Channel 4 drama It’s A Sin leads Bafta TV awards nominations

It's A Sin previously celebrated winning an NTA - now the show has swept BAFTA nominations. Credit: PA

Channel 4 series It’s A Sin leads the nominations at the Bafta television awards where it is in the running for 11 gongs.

The series, written and created by Welsh screenwriter Russell T Davies, tracked a group of gay men and their friends as they navigated the UK’s HIV/Aids crisis throughout the 80s and early 90s.

The show’s 11 nominations, comprising of five in the craft categories and six in the television awards categories, include nods for Davies in the writer drama category, as well as a leading actor nomination for singer Olly Alexander for his role as Ritchie Tozer.

His co-star Lydia West has been nominated in the leading actress category, alongside Kate Winslet, who starred in HBO/Sky Atlantic’s Mare Of Easttown, and marking The Titanic star’s first TV performance nomination, although she has previously been nominated for and won film Baftas, and is a previous Britannia Award winner.

Also nominated in the leading actress category are Denise Gough and Emily Watson for ITV’s Too Close, alongside Jodie Comer for Channel 4 drama Help, and Niamh Algar for Channel 4’s Deceit.

Stars going up against Years & Years singer Alexander in the leading actor category include David Thewlis for Landscapers, Hugh Quarshie for ITV’s Stephen, Samuel Adewunmi for BBC’s You Don’t Know Me, Sean Bean for Time and Stephen Graham for Channel 4’s Help.

Graham is a double nominee, also recognised for BBC’s prison drama Time in the supporting actor category, which is dominated by the cast of It’s A Sin, who have scored three out of the six possible nominations.

Stars Callum Scott Howells, David Carlyle and Omari Douglas have all been nominated, with Nonso Anozie, star of Netflix’s Sweet Tooth also nominated alongside Matthew Macfadyen for his role as Tom Wambsgans in HBO/Sky Atlantic’s Succession.

Sky drama Landscapers, which also starred Olivia Colman, who is not nominated in the performance categories, is the second-most nominated TV show, with seven in total, five in the craft categories and two in the television categories.

Inspired by real events, the series starred Colman and Thewlis as a mild-mannered married couple whose lives are upturned after dead bodies are discovered in the back garden of a house in Nottingham.

Landscapers’ nominations include for director fiction, original music, leading actor and mini-series categories.

Help, Time and We Are Lady Parts have all received six nominations, Netflix’s Sex Education has received five nominations and A Very British Scandal, starring Claire Foy and Paul Bettany as the Duke and Duchess of Argyll in the drama series about the couple’s high-profile split in the 1960s, has four nominations in the craft categories.

The supporting actress category nominations include Cathy Tyson for Channel 4’s Help, Celine Buckens for BBC’s Showtrial, Emily Mortimer for BBC’s The Pursuit Of Love, Jessica Plummer for BBC One’s The Girl Before, Leah Harvey for Apple TV+’s Foundation and Tahirah Sharif for ITV’s The Tower.



EastEnders and Hollyoaks are absent from the soap and continuing drama category, where the four nominations have gone to ITV stalwarts Coronation Street and Emmerdale, as well as BBC’s Casualty and Holby City.

Medical drama Holby City ended on Tuesday night after 23 years on screen with an emotional final episode which celebrated the spirit of the NHS.

Strictly Come Dancing is nominated in the entertainment programme category, but will have to do battle against Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, which returned with a live studio audience in February after last year’s show had a virtual gallery due to Covid protocols.

Other programmes in the category include ITV’s An Audience With Adele and last year’s winner of the category, Sky Arts’ Life & Rhymes, has been nominated again.

Comedian Sean Lock, who died from cancer last year, has received a posthumous nomination for Channel 4’s 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown, in the entertainment performance category.

The category also features Alison Hammond, nominated for BBC’s I Can See Your Voice, marking her first Bafta TV nod in a performance category, while Dave’s Big Zuu, Graham Norton, nominated for The Graham Norton Show on BBC, as well as Joe Lycett for Channel 4’s Joe Lycett’s Got Your Back and Michael McIntyre, nominated for BBC’s Michael McIntyre’s The Wheel, are also in the running.

Comedian, presenter and star of The IT Crowd Richard Ayoade will host the Virgin Media Bafta TV Awards ceremony for the third consecutive year as it returns to London’s Royal Festival Hall on May 8.

