Bafta TV Awards 2022: Everything you need to know about this year’s categories
THE Bafta TV Awards take place tonight, celebrating the best of telly.
Hit Channel 4 drama It’s A Sin, about a group of friends navigating the Aids crisis in the 1980s, leads the way with 11 nominations.
But there are some strong contenders. LAURA ARMSTRONG guides you through the categories.
- Virgin Media Bafta TV Awards is on BBC1 tonight at 6pm.
Best Drama Series
SUBMARINE drama Vigil starring Suranne Jones, could take the top spot here after proving an unlikely ratings winner.
But ITV’s Unforgotten is deserving of the gong, thanks to beautiful performances from the cast including Nicola Walker.
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Leading Actor
OLLY Alexander looks likely to walk away with the gong for It’s A Sin, which is set to sweep the board with a staggering 11 nominations.
But Sean Bean’s tormented performance as accidental killer Mark Cobden in Time was outstanding.
Leading actress
KATE Winslet is the front runner for her role in Mare Of Easttown, above.
But with excellent performances from Niamh Algar (Deceit), Lydia West (It’s A Sin) and Denise Gough (Too Close) it is the most open of this year’s categories.
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Mini-series
MOST likely another win for It’s A Sin, Russell T. Davies’ story of a gay man’s struggle during the Aids crisis.
But Time, Jimmy McGovern’s brutal prison drama, with Sean Bean and Stephen Graham is worthy of a nod.
Supporting Actor
WITH no less than three nominations in this category, It’s A Sin, can be quietly confident.
The top bet looks to be Callum Scott Howells for his understated performance as cripplingly shy Colin Morris-Jones.
Supporting Actress
ANOTHER wide-open category.
Emily Mortimer is tipped for her role in The Pursuit Of Love, but Celine Buckens deserves the nod for her polarising portrayal of spoilt heiress Talitha Campbell in Showtrial.
Entertainment Programme
BY rights, this should belong to Strictly Come Dancing or Ant And Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway.
But after the little-known Life & Rhymes inexplicably won last year, neither this nor ITV’s gushing Adele special can be ruled out.
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Virgin Media Must-See Moment
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THIS is the only category that will be decided by a public vote.
Strictly Come Dancing winner Rose Ayling-Ellis and Giovanni Pernice’s silent dance seems most likely to win, though I’m A Celebrity hosts Ant & Dec’s digs at Downing Street’s lockdown exploits were comedy gold.
Rose: Silent dance changed lives
By Laura Amrstrong
BAFTA TV nominee Rose Ayling-Ellis has told how her silent dance routine on Strictly Come Dancing has helped people embrace the deaf community.
The EastEnders actress, 27, and her professional dance partner Giovanni Pernice are up for Must-See Moment at tonight’s glittering ceremony after they paused the music during one of the contest’s live performances and danced in silence instead.
Rose, who went on to win Strictly in December, told how her deaf friends are no longer approached with fear and she is proud of sparking the sea change in attitudes. She said: “I was so into Strictly. You only get one day off a week, so now I’m processing it all.
“I’ve started to see more messages and letters and I’ve started to realise how much it impacts so many people.
“I spoke to one lady who said she had been in the court fighting for her rights because she got discriminated against at work and she almost gave up. But then, because I went on to Strictly she decided not to give up. And a couple of my deaf friends have said to me, ‘Oh my God, everything’s changed’, because they’d go to cafes, and suddenly the person’s going, ‘Thank you’.
“Everyone’s saying thank you and that came from Strictly. People seem to be really excited to meet a deaf person, where it used to terrify people. That’s really lovely that it’s become not such a scary thing. I’ve experienced that as well.”
Rose, whose family discovered she was deaf at 18 months, also told how her stint on the ballroom show has sparked a wave of interest in learning sign language.
She said: “The biggest change in my childhood, that changed everything in my life, was probably sign language.
“My family were told by the so-called expert that if I just speak and not sign that’s the best thing you could do for your child. But my mum was struggling, so she went to a deaf event and she saw so many parents communicating with their child with sign language, and the child could communicate back. And she got quite upset because I wasn’t communicating back to her. She thought, ‘That’s it, I’m teaching her sign language’.
“That gave me identity. If I didn’t have that I think I would be very lost.”