"I May Destroy You" Wins Two Honors At BAFTA TV Awards
Michaela Coel in a scene from "I May Destroy You" (photo by Natalie Seery/courtesy of HBO)
  • LONDON
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The British Academy of Film and Television Arts has unveiled the winners of this year’s Virgin Media British Academy Television Awards, celebrating and rewarding the very best programs and performances of 2020. 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 Best Miniseries, 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 Program for playing Aimee Gibbs in Sex Education. Male Performance in a Comedy Program 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 Program, its first win following its previous nomination in 2019. The BAFTA for Entertainment Program 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 Program.

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.

Below is a rundown of the British Academy Television Award winners honored today (6/6). 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.

Also listed below are the alluded to Television Craft winners announced last month. Those proceedings were topped by Small Axe, the drama miniseries about the lives of West Indian immigrants in London in the 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s. Small Axe won five TV Craft categories--Photography & Lighting: Fiction (for DP Shabier Kirchner); Production Design (Helen Scott); Costume Design (Jacqueline Durran); Makeup & Hair Design (JoJo Williams); and Scripted Casting (Gary Davy).

Virgin Media British Academy Television Awards--Winners

COMEDY ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAM
THE BIG NARSTIE SHOW Obi Kevin Akudike, Nathan Brown, Rina Dayalji, Ben Wicks, Toby Baker – Expectation, Dice Productions Entertainment/Channel 4

CURRENT AFFAIRS
AMERICA’S WAR ON ABORTION (EXPOSURE) Deeyah Khan, Darin Prindle, Andrew Smith - Fuuse Films/ITV

DAYTIME
THE GREAT HOUSE GIVEAWAY Production Team – Chwarel/Channel 4

DRAMA SERIES
SAVE ME TOO Simon Heath, Jessica Sykes, Lennie James, Lizzie Rusbridger, Coky Giedroyc, Jim Loach - World Productions/Sky Atlantic

ENTERTAINMENT PERFORMANCE
ROMESH RANGANATHAN The Ranganation – Zeppotron/BBC Two

ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAM
LIFE & RHYMES Production Team - CPL Productions, Licklemor Productions/Sky Arts

FACTUAL SERIES
ONCE UPON A TIME IN IRAQ James Bluemel, Jo Abel, Miriam Walsh, Simon Sykes, Andrew Palmer, Will Anderson - Keo Films/BBC Two

FEATURES
LONG LOST FAMILY: BORN WITHOUT TRACE Sally Benton, Rosie Schellenberg, Alice Goodyear, Paddy Lynas - Wall to Wall Media/ITV

FEMALE PERFORMANCE IN A COMEDY PROGRAM
AIMEE LOU WOOD Sex Education - Eleven Film/Netflix

INTERNATIONAL
WELCOME TO CHECHNYA: THE GAY PURGE (STORYVILLE) David France, Alice Henty, Askold Kurov, Joy A. Tomchin - Public Square Films/BBC Four

LEADING ACTOR
PAUL MESCAL Normal People - Element Pictures/BBC Three

LEADING ACTRESS
MICHAELA COEL I May Destroy You - Various Artists, FALKNA/BBC One

LIVE EVENT
SPRINGWATCH 2020 Production Team - BBC Studios Natural History Unit/BBC Two

MALE PERFORMANCE IN A COMEDY PROGRAM
CHARLIE COOPER This Country - BBC Studios/BBC Three

MINISERIES
I MAY DESTROY YOU Production Team - Various Artists, FALKNA/BBC One

NEWS COVERAGE
SKY NEWS: INSIDE IDLIB Production Team - Sky News/Sky News

REALITY & CONSTRUCTED FACTUAL
THE SCHOOL THAT TRIED TO END RACISM Production Team - Proper Content/Channel 4

SCRIPTED COMEDY
INSIDE NO. 9 Adam Tandy, Steve Pemberton, Reece Shearsmith, Matt Lipsey, Guillem Morales - BBC Studios/BBC Two

SHORT FORM PROGRAM
THEY SAW THE SUN FIRST Stefan Hunt, Jess Lowe, Adam Gee - Fresh Film, Red Bull Media House/Red Bull TV

SINGLE DOCUMENTARY
LOCKED IN: BREAKING THE SILENCE (STORYVILLE) Xavier Alford, Colette Hodges, Sacha Mirzoeff, Poppy Goodheart - Marble Films/BBC Four