The Bafta TV Craft Awards will take place on April 24.


Who was nominated for which award?

Comedy Entertainment Programme

  • THE GRAHAM NORTON SHOW Graham Norton, Graham Stuart, Jon Magnusson, Toby Baker, Catherine Strauss, Pete Snell - So Television/BBC One

  • THE LATEISH SHOW WITH MO GILLIGAN Rhe-an Archibald, Ben Wicks, Tim Dean, Pollyanna McGirr, David Geli, Mo Gilligan - Expectation, Momo G/Channel 4

  • RACE AROUND BRITAIN Ben Wicks, Andy Brown, Munya Chawawa, Trent Williams-Jones, Claire Cook, Kevin Muyolo - Expectation, Munz Made It/YouTube

  • THE RANGANATION Ruth Phillips, Richard Cohen, Mark Barrett, Barbara Wiltshire, Debra Blenkinsop, Helena Parkhill – Zeppotron/BBC Two

Current Affairs

  • FEARLESS: THE WOMEN FIGHTING PUTIN (EXPOSURE) Sarah Collinson, David Henshaw, David Alter, Sasha Odynova, Ksenia Barakovskaya - Hardcash Productions, The Economist/ITV

  • FOUR HOURS AT THE CAPITOL Jamie Roberts, Will Grayburn, Dan Reed - AMOS Pictures/BBC Two

  • THE MEN WHO SELL FOOTBALL (AL JAZEERA INVESTIGATIONS) Phil Rees, David Harrison, Jason Gwynne, Sarah Yeo, Nicholas Dove, Naji Tamimi - Al Jazeera I-Unit/Al Jazeera English

  • TRUMP TAKES ON THE WORLD Norma Percy, Tim Stirzaker, Sam Collins, Tania Rakhmanova, Lucy Hetherington, Greg Sanderson - Brook Lapping, Les Films D’ici, Arte France/BBC Two

Daytime

  • THE CHASE Michael Kelpie, Martin Scott, Helen Tumbridge, Hester Davies, Christina Clayton, Mick Thomas – Potato/ITV

  • MONEYBAGS David Flynn, Michelle Woods, Aaron Rosenthal, Louisa Benger, Shaun Parry, Mike Maclaine - Youngest Media/Channel 4

  • RICHARD OSMAN'S HOUSE OF GAMES Tamara Gilder, Breid McLoone, Tom Banks, Abby Brakewell, John Smith, Sarah Boyce - Remarkable Television/BBC Two

  • STEPH'S PACKED LUNCH Ben Wicks, Rebecca Papworth, Vivek Sharma, Steph McGovern, Alan Clayton, Derek Hallworth – Expectation, Can Can Productions/Channel 4

Drama Series

  • IN MY SKIN Kayleigh Llewellyn, Nerys Evans, Molly Manners, Sophie Francis – Expectation/BBC Three

  • MANHUNT: THE NIGHT STALKER Ed Whitmore, Marc Evans, Jo Willett, Evie Bergson-Korn, Philippa Braithwaite - Buffalo Pictures/ITV

  • UNFORGOTTEN Production Team - Mainstreet Pictures/ITV

  • VIGIL Tom Edge, Simon Heath, Jake Lushington, Angie Daniell, James Strong, Isabelle Sieb - World Productions/BBC One

Entertainment Performance

  • ALISON HAMMOND I Can See Your Voice – Thames/BBC One

  • BIG ZUU Big Zuu's Big Eats – Boom/Dave

  • GRAHAM NORTON The Graham Norton Show - So Television/BBC One

  • JOE LYCETT Joe Lycett's Got Your Back - Rumpus Media, My Options Were Limited/Channel 4

  • MICHAEL MCINTYRE Michael McIntyre's The Wheel - Hungry McBear Media/BBC One

  • SEAN LOCK 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown – Zeppotron/Channel 4

Entertainment Programme

  • AN AUDIENCE WITH ADELE Adele, Jonathan Dickins, Sally Wood, Ben Winston, Lou Fox, Bex Hampson - Fulwell 73, Onward, Sony, Columbia/ITV

  • ANT & DEC'S SATURDAY NIGHT TAKEAWAY Production Team - Lifted Entertainment, Mitre Studios/ITV

  • LIFE & RHYMES Production Team - CPL Productions, Licklemor Productions/Sky Arts

