Factual Series
It’s both a surprise and a relief to note the absence of Benefits Street from this line-up – welcome proof that wilful controversialism doesn’t equal awards. Far more praiseworthy were two superb series documenting the trials of the vulnerable in early and later life. 15,000 Kids and Counting (Channel 4) was a by-turns heart-wrenching and uplifting examination of an adoption process that often seems to survive on hope alone; Protecting Our Parents (BBC2) looked at care provisions for the elderly cracking under the strain of savage funding cuts. Both cast light on embattled frontline services offering few votes and commanding even less attention on the campaign trail. Either would be a worthy winner.
Life and Death Row (BBC3) may not have covered much new ground, but did a proficient job of telling both sides of some complicated stories. So perhaps it’s time for the Educating … team to collect the Bafta that has so far eluded them. Despite not garnering the same ratings or attention as its predecessors, Educating the East End (Channel 4) had its own Mushy moment in the progress of autistic student Christopher. Life at Walthamstow’s Frederick Bremer school could boast highs and lows that would have been the envy of most other series, factual or fictional, in 2014.
Single Documentaries
A gruelling shortlist even by the standards of a category whose past winners include Evicted, Wounded and The Murder Trial. Baby P: the Untold Story (BBC1) covered a huge amount of ground in a short space of time and, in so doing, implicated social services and the police, politicians and the media … The list went on, as did the plaudits for this excellent piece of campaigning television, which maintained its tone of quiet anger while never allowing young Peter Connelly to become sidelined amid the outrage. The Miners’ Strike and Me (ITV) was archival documentary-making of a traditional stripe, anecdotal but carrying real power and no less relevant now than it was 30 years ago: history as told by the losers, perhaps, but told with defiance, dignity and cautionary tales aplenty for those considering their strategy against Thatcher’s 21st-century protégés.
The Paedophile Hunter (Channel 4) painted a deeply troubling portrait of vigilante Sintson Hunter who, while never inflicting violence on his quarries, did little to deter it. He posted videos of them on the internet, and his methods secured convictions – but the gulf between between justice and retribution was starkly illustrated. And, finally, veteran BBC reporter Lyse Doucet presented Children of Syria (BBC2), an exemplar of the corporation’s current affairs reporting in which Doucet elucidated the trauma and confusion of the conflict’s youngest victims in an atmosphere of emotional and ideological turbulence that left no one undamaged. This one’s wide open.
Specialist Factual
If the Factual Series shortlist left me in a blubbering mess and the Single Documentaries in despair at the state of the world, this year’s Specialist Factual nominees offered the crack that let the light in. While still leaving me in a blubbering mess, in the case of Our Gay Wedding: the Musical (Channel 4 – who else?) Cheesy and self-consciously fabulous it may have been, but it simply radiated joy: any resistance weakened from the moment incoming Bafta Fellow Jon Snow lent his wavering tones to the occasion, and crumbled when Andy Bell belted out A Little Respect while the sacrifices made during the long struggle for equality were acknowledged. It was matched for sincerity and celebration of human difference by Grayson Perry, who followed up 2012’s superb analysis of the class system, All in the Best Possible Taste, with something even more ambitious. Who Are You? (Channel 4) tackled identity as seen through the eyes of everyone from a disgraced MP to a transgender man, all accompanied by the filthiest laugh on television. It will probably take the prize.
That said, Bafta loves David Attenborough. The Great Communicator’s 3D ventures for Sky are great fun and technically impressive, although perhaps allow gimmickry to overwhelm substance – and whether Conquest of the Skies really has more going for it than, say, Life Story, is debatable. Finally, it’s a bit galling for the BBC that, after their barrage of themed programming, the only first world war documentary to get a Bafta nod was from ITV. The Great War: the People’s Story, but went about its task effectively enough, albeit with a familiar format of actors reciting letters and journal entries. Neither as daring nor as glamorous as its fellow nominees, it’s the outsider but still a worthy nominee.
