The BBC’s Golden Globe-winning adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s Tudor drama Wolf Wall is leading the field at this year’s television BAFTAs, with nominations in four categories.
As well as being in the running for Best Drama Series, three of its stars are recognised; Mark Rylance, who recently won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Bridge of Spies, is nominated for Best Actor, Claire Foy is on the shortlist for Best Actress and Anton Lesser is up for Best Supporting Actor.
Rylance will be up against Ben Whishaw for London Spy, This is England 90’s Stephen Graham and Idris Elba, who’s earned his first BAFTA nomination for Luther.
Foy will be challenged by The C-Word’s Sheridan Smith, Doctor Foster star Suranne Jones and Ruth Madeley, from Don’t Take My Baby.
The other Best Supporting Actor nominations include Cucumber’s Cyril Nri, Sir Tom Courtenay for Unforgotten and Sir Ian McKellen, who’s secured his first TV BAFTA nomination for The Dresser.
The other Best Drama nominees are Humans, The Last Panthers and Paul Abbott’s No Offence, whose star Joanna Scanlan missed out on her own nomination.
The most nominated comedy is Peter Kay’s Car Share, which has three nominations; for Best Scripted Comedy, Best Comedy Actor for Peter Kay and Best Comedy Actress for Sian Gibson.
Kay is up against Toby Jones for Detectorists, W1A’s Hugh Bonneville and Javone Prince for his own sketch and stand-up show.
The other nominees for Best Comedy Actress are Catastrophe’s Sharon Horgan, Michaela Coel for Chewing Gum and Miranda Hart, for her eponymous show.
The TV BAFTAs – which also recognise achievement in a range of other genres, including features, specials, general entertainment, factual programmes and soap operas – will be handed out on 8th May.
The chairwoman of BAFTA, Anne Morrison, has highlighted the diversity of the nominees, after criticism that all of the acting nominees at the Oscars were white, for the second successive year. “You’ve got Ruth Madeley, who uses a wheelchair, in the leading actress category. You’ve got a real range in diversity across ethnicity and so on, right across the board. So I think that things are definitely improving, things have come a long way.” She added, “There is still further to go, and in BAFTA we are very hot on diversity.”
THE FULL LIST OF TV BAFTA NOMINEES:
:: Leading actor:
Ben Whishaw – London Spy
Idris Elba – Luther
Mark Rylance – Wolf Hall
Stephen Graham – This Is England ’90
:: Leading actress:
Claire Foy – Wolf Hall
Ruth Madeley – Don’t Take My Baby
Sheridan Smith – The C-Word
Suranne Jones – Doctor Foster
:: Supporting actor:
Anton Lesser – Wolf Hall
Cyril Nri – Cucumber
Ian McKellen – The Dresser
Tom Courtenay – Unforgotten
:: Supporting actress:
Chanel Cresswell – This Is England ’90
Eleanor Worthington-Cox – The Enfield Haunting
Lesley Manville – River
Michelle Gomez – Doctor Who
:: Entertainment performance:
Graham Norton – The Graham Norton Show
Leigh Francis – Celebrity Juice
Romesh Ranganathan – Asian Provocateur
Stephen Fry – QI
:: Female performance in a comedy programme:
Michaela Coel – Chewing Gum
Miranda Hart – Miranda
Sian Gibson – Peter Kay’s Car Share
Sharon Horgan – Catastrophe
:: Male performance in a comedy programme:
Hugh Bonneville – W1A
Javone Prince – The Javone Prince Show
Peter Kay – Peter Kay’s Car Share
Toby Jones – Detectorists
:: Single drama:
The C-Word
Cyberbully
Don’t Take My Baby
The Go-Between
:: Mini-series:
Doctor Foster
The Enfield Haunting
London Spy
This Is England ’90
:: Drama series:
Humans
The Last Panthers
No Offence
Wolf Hall
:: Soap and continuing drama:
Coronation Street
EastEnders
Emmerdale
Holby City
:: International:
The Good Wife
Narcos
Spiral
Transparent
:: Factual series:
The Detectives
Great Ormond Street
The Murder Detectives
The Tribe
:: Specialist factual:
Britain’s Forgotten Slave Owners
Grayson Perry’s Dream House
The Hunt
Rudolf Nureyev’s Dance To Freedom
:: Single documentary:
Bitter Lake
Life After Suicide
Louis Theroux: Transgender Kids
My Son The Jihadi
:: Features:
Back In Time For Dinner
The Great British Bake Off
Kevin McCloud: Escape To The Wild
Travel Man
:: Reality and constructed factual:
First Dates
Gogglebox
I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!
The Secret Life of 5 Year Olds
:: Current affairs:
Children Of The Gaza War
Escape From Isis (Dispatches)
Jihad: A British Story
Outbreak: The Truth About Ebola (This World)
:: Entertainment programme:
Adele At The BBC
Britain’s Got Talent
Strictly Come Dancing
TFI Friday Anniversary Special
:: Comedy and comedy entertainment programme:
Charlie Brooker’s Election Wipe
Have I Got News For You
QI
Would I Lie To You
:: Scripted comedy:
Chewing Gum
Peep Show
People Just Do Nothing
Peter Kay’s Car Share
:: Radio Times audience award (voted for by members of the public)
Doctor Foster
The Great British Bake Off
Humans
Making A Murderer
Peter Kay’s Car Share
Poldark