  • STRICTLY COME DANCING Production Team - BBC Studios/BBC One

Factual Series

  • THE DETECTIVES: FIGHTING ORGANISED CRIME Production Team - Minnow Films, Open University/BBC Two

  • 9/11: ONE DAY IN AMERICA Caroline Marsden, Daniel Bogado, TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay, David Glover - 72 Films/National Geographic

  • UNDERCOVER POLICE: HUNTING PAEDOPHILES Joe Mather, Simon Ford, Jamie Pickup, Mark Casebow, Charlie MacDonald, Juliet Piper - BBC Studios/Channel 4

  • UPRISING Production Team - Rogan Productions, Lammas Park, Turbine Studios/BBC One

Features

  • BIG ZUU'S BIG EATS Sam Grace, Alex Gilman, Chris Faith, Lucy Blatch, Big Zuu, Rohan Minhas - Boom/Dave

  • MORTIMER & WHITEHOUSE: GONE FISHING Paul Whitehouse, Bob Mortimer, Lisa Clark, Stephanie Fyfe, Rob Gill - Owl Power/BBC Two

  • SORT YOUR LIFE OUT Charlotte Brookes, Kurt Seywald, James Callum, Lucy Blatch, Michael Hyland, Demi Doyle - Optomen Television/BBC One

  • THE GREAT BRITISH SEWING BEE Production Team – Love Productions/BBC One

Female performance in a comedy programme

  • AIMEE LOU WOOD Sex Education - Eleven Film/Netflix

  • AISLING BEA This Way Up – Merman Television/Channel 4

  • ANJANA VASAN We Are Lady Parts – Working Title Television/Channel 4

  • NATASIA DEMETRIOU Stath Lets Flats - Roughcut TV/Channel 4

  • ROSE MATAFEO Starstruck - Avalon/BBC Three

  • SOPHIE WILLAN Alma's Not Normal – Expectation/BBC Two

International

  • CALL MY AGENT! Harold Valentin, Aurélien Larger, Dominique Besnehard, Michel Feller - Mon Voisin Productions, Mother Productions, France Télévisions/Netflix

  • LUPIN Production Team - Gaumont Télévision/Netflix

  • MARE OF EASTTOWN Production Team - wiip Studios, The Low Dweller Productions, Juggle Productions, Mayhem, Zobot Projects, HBO/Sky Atlantic

  • SQUID GAME Hwang Dong-hyuk, Kim Ji-Yeon - Siren Pictures/Netflix

  • SUCCESSION Production Team - Project Zeus, Hyperobject Industries, Gary Sanchez Productions, HBO/Sky Atlantic

  • THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD Barry Jenkins, Colson Whitehead, Adele Romanski, Mark Ceryak, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner - Plan B, PASTEL, Big Indie, Amazon Studios/Amazon Prime

Leading actor

  • DAVID THEWLIS Landscapers – SISTER, South of the River Pictures/Sky Atlantic

  • HUGH QUARSHIE Stephen - HTM Television/ITV

  • OLLY ALEXANDER It's A Sin - Red Production Company/Channel 4

  • SAMUEL ADEWUNMI You Don't Know Me - Snowed-In Productions/BBC One

  • SEAN BEAN Time - BBC Studios/BBC One

  • STEPHEN GRAHAM Help – The Forge Entertainment, One Shoe Films/ Channel 4

Leading actress

  • DENISE GOUGH Too Close - Snowed-In Productions/ITV

  • EMILY WATSON Too Close - Snowed-In Productions/ITV

  • JODIE COMER Help - The Forge Entertainment, One Shoe Films/Channel 4

  • KATE WINSLET Mare of Easttown - wiip Studios, The Low Dweller Productions, Juggle Productions, Mayhem, Zobot Projects, HBO/Sky Atlantic

  • LYDIA WEST It's A Sin - Red Production Company/Channel 4

  • NIAMH ALGAR Deceit - Story Films/Channel 4

Live event

  • THE BRIT AWARDS 2021 Production Team - BRITS TV/ITV

  • THE EARTHSHOT PRIZE 2021 Production Team - BBC Studios/BBC One

  • THE ROYAL BRITISH LEGION FESTIVAL OF REMEMBRANCE Production Team - BBC Studios/BBC One

