BAFTA TV Nominations 2013: The Good, the Bad, the What Were They Thinking?
Leading the field this year were Olympic-themed comedy Twenty Twelve, Alfred Hitchcock biopic The Girl and drama Last Tango in Halifax, which all picked up four nominations apiece. The 2012 London Olympics also fared well, taking 3 out of 4 nominations in the “Sporting and Live Event” category, and Danny Boyle’s Isles of Wonder Opening Ceremonies will also compete for the Audience Award.
Some of these nominations are spot-on: it’s lovely to see Last Tango in Halifax getting nominated; both because of its unconventional love story and the fact that stars Derek Jacobi and Anne Reid are fantastic. Twenty Twelve was hysterical. Ben Whishaw did amazing things with a traditionally under-performed Richard II in The Hollow Crown. Boyle surely deserves every award he’s about to win for his stunning work on the Olympics. Even though I thought The Girl was boring, Toby Jones is always a capable performer.
And yet, much like 2012, there are just some really weird picks and obvious snubs.
First, there’s the little business of no nominations for Downton Abbey. At all. Not even for Dame Maggie Smith, who has won virtually every award available since she started playing the Dowager Countess. Ratings darling Call the Midwife is only up for the popular-choice vote Audience Award. Um, what?
Period drama Parade’s End – which has racked up a variety of critical awards of late – did score multiple BAFTA nominations, including Best Mini-Series and a Leading Actress nod for Rebecca Hall. However, her co-star Benedict Cumberbatch was inexplicably snubbed in the Lead Actor category, which makes absolutely no sense at all.
Also, there was no love for any of the actors involved in Ripper Street or Scott and Bailey, even though both series are up for Best Drama? These systems, I do not undersand them.
The full list of nominations is as follows:
Leading Actor
Ben Whishaw - Richard II (The Hollow Crown)
Derek Jacobi - Last Tango in Halifax
Sean Bean - Accused ('Tracie's Story')
Toby Jones - The Girl
Leading Actress
Anne Reid - Last Tango in Halifax
Rebecca Hall - Parade's End
Sheridan Smith - Mrs Biggs
Sienna Miller - The Girl
Supporting Actor
Peter Capaldi - The Hour
Stephen Graham - Accused ('Tracie's Story')
Harry Lloyd – The Fear
Simon Russell Beale - Henry IV, Part 2 (The Hollow Crown)
Supporting Actress
Anastasia Hille - The Fear
Imelda Staunton - The Girl
Olivia Colman - Accused ('Mo's Story')
Sarah Lancashire - Last Tango in Halifax
Entertainment Performance
Alan Carr - Alan Carr: Chatty Man
Ant and Dec - I'm a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!
Graham Norton - The Graham Norton Show
Sarah Millican - The Sarah Millican Show
Female Performance In A Comedy Programme
Jessica Hynes - Twenty Twelve
Julia Davis – Hunderby
Miranda Hart – Miranda
Olivia Colman - Twenty Twelve
Male Performance In A Comedy Programme
Greg Davies – Cuckoo
Hugh Bonneville - Twenty Twelve
Peter Capaldi - The Thick of It
Steve Coogan - Welcome to the Places of My Life
Single Drama
Everyday
The Girl
Murder
Richard II (The Hollow Crown)
Mini-Series
Accused
Mrs Biggs
Parade's End
Room at the Top
Drama Series
Last Tango in Halifax
Ripper Street
Scott and Bailey
Silk
Soap and Continuing Drama
Coronation Street
EastEnders
Emmerdale
Shameless
International Programme
The Bridge
Game of Thrones
Girls
Homeland
Factual Series
24 Hours in A&E
Great Ormond Street
Make Bradford British
Our War
Specialist Factual
All in the Best Possible Taste with Grayson Perry
The Plane Crash
The Plot to Bring Down Britain's Planes
The Secret History of Our Streets
Single Documentary
7/7: One Day in London
Baka: A Cry from the Rainforest
Lucian Freud: Painted Life
Nina Conti – A Ventriloquist's Story: Her Master's Voice
Features
Bank of Dave
Grand Designs
The Great British Bake Off
Paul O'Grady: For the Love of Dogs
Reality And Constructed Factual
Bank of Dave
Grand Designs
The Great British Bake Off
Paul O'Grady: For the Love of Dogs
Current Affairs
Britain's Hidden Housing Crisis
The Other Side of Jimmy Savile
The Shame of the Catholic Church
What Killed Arafat?
News Coverage
BBC News at Ten: Syria
Channel 4 News: Battle for Homs
ITV/Granada Reports: Hillsborough – The Truth at Last
Sport And Live Event
The London 2012 Olympics: 'Super Saturday' BBC Sport/BBC1
The London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony: 'Isle of Wonder' Done & Dusted/BBC1
The London 2012 Paralympic Games C4
Wimbledon 2012 – Men's Final BBC Sport/BBC1
Entertainment Programme
Dynamo: Magician Impossible Watch
The Graham Norton Show
Have I Got News For You
A League of Their Own
Comedy Programme
Cardinal Burns
Mr Stink
The Revolution Will Be Televised
Welcome to the Places of My Life
Situation Comedy
Episodes
Hunderby
The Thick of It
Twenty Twelve
What do you think of all this? Let’s discuss the picks and snubs in the comments. The awards ceremony is scheduled for May 12.
