There’s time to take a stand
Among some of the more laboured (sorry) jokes about voting and the election, Jessica Hynes’s moving anti-austerity speech for W1A (BBC2) was a standout moment. “There’s something I do want to say. I am from a single-parent family, and my mum was a full-time worker to support me and my sister. I’m really worried about the cuts that are coming to state education for people in low-income families. Because I don’t think low income means low talent or low education or low intelligence.” Hynes also mentioned the work of Arts Emergency – could a resurgence in political awareness in the arts be on the cards under the next five years of Tory rule?
There’s still room for a big surprise on the night
In what was probably the strongest of this year’s categories, no one thought Georgina Campbell’s performance in Murdered By My Boyfriend (BBC3) would beat Keeley Hawes, Sheridan Smith or Sarah Lancashire for leading actress – not even Georgina Campbell. As she admitted, her mum had been bugging her to write a speech all day (but she hadn’t).
It saves a lot of time when the host wins
Graham Norton’s boundless energy is the secret fuel powering the whole Bafta shebang. All night he walked a fine line between being part of the proceedings, while dropping the occasional sarky comment, marshalling everything, and celebrating the winners – even when it was Ant and Dec beating him. He also found time to accept his own award (“really?!”) for best comedy and comedy entertainment performance, in what was the shortest announcement-to-stage time of the evening.
Want to win? Keep it real
Big winners BBC1’s Marvellous (single drama and supporting actress), ITV1’s The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies (mini-series and leading actor) and BBC3’s Murdered By My Boyfriend (leading actress) were all dramas based on real-life stories.
Don’t forget the most important member of the team
The wigs of Jason Watkins (best leading actor for The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies) and Gemma Jones (best supporting actress for Marvellous) were thanked from the Theatre Royal stage.
Even Toast can be a bit lost for words
Fans of Matt Berry’s idiosyncratic sitcom Toast (Channel 4) couldn’t have been happier to hear his name announced instead of Hugh Bonneville (W1A, BBC2), Tom Hollander (Rev, BBC2) or Brendan O’Carroll (Mrs Brown’s Boys Christmas Special, BBC1) for best male performance in a comedy. But anyone expecting a delirious Toast-style rant might have been surprised by his low-key sincerity: “I certainly didn’t expect this to happen. I came in through the back door, so this is something else.”
Clive James is still the master of the one-liner
Accepting his Bafta special award via video, Clive James finished with a typically smart insight into the origin of the Bafta statues. “I’m going to sign off by saying thank you so much for this award and I’ve at last realised who that is. They poured molten gold on to a wax face mask of Benedict Cumberbatch.”
You don’t know Jon Snow
Thanking Thatcher? The man’s always got a surprise up his sleeves.