  • SPRINGWATCH 2021 Production Team - BBC Studio/ BBC Two

Male performance in a comedy programme

  • JAMIE DEMETRIOU Stath Lets Flats -Roughcut TV/Channel 4

  • JOE GILGUN Brassic – Calamity Films/Sky Max

  • NCUTI GATWA Sex Education - Eleven Film /Netflix

  • SAMSON KAYO Bloods -Roughcut TV, Sky Studios/Sky One

  • STEVE COOGAN This Time with Alan Partridge - Baby Cow Productions/BBC One

  • TIM RENKOW Jerk – Roughcut TV/BBC Three

Mini-series

  • IT'S A SIN Russell T Davies, Nicola Shindler, Peter Hoar, Phil Collinson - Red Production Company/Channel 4

  • LANDSCAPERS Will Sharpe, Ed Sinclair, Katie Carpenter, Olivia Colman, Jane Featherstone, Chris Fry – SISTER, South of the River Pictures/Sky Atlantic

  • STEPHEN Mark Redhead, Madonna Baptiste, Alrick Riley, Frank Cottrell Boyce, Joe Cottrell Boyce, Jessica Sharkey - HTM Television/ITV

  • TIME Jimmy McGovern, Tom Sherry, Lewis Arnold, Simon Maloney, Michael Parke, Andrew Morrissey - BBC Studios/BBC One

News coverage

  • CHANNEL 4 NEWS: BLACK TO FRONT Production Team - Channel 4 News/Channel 4

  • GOOD MORNING BRITAIN: SHAMIMA BEGUM Production Team - ITV Studios Daytime/ITV

  • ITV NEWS AT TEN: STORMING OF THE CAPITOL Production Team - ITV News, ITN/ITV

  • SKY NEWS: AFGHANISTAN: ENDGAME Production Team - Sky News/Sky News

Reality and constructed factual

  • GOGGLEBOX Production Team - Studio Lambert/Channel 4

  • MARRIED AT FIRST SIGHT UK Murray Boland, Dermot Caulfield, Danielle Lux, Sharyn Mills, Rachel Viner, James Kayler - CPL Productions/E4

  • RUPAUL'S DRAG RACE UK RuPaul Charles, Fenton Bailey, Tom Campbell, Bruce McCoy, Sally Miles, Matt Green - World of Wonder Productions/BBC Three

  • THE DOG HOUSE Production Team - Five Mile Films/Channel 4

Scripted comedy

  • ALMA'S NOT NORMAL Sophie Willan, Gill Isles, Andrew Chaplin, Nerys Evans – Expectation/BBC Two

  • MOTHERLAND Holly Walsh, Helen Serafinowicz, Barunka O’Shaughnessy, Caroline Norris, Sharon Horgan, Clelia Mountford – Merman Television, Twofour/BBC Two

  • STATH LETS FLATS Jamie Demetriou, Seb Barwell, Andrew Gaynord, Ash Atalla - Roughcut TV/Channel 4

  • WE ARE LADY PARTS Production Team - Working Title Television/Channel 4

Short form programme

  • HOLLYOAKS SAVED MY LIFE (HOLLYOAKS IRL) Rachel Hardy, Alan Toner, Graham Gallery – Lime Pictures/YouTube

  • OUR LAND Alexandra Genova, Alfred Thirolle - Alexandra Genova/Together TV

  • PEOPLE YOU MAY KNOW Juliet Riddell, James Graham, Tom Hannen, Franklin Dow - Financial Times, Sonia Friedman Productions/Financial Times

  • PLEASE HELP Lucy Pearman, Ben Mallaby, David Simpson - Tiger Aspect Productions/BBC Three

Single documentary

  • 9/11: INSIDE THE PRESIDENT'S WAR ROOM Adam Wishart, Neil Grant, Serena Kennedy, Simon Finch - Wish/Art Films, Apple TV+/BBC One

  • GRENFELL: THE UNTOLD STORY James Newton, Daisy Ayliffe, Emma Lysaght, Kirsty Cunningham, Jessie Versluys – BBC Studios/Channel 4

  • MY CHILDHOOD, MY COUNTRY - 20 YEARS IN AFGHANISTAN Phil Grabsky, Shoaib Sharifi, Amanda Wilkie, Clive Mattock - Seventh Art Productions/ITV