SINGLE DRAMA
SITTING IN LIMBO Production Team - Left Bank Pictures/BBC One

SOAP & CONTINUING DRAMA
CASUALTY Simon Harper, Loretta Preece, Sarah Beeson, Jenny Thompson - BBC Studios/BBC One

SPECIALIST FACTUAL
THE SURGEON’S CUT James Newton, James Van Der Pool, Andrew Cohen - BBC Studios/Netflix

SPORT
ENGLAND V WEST INDIES TEST CRICKET Production Team - Sky Sports/Sky Sports Cricket

SUPPORTING ACTOR
MALACHI KIRBY Small Axe - Turbine Studios, Lammas Park/BBC One

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
RAKIE AYOLA Anthony - LA Productions/BBC One

VIRGIN MEDIA’S MUST-SEE MOMENT (voted for by the public)
BRITAIN’S GOT TALENT Diversity perform a routine inspired by the BLM protests – Thames, Syco/ITV

 

 

British Academy Television Craft Awards

EMERGING TALENT: FICTION 
Georgi Banks-Davies (Director) I Hate Suzie - Bad Wolf/Sky Atlantic

EMERGING TALENT: FACTUAL
Marian Mohamed (Director) Defending Digga D - Lambent Productions/BBC Three

COSTUME DESIGN
Jacqueline Durran Small Axe - Turbine Studios, Lammas Park/BBC One

DIRECTOR: FACTUAL
Teresa Griffiths Lee Miller – A Life on the Front Line - Erica Starling Productions & Ronachan Films/BBC Two

DIRECTOR: FICTION
Michaela Coel, Sam Miller I May Destroy You - Various Artists, FALKNA/BBC One

DIRECTOR: MULTI-CAMERA
Marcus Viner ENO’s Drive & Live: La Bohème - Somethin’ Else, ENO/Sky Arts

EDITING: FACTUAL
Claire Guillon Lee Miller – A Life on the Front Line - Erica Starling Productions, Ronachan Films/BBC Two

EDITING: FICTION
Editing Team I May Destroy You - Various Artists, FALKNA/BBC One

ENTERTAINMENT CRAFT TEAM
MARK BUSK-COWLEY, ROY CALLOW, STEVE KRUGER, ANDY MILLIGAN, JAMES TINSLEY, MATHIEU WEEKES I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! - ITV Studios/ITV

MAKE UP & HAIR DESIGN
JOJO WILLIAMS Small Axe - Turbine Studios, Lammas Park/BBC One

ORIGINAL MUSIC
HARRY ESCOTT Roadkill -The Forge Entertainment/BBC One

PHOTOGRAPHY: FACTUAL 
JOHNNY SHIPLEY, DRONE CAMERA TEAM, JOHN LIVESEY The Great Mountain Sheep Gather - Windfall Films/BBC Four

PHOTOGRAPHY & LIGHTING: FICTION
SHABIER KIRCHNER Small Axe - Turbine Studios, Lammas Park/BBC One

PRODUCTION DESIGN
HELEN SCOTT Small Axe -Turbine Studios, Lammas Park/BBC One 

SCRIPTED CASTING
GARY DAVY Small Axe - Turbine Studios, Lammas Park/BBC One 

SOUND: FACTUAL
NICK FRY, STEVE SPEED, JAMES EVANS, HUGH DWAN Formula 1: Drive to Survive - Box to Box Films/Netflix

SOUND: FICTION
JON THOMAS, GARETH BULL, JAMES RIDGWAY, DILLON BENNETT, EILAM HOFFMAN His Dark Materials (episode 7) - Bad Wolf/BBC One

SPECIAL, VISUAL & GRAPHIC EFFECTS
RUSSELL DODGSON, JAMES WHITLAM, JEAN-CLEMENT SORET, ROBERT HARRINGTON, DAN MAY, BRIAN FISHER His Dark Materials - Bad Wolf/BBC One

TITLES & GRAPHIC IDENTITY
NIC BENNS, MIKI KATO Fear City: New York vs The Mafia - A RAW and Brillstein Entertainment Partners Production/Netflix

WRITER: COMEDY
SOPHIE WILLAN Alma’s Not Normal - Expectation Entertainment/BBC Two 

WRITER: DRAMA
MICHAELA COEL I May Destroy You - Various Artists, FALKNA/BBC One

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