BAFTA TV Nominations Announced: Is This Bizarre To Anyone Else?
Leading the field with four nominations is Appropriate Adult, the ITV mini-series based on the life of serial killer Fred West, starring Dominic West and Emily Watson. The drama received nods in the Best Mini-Series, Leading Actor (West), Leading Actress (Watson) and Supporting Actress (the fabulous Monica Dolan) categories.
The second series of Sherlock was close behind, with three nominations – Benedict Cumberbatch will compete in the Leading Actor category, while Martin Freeman and Andrew Scott face off against each other in the Supporting Actor arena. This is England '88 also received three nods - tying Sherlock for the second most nominations this year.
But, perhaps the biggest surprises of the morning are the nominations that didn’t happen. Sherlock, the winner of last year’s Best Drama Series prize, snagged multiple acting nods this time out, but is conspicuously absent from the Best Mini-Series competition, in a move that seems, well, crazy. This likely had something to do with the ridiculous internal reorganization the BAFTAs underwent this year, creating Golden Globes-esque separate categories for Best “Mini-Series” (2-5 episodes) and Best “Series” (6-19 episodes). Yet, whatever the reason, the omission is jarring, given the overall superb quality of Sherlock’s second series.
In other surprise non-nominations, international smash Downton Abbey received exactly one nod for its second series, for Dame Maggie Smith in the Supporting Actress category. While I’m as willing as anyone to admit that perhaps Downton’s sophomore effort did not quite live up to the brilliance of its first series, even sub-par Downton is as entertaining and generally moving as anything on television and, judging by the chatter online, has to have been better than the final series of Spooks/MI-5.
Click through for a look at the full list of nominations, and leave us your thoughts on all this in the comments. The awards ceremony is scheduled for May 27.
Other nominations that make me happy, personally: Jennifer Saunders for Absolutely Fabulous, Miranda Hart for Call the Midwife, Joseph Mawle for Birdsong and John Simm for Exile. I’m also pleased that poor, canceled supernatural drama The Fades snagged a nod for Best Drama, though I cannot in any way make an argument that it deserved that slot over Downton Abbey.
I am sure it will surprise utterly no one that I’m pulling for Sherlock wins in its respective acting categories, and I’m going to go out on a limb and say This is England ’88 is going to beat out Appropriate Adult in That Mini-Series Category That Sherlock Should Be In But Isn’t.
Leading Actor
Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock)
Dominic West (Appropriate Adult)
John Simm (Exile)
Joseph Gilgun (This Is England ’88)
Leading Actress
Emily Watson (Appropriate Adult)
Nadine Marshall (Random)
Romola Garai (The Crimson Petal and the White)
Vicky McClure (This Is England ’88)
Supporting Actor
Andrew Scott (Sherlock)
Joseph Mawle (Birdsong)
Martin Freeman (Sherlock)
Stephen Rea (The Shadow Line)
Supporting Actress
Anna Chancellor (The Hour)
Maggie Smith (Downton Abbey)
Miranda Hart (Call the Midwife)
Monica Dolan (Appropriate Adult)
Entertainment Performance
Alan Carr (Alan Carr: Chatty Man)
Dara O’Briain (Mock The Week)
Graham Norton (The Graham Norton Show)
Harry Hill (Harry Hill’s TV Burp)
Female Performance In A Comedy Programme
Jennifer Saunders (Absolutely Fabulous)
Olivia Colman (Twenty Twelve)
Ruth Jones (Stella)
Tamsin Greig (Friday Night Dinner)
Male Performance In A Comedy Programme
Brendan O’Carroll (Mrs Brown’s Boys)
Darren Boyd (Spy)
Hugh Bonneville (Twenty Twelve)
Tom Hollander (Rev.)
Single Drama
Holy Flying Circus
Page Eight
Random
Stolen
Mini-Series
Appropriate Adult
The Crimson Petal and the White
This is England ’88
Top Boy
Drama Series
The Fades
Misfits
Scott and Bailey
Spooks
Soap and Continuing Drama
Coronation Street
EastEnders
Holby City
Shameless
International Programme
Borgen
Forbrydelsen (The Killing)
Modern Family
The Slap
Factual Series
The Choir: Military Wives
Educating Essex
Our War
Protecting Our Children: Damned If We Do Damned If We Don’t
Specialist Factual
British Masters
Frozen Planet
Mummifying Alan: Egypt’s Last Secret
Wonders of the Universe
Single Documentary
9/11: The Day That Changed the World
The Fight of Their Lives
Terry Pratchett: Choosing to Die
We Need To Talk About Dad (Cutting Edge)
Features
DIY SOS: The Big Build
Hairy Bikers’ Meals on Wheels
The Great British Bake-Off
Timothy Spall: Somewhere at Sea
Reality And Constructed Factual
An Idiot Abroad
Don’t Tell The Bride
Made in Chelsea
The Young Apprentice
Current Affairs
Bahrain: Shouting in the Dark
Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields
‘The Truth About Adoption’ (Panorama)
‘Undercover Care: The Abuse Exposed’ (Panorama)
News Coverage
BBC News at Ten: Siege of Homs
Channel 4 News: Japanese earthquake
ITV News at Ten: Battle of Misrata
Sky News: Libya rebel convoy – live
Sport And Live Event
Frankenstein’s Wedding: Live in Leeds
The Royal Wedding (BBC)
Rugby World Cup Final
Tour De France 2011
New Media
Autumnwatch
The Bank Job
Misfits
Psychoville
Entertainment Programme
Celebrity Juice
Derren Brown: The Experiments
Harry Hill’s TV Burp
Michael McIntyre’s Christmas Comedy Roadshow
Comedy Programme
Charlie Brooker’s 2011 Wipe
Comic Strip: The Hunt for Tony Blair
The Cricklewood Greats
Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle
Situation Comedy
Fresh Meat
Mrs Brown’s Boys
Friday Night Dinner
Rev
