Huge night for Happy Valley and Top Boy as they win big at Bafta TV Awards
The crowd roared as Sarah Lancashire won leading actress for Happy Valley (Picture: Stuart Wilson/BAFTA/Getty Images for BAFTA)
The Bafta Television Awards 2024 is over for another year and it made for a starry Sunday at the Royal Festival Hall, hosted by comedians Romesh Ranganathan and Rob Beckett.
British dramas Happy Valley, Top Boy and The Sixth Commandment were the big winners of the evening.
Sarah Lancashire was named best leading actress for her portrayal of no-nonsense Sergeant Catherine Cawood in the swansong of Sally Wainwright’s Yorkshire-set thriller.
Collecting the gong, she said: ‘I feel very, very privileged to have been surrounded by these brilliant actors and I thank each and every one of you.’
She also thanked the BBC’s chief content officer Charlotte Moore and the broadcaster ‘for giving this very British drama a very British home’.
Happy Valley also won the only award voted for by the British public, P&O Cruises Memorable Moment Award, for Catherine Cawood and Tommy Lee Royce’s final kitchen showdown moment.
Jasmine Jobson was ‘overwhelmed’ to win the supporting actress award for Top Boy (Picture: Stuart Wilson/BAFTA/Getty Images for BAFTA)
Lorraine Kelly went home with a special award for her work as a journalist (Picture: Joe Maher/Getty Images)
Jasmine Jobson won her first Bafta for her supporting actress performance in Top Boy – which won best drama series – and Succession’s Matthew Macfayden won the supporting actor award, the second time he’s scooped this gong.
Collecting her award, an overwhelmed Jasmine said: ‘I don’t know what to say, I’m so overwhelmed, I was not expecting this.
‘I just try to do what I do to change a life and save a life.’
Meanwhile, Timothy Spall won his first Bafta, scooping leading actor for The Sixth Commandment, which also won best limited drama.
The veteran star said: ‘I didn’t actually write anything down. Look it all up on IMDB and you will see who was involved because to each and every soul of them, they are brilliant.
‘Acting is a stupid thing, it’s a soppy old thing, standing up pretending to be someone and pissing around in costume.
‘Sixty-seven and you think ‘am I still doing this?’
Sarah said she felt ‘very privileged’ to be collecting the award (Picture: John Phillips/BAFTA/Getty Images for BAFTA)
Timothy Spall won his first Bafta (Picture: Stuart Wilson/BAFTA/Getty Images for BAFTA)
‘But sometimes you get the chance to play people that have had a terrible thing happen to then and all they wanted was love, and it’s a beautiful thing to be able to tell a story about that. It’s about crimes but it’s also about love.
‘And when it makes a difference and we can all share in the human condition, some of it horrible and some of it beautiful and even though acting is a silly stupid thing, its lovely,”
Looking at his award, he said: ‘I’ve always wanted one of these. I’m just so pleased to be amongst you lot.’
Strictly Come Dancing excitedly received the best entertainment category, and best reality show was awarded to Squid Game: The Challenge, while Joe Lycett won the best entertainment performance award for Late Night Lycett.
Hosts Rob and Romesh also won the best comedy entertainment award for Rob & Romesh Vs on Sky Max.
The Bafta special award was presented by Brian Cox to broadcaster Lorraine Kelly.
Actors and reality stars made their way down the red carpet in the sunshine ahead of the award ceremony, led by spotlight newbies Richard Gadd and Jessica Gunning, who shot to fame a few weeks ago for their ground-breaking Netflix drama Baby Reindeer.
The pair posed together, with Gadd sporting a very smart black suit and white shirt, while Jessica – who played Gadd’s real-life stalker Martha in the hit series – shone in a gorgeous chiffon pink dress and shiny curls.
Despite the drama unfolding after Baby Reindeer’s release – with the ‘real Martha’ stepping forward and threatening to take legal action – the stars looked happy and united enough as they walked into the London venue alongside the biggest British TV stars of the moment.
Airing just 24 hours after the eventful Eurovision Song Contest 2024, The Crown and Black Mirror were up for eight and seven nominations respectively, with the results now in.
Baby Reindeer’s Richard Gadd and Jessica Gunning took to the red carpet in London today (Picture: Scott Garfitt/BAFTA via Getty Images)
Yes, this is Joe Lycett dressed as Queen Elizabeth I (Picture: Ian West/PA Wire)
Emily Atack held onto her baby bump as she took to the red carpet (Picture: Mike Marsland/WireImage)
Rylan Clark looked super dapper (Picture: Mike Marsland/WireImage)
Davina McCall scrubbed up very well for the event (Picture: Dave Benett/BAFTA/Getty Images for BAFTA)
Comedian Joe Lycett turned up to the event dressed very much for the occasion – as Queen Elizabeth I.