  • NAIL BOMBER: MAN HUNT Production Team - Expectation/Netflix

Single drama

  • DEATH OF ENGLAND: FACE TO FACE Clint Dyer, Dixie Linder, David Sabel, Rufus Norris, Christine Schwarzman, Roy Williams - National Theatre, Sabel Productions, Cuba Pictures/Sky Arts

  • HELP Production Team - The Forge Entertainment, One Shoe Films/Channel 4

  • I AM VICTORIA Dominic Savage, Krishnendu Majumdar, Richard Yee, Suranne Jones, Josh Hyams, David Charap - Me + You Productions/Channel 4

  • TOGETHER Production Team - Shoebox Films, Sonia Friedman Productions, BBC Film/BBC Two

Soap and Continuing drama

  • CASUALTY Deborah Sathe, Loretta Preece, Debbie Biggins, Jenny Thompson, Sarah Beeson – BBC Studios/BBC One

  • CORONATION STREET Production Team – ITV Studios/ITV

  • EMMERDALE Production Team – ITV Studios/ITV

  • HOLBY CITY Production Team – BBC Studios/BBC One

Specialist factual

  • BLACK POWER: A BRITISH STORY OF RESISTANCE George Amponsah, Helen Bart, Steve McQueen, James Rogan, Soleta Rogan, Tracey Scoffield - Rogan Productions, Lammas Park, Turbine Studios/BBC Two

  • FREDDIE MERCURY: THE FINAL ACT James Rogan, Daniel Hall, Chris Wilson, Mark Hedgecoe, Soleta Rogan, Simon Lupton - Rogan Productions/BBC Two

  • THE MISSING CHILDREN Production Team - TrueNevision/ITV

  • SILENCED: THE HIDDEN STORY OF DISABLED BRITAIN Production Team – Blast! Films/BBC Two

Sport

  • THE ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX Production Team - Sky Sports, Formula 1/Sky Sports Formula 1

  • ITV RACING: THE GRAND NATIONAL Mark Demuth, Paul McNamara, Paul Cooper, Tasleem Hasham-Laywood, Rob Oldham, Jon Harris – ITV Sport/ITV

  • TOKYO 2020 OLYMPICS Production Team – BBC Sport/BBC One

  • UEFA EURO 2020 SEMI-FINAL: ENGLAND V DENMARK Mark Demuth, Paul McNamara, Phil Heslop, Maggie Price, Roger Pearce, Stuart Smith – ITV Sport/ITV

Supporting actor

  • CALLUM SCOTT HOWELLS It's A Sin - Red Production Company/Channel 4

  • DAVID CARLYLE It's A Sin - Red Production Company/Channel 4

  • MATTHEW MACFADYEN Succession - Project Zeus, Hyperobject Industries, Gary Sanchez Productions, HBO/Sky Atlantic

  • NONSO ANOZIE Sweet Tooth - Warner Bros. Television/Netflix

  • OMARI DOUGLAS It's A Sin - Red Production Company/Channel 4

  • STEPHEN GRAHAM Time - BBC Studios/BBC One

Supporting actress

  • CATHY TYSON Help - The Forge Entertainment, One Shoe Films/Channel 4

  • CELINE BUCKENS Showtrial - World Productions/BBC One

  • EMILY MORTIMER The Pursuit of Love - Open Book Productions, Moonage Pictures, Amazon Studios/BBC One

  • JESSICA PLUMMER The Girl Before – 42/BBC One

  • LEAH HARVEY Foundation - Skydance Television, Phantom Four/Apple TV+

  • TAHIRAH SHARIF The Tower – Mammoth Screen, Windhover Films/ITV

Virgin Media's must-see moment (voted for by the public)

  • AN AUDIENCE WITH ADELE Adele’s surprised by the teacher who changed her life - Fulwell 73, Onward, Sony, Columbia/ITV

  • I’M A CELEBRITY… GET ME OUT OF HERE! Ant and Dec dig at Downing Street’s lockdown parties - Lifted Entertainment/ITV

  • IT’S A SIN Colin’s devastating AIDS diagnosis - RED Production Company/Channel 4

  • RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE UK ‘UK Hun?’ – Bimini’s verse - World of Wonder/BBC Three

  • SQUID GAME Red Light, Green Light game - Siren Pictures/Netflix

  • STRICTLY COME DANCING Rose and Giovanni’s silent dance to ‘Symphony’ - BBC Studios/BBC One