- I MAY DESTROY YOU WINS TWO BAFTAs; MICHAELA COEL WINS LEADING ACTRESS
- MALACHI KIRBY, PAUL MESCAL AND RAKIE AYOLA AMONG FIRST-TIME BAFTA WINNERS
- BRITAIN’S GOT TALENT’s DIVERSITY PERFORMANCE WINS VIRGIN MEDIA’S MUST-SEE MOMENT
View the list of winners here
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts has announced the winners of this year’s Virgin Media British Academy Television Awards, celebrating and rewarding the very best programmes and performances of 2020. The Awards were hosted by Richard Ayoade and featured performances by Years & Years and Alexis Ffrench and presenters including Adrian Dunbar, Bill Bailey, Catherine O’Hara, Jamie Demetriou, Jon Snow, Oti Mabuse, Rob Beckett, Rose Matafeo, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Tommy Jessops and Zawe Ashton.
Following its three wins at the British Academy Television Craft Awards in May, I May Destroy You, the drama series featuring a woman who seeks to rebuild her life after a sexual assault, won two more BAFTAs, for Mini-Series and Leading Actress for Michaela Coel.
The Leading Actor award was won by first-time nominee Paul Mescal for his performance as Connor in Normal People.
Malachi Kirby, another first-time winner, won for his performance in Small Axe in the Supporting Actor category. Rakie Ayola won her first BAFTA for Supporting Actress for her performance in Anthony.
Another first-time nominee, Aimee Lou Wood won in Female Performance in a Comedy Programme for playing Aimee Gibbs in Sex Education. Male Performance in a Comedy Programme was awarded to Charlie Cooper for his performance in This Country. Romesh Ranganathan received the BAFTA for Entertainment Performance for The Ranganation.
Save Me Too received the BAFTA for Drama Series and Sitting in Limbo won for Single Drama.
The Big Narstie Show won Comedy Entertainment Programme, its first win following its previous nomination in 2019. The BAFTA for Entertainment Programme was awarded to Life & Rhymes. Scripted Comedy was awarded to Inside No 9.
The School That Tried to End Racism received the BAFTA for Reality & Constructed Factual. Long Lost Family: Born Without Trace won in the Features category. They Saw the Sun First won the BAFTA for Short Form Programme.
Casualty was awarded the BAFTA for Soap & Continuing Drama, its first since 2018. The Great House Giveaway won the BAFTA in the new Daytime category.
News Coverage was awarded to Sky News’ Inside Idlib, and the award for Current Affairs was presented to America’s War on Abortion (Exposure). International was awarded to Welcome to Chechnya: The Gay Purge (Storyville).
Once Upon a Time in Iraq received the BAFTA for Factual Series, Locked In: Breaking the Silence (Storyville) won Single Documentary and The Surgeon’s Cut won Specialist Factual.
England V West Indies Test Cricket triumphed in the Sport category, while the award for Live Event was presented to Springwatch 2020.
Virgin Media’s Must-See Moment, the only award voted for by the public, was won by Britain’s Got Talent for the moment when Diversity performed a routine inspired by the events of 2020.
Visit www.bafta.org/media-centre/TV for all supporting documents.
For further information, please contact:
Amanda Hearn, Publicity Director - Television at Multitude Media:
M: 07950 803 771
Will Wood, Managing Director, Multitude Media:
M: 07817 014 515
Notes to editors
FREE-TO-USE PHOTOGRAPHY EDITORIAL CONTENT
BAFTA PHOTOGRAPHY
BAFTA are providing a selection of free-to-use press imagery via https://bafta.thirdlight.com/link/BAFTAPressImages (terms & conditions for use are included within the link)
Additional photography to be released via Shutterstock includes exclusive sets from the TV Awards including ceremony & backstage reportage, as well as winner’s photography. All available via https://www.shutterstock.com/editorial from Sunday 6th June est.18.00 BST onwards.
Winners portrait photography will be released by Camera Press from Monday 7 June @ 11.00 BST onwards.
About BAFTA
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) is a world-leading independent arts charity that brings the very best work in film, games and television to public attention and supports the growth of creative talent in the UK and internationally. Through its Awards ceremonies and year-round programme of learning events and initiatives – which includes workshops, masterclasses, scholarships, lectures and mentoring schemes in the UK, USA and Asia – BAFTA identifies and celebrates excellence, discovers, inspires and nurtures new talent, and enables learning and creative collaboration. For advice and inspiration from the best creative minds in working in film, games and television, visit www.bafta.org/guru. For more, visit www.bafta.org.
About Virgin Media
Virgin Media offers four multi award-winning services across the UK: broadband, TV, mobile phone and landline. Our network delivers the fastest widely-available broadband speeds to homes and businesses. We’re expanding this through continued investment in our Project Lightning programme, which has seen our network footprint reach an additional 2.5 million premises so far to pass 15.3 million UK premises overall. We are also investing to bring next-generation gigabit speeds to our entire broadband network by the end of 2021, making us the UK’s largest gigabit operator.
Our interactive TV service brings live TV, thousands of hours of on-demand programming and the best apps and games to customers through a set-top box, as well as on-the-go through tablets and smartphones. Virgin Mobile launched the world’s first virtual mobile network and offers fantastic value and innovative services with 5G connectivity. We are also one of the largest fixed-line home phone providers in the UK. Through Virgin Media Business we support entrepreneurs, businesses and the public sector, delivering a range of connectivity and tailor-made services. Virgin Media employs around 12,000 people directly in the UK and is part of Liberty Global, one of the world’s leading converged video, broadband and communications companies. Liberty Global connects customers through operations in seven countries across Europe subscribing to 49 million broadband, TV, fixed and mobile telephony services.