Joe wore a white cape, which resembled a gown and trailed along the floor, as well as an Elizabethan-style ruffled collar.
His unusual choice of outfit came after he promised his aunties that he would don period dress if they managed to get 100,000 followers for their Instagram account. As you do. If you’re Joe Lycett.
The star, who is nominated for entertainment performance for Channel 4’s Late Night Lycett, also made sure he was comfortable in the period dress, as he was accompanied by two different fans on the red carpet – a battery-powered device, and an old school manual one.
Stacey Solomon glittered in a strapless number (Picture: Dave Benett/BAFTA/Getty Images for BAFTA)
Looking good, David Tennant! (Picture: Shane Anthony Sinclair/BAFTA/Getty Images for BAFTA)
Matt and Emma Willis were all kinds of couple goals (Picture: David Fisher/Shutterstock)
Helena Bonham-Carter looked striking while posing in the sunshine at the London event (Picture: Shane Anthony Sinclair/BAFTA/Getty Images for BAFTA)
Emily Atack also showed up clutching her growing baby bump, and dressed in a pale blue gown with her hair in an elegant bun, while Davina McCall looked simply radiant in a black gown embellished with some serious bling on the front.
Steve Coogan told PA at the star-studded event that his lead actor nomination for his portrayal of Jimmy Saville in The Reckoning feels like a ‘vindication’ of his decision to take on the role after it sparked backlash.
‘I’m very grateful to be acknowledged by the academy because the role I played was quite a difficult one, it was quite controversial and there was a lot of opposition to it when it was announced,’ he said.
‘So it was fraught with pitfalls, if it was handled badly it could have been a terrible decision. But I think the BBC were vindicated by it.’
Bobby Brazier tamed his famously unruly curls for the occasion (Picture: Samir Hussein/WireImage)
Ant and Dec were all smiles (Picture: Mike Marsland/WireImage)
Katherine Ryan opted for a quirky accessory (Picture: Mike Marsland/WireImage)
Jeff Goldblum could not have looked cooler (Picture: Joe Maher/Getty Images)
Alex Scott was pictured without girlfriend Jess Glynne (Picture: Ian West/PA Wire)
Vernon Kay joined wife Tess Daly to celebrate a night of all things Strictly (Picture: Shane Anthony Sinclair/BAFTA/Getty Images for BAFTA)
Hannah Waddingham, the woman you are (Picture: Shane Anthony Sinclair/BAFTA/Getty Images for BAFTA)
Speaking to Metro.co.uk on the red carpet, X Factor winner Matt Terry warned young people of ‘dangerous’ reality TV.
‘If you’re really content with where you are in life already, you don’t want to do it,’ he said to budding contestants who might be considering the very public career plunge.
The Bafta TV Awards air on BBC One at 7pm
Bafta TV Awards 2024 winners list
Spoilers below for winners announced ahead of TV broadcast
Leading actress - Sarah Lancashire
Leading actor - Timothy Spall
Supporting actress - Jasmine Jobson, Top Boy
Supporting actor - Matthew Macfadyen, Succession
Entertainment - Strictly Come Dancing
Comedy Entertainment - Rob and Romesh Vs
Entertainment performance - Joy Lycett
Scripted Comedy - Such Brave Girls
Short Form - Mobility
Specialist Factual - White Nanny, Black Child
Factual Series - Lockerbie
Reality - Squid Game: The Challenge
Live event coverage - Eurovision Song Contest 2023
Sports Event Coverage - Cheltenham Festival Day One
Male Performance in a Comedy - Mawaan Rizwan, Juice
Female Performance in a Comedy - Gbemisola Ikumelo, Black Ops
Limited Drama - The Sixth Commandment
Current Affairs - This World: The Shamima Begum Story
News Coverage - Channel 4 News: 'Inside Gaza: Israel and Hamas at War'
International - Class Act
Daytime TV - Scam Interceptors
Soap - Casualty
Factual Entertainment - Celebrity Race Across the World
Single Documentary - Ellie Simmonds: Finding My Secret Family
Drama series - Top Boy
Bafta Fellowship - Floella Benjamin
P&O Cruises memorable moment award: Happy Valley
Writer: Comedy - Jack Rooke
Writer: Drama - Charlie Brooker, Bisha K Ali
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us [email protected], calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
Are you a Soaps fan? For exclusive spoilers and interviews, sign up to Metro's Soaps newsletter