The Crown is left empty handed as Happy Valley rules the Baftas
THE CROWN failed to reign supreme at last night’s rain- sodden British Academy Television Awards.
The lavish regal drama had been expected to hold court after scooping five nominations — but Netflix’s £100million production left without a single win.
BBC’s Happy Valley ruled the roost instead, taking home both best drama and best actress, for Sarah Lancashire.
‘Claire Foy, you have given me the best ten hours under a duvet that I’ve ever had — thank you,’ quipped Lancashire, 52, after pipping Foy to the post.
It was an evening of surprises, with Adeel Akhtar, 36, winning best actor for BBC Three’s Murdered By My Father, beating both Benedict Cumberbatch and Robbie Coltrane.
Emotions ran high when the Beeb’s Damilola, Our Loved Boy, about the killing of ten-year-old Damilola Taylor in 2000, won two gongs. It was named best single drama, while 30-year-old Wunmi Mosaku received the best supporting actress award.
Damilola’s father Richard, on the stage at London’s Royal Festival Hall, said: ‘I want to dedicate this to the memory of Damilola, and Gloria my late wife. But first and foremost, I want to send an appeal to these young people on the street killing themselves.’
Planet Earth II won best specialist factual and Virgin TV’s must-see moment for its ‘snakes versus iguanas’ sequence.
Phoebe Waller-Bridge, 31, picked up best female performance in a comedy for BBC Three’s Fleabag while Steve Coogan was best male performance in a comedy for Sky Atlantic’s Alan Partridge’s Scissored Isle.
Author: Tom Stichbury
