, _Britz_ and the year’s most nominated _Cranford_.
In the Specialist Factual(2) category, the nominations are _Earth: The Power of the Planet_, _The Genius of Photography_, _The Relief of Belsen_ and A_ndrew Marr’s History of Modern Britain_ which is also nominated for the Sky+ Audience Award. _Panorama_ receives its ninth nomination in the Current Affairs category for _Panorama: Dog-Fighting Undercover_, while _Dispatches_ receives its eighth, this time for _Dispatches – Fighting The Taliban_; both face competition from Channel 4’s _China’s Stolen Children_ and _Honour Kills_ which is the first nomination in this category for BBC Three.
Another of BBC Three’s nominations is _Family Guy_ in the International category, up against _My Name Is Earl_ which was nominated last year, Five’s _Californication_ and BBC Two’s _Heroes_. In the Single Documentary(3) category BBC2’s _Beautiful Young Minds_, C4’s _Lie of the Land_ and BBC4’s _Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lives_ are up against much talked-about ITV documentary _Malcolm & Barbara: Love’s Farewell_.
Stephen Merchant and David Mitchell receive individual acclaim this year in the Comedy Performance category for _Extras Christmas Special_ and _Peep Show_ respectively. They go up against new nominee James Corden for _Gavin and Stacey_ and previous winner Peter Capaldi for _The Thick of It_. Both three-time nominee _Peep Show_ and _The Thick of It_ are also recognised in the Situation Comedy category alongside last year’s nominee _The IT Crowd_ and ITV newcomer _Benidorm_.
Completing this year’s line-up is the Sky+ Audience Award for the Programme of the Year, the only Award of the night decided by the public, and honouring the most loved and admired programmes of 2007. The shortlist was compiled by a panel of TV-related broadcast and print media and comprises _Andrew Marr’s History of Modern Britain_, _The Apprentice_, _Britain’s Got Talent_, _Cranford_, _Gavin & Stacey_ and _Strictly Come Dancing_. Votes are being cast now on www.bestonthebox.com up until April 18 at 00.01 hrs.
For more information regarding this year’s British Academy Television Awards supported by Sky+ visit www.bafta.org. For further information on the nominations visit the Event’s media partner Radio Times on www.radiotimes.com.
For more information please contact:
Zoe Anderson at freud communications on 020 3003 6300 or [email protected].
Danielle Robinson at freud communications on 020 3003 6316 or
[email protected].
About BAFTA
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts supports, develops and promotes the art forms of the moving image by identifying and rewarding excellence, inspiring practitioners and benefiting the public.
About Sky+
Sky+, the UK’s most popular personal video recorder, allows viewers to pause and rewind live TV, record two channels at the same time, set up series links to record every episode of a show and even set recordings from anywhere in the world via a PC or mobile phone.
Notes to editors
(i) Judi Dench this year received her 12th BAFTA television nomination, equalling Victoria Wood’s record 12 in TV. When added to her 12 nominations for Film, this makes her the most BAFTA-nominated Actress.
(ii) _Have I Got News For You_ has received 9 nominations in the Entertainment Programme category. In addition, performers Paul Merton, Angus Deayton and Boris Johnson have also received nominations for their appearances on the show. These combined nominations total 24 associated nominations – the highest for one show.
For further information on how the channels have fared or for this year’s nominees’ previous nominations please refer to accompanying documents.
(1) The Entertainment Programme BAFTA is given in honour of Lew Grade
(2) Specialist Factual is given in honour of Huw Wheldon
(3) Single Documentary is given in honour of Robert Flaherty
Press Release: TV Nominations in 2008 (84.2 KB)
