Smile, camera, action..here comes the Baftas

Remember May 2019 when the world was relatively normal? Along came the Bafta TV Awards, that annual spring event, and shows such as A Very English Scandal, Bodyguard and Killing Eve led to much back slapping.

Once the ceremony was over, and the teams behind EastEnders and Patrick Melrose walked off with their gongs, many thought that would be it until May 2020, when the whole thing would return for another run.

Had Lee Mack, who picked up Best Entertainment Performance, been blessed with foresight, and said: “By early 2020, the world will be shut down by a pandemic, so you will have to wait a while for next year’s show,” very few fans of Would I Lie To You? would opt for TRUE rather than LIE.

They’d have said: “Who Do You Think You Are? Lee, scaring us like that?”. And yes, by coincidence, that show did pick up a gong.

Rather aptly, it was Lee’s sitcom Not Going Out that defined the nation’s social status for several months.

The thought of getting a Saturday Night Takeaway was suddenly the stuff of dreams as repeat winners Ant and Dec finished off their series either without a studio audience or from home as programme-makers scrabbled around with video conferencing tech and tried to get shows on air.

All of which preamble brings us to the actual 2020 ceremony, a show which has been delayed so long that many Bafta fans wondered if the powers that be had just written it off.

With help from the BBC’s IT crowd, Richard Ayoade will be hosting the socially distant ceremony from a closed studio.

Lee Mack is up for another gong for WILTY. It’ll be intriguing to see if the much in demand comedian can beat Frankie Boyle, Mo Gilligan or Graham Norton the finishing post in the Best Entertainment Performance category.

There’s perhaps little wonder The Crown is up for yet another plaudit as Best Drama Series. With stunning turns from the likes of nominees Olivia Colman, Helena Bonham Carter and Josh O’Connor, that Netflix saga made for compelling viewing once more.

Jet black comedy drama The End of the F***ing World returned for a stunning second run, and nominee Naomi Ackie helped breathe new life into the mini series, while Suranne Jones’s period drama Gentleman Jack, and Yakuza saga Giri/Haji also left millions perched on the edges of their sofas.

Given the long awaited return of Fleabag, there’s little wonder show creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge is up for Best Actress, along with Sian Clifford as her long suffering screen sister; the Confessional Scene is also up for Must-See Moment.

The makers of Succession, Euphoria, Unbelievable, and When They See Us are all in with a chance of landing a plaudit for Best International Programme, while there’s a strong chance Chernobyl will land Best Mini-Series. Unless A Confession, The Victim or The Virtues beat that fact-based drama to the winning post.

Let’s just hope that by next spring all the winners can go back to physically accepting their plaudits rather than just virtually.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper whenever you are able to do so.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper when you can safely.

You can also enjoy unlimited access to the best news from across Northern Ireland and the UK by subscribing to newsletter.co.uk