BritBox to Stream 2024 Olivier Awards with Hannah Waddingham

Awards season may have ended for film, but for live theater and television, the season is hitting the main event, as those disciplines still function on seasons that begin in the summer and end in the spring. While the Emmys will wait until the fall to hand out statues, late spring means it's time for the Tonys in the U.S. and the TV BAFTAs and Olivier Awards across the pond. The former will be held in May, and BritBox has previously confirmed that it will be broadcasting those live, the same way it did for the Film BAFTAs earlier in 2024. As for the 2024 Laurence Olivier Awards, those take place this coming weekend, on Sunday, April 14, 2024, and BritBox will be carrying them live as well for U.S. viewers with everyone's favorite, Hannah Waddingham, as host.

Like the Tonys, which are perennially not that big of an audience draw outside your hardcore theater nerds, the Olivier Awards don't seem to be an awards show that would be drawing that large of a demand. However, this year's crop of nominees is about as a-list a lineup as it gets, both for Anglophiles and the causal American lookie-loo. David Tennant, for example, is nominated in the Best Actor category, which means there will almost certainly be at least a bit of Doctor Who shenanigans (and maybe some Good Omens ones). We also have the Battle of the Hot Priests as Grantchester's OG Hot Priest, James Norton, goes up against Nu-Hot Priest Andrew Scott.

For those looking for a preview of the upcoming TV miniseries Dear England, the stage play of the same name on which it's based is tied for second overall with nine nominations, so fans will get an idea of what it's about, especially if it sweeps the drama awards. Meanwhile, in musicals, Operation Mincemeat has been remade with song and dance and landed eight nominations, but its chances of taking down the Sunset Boulevard revival juggernaut, with 11 nods overall, are slim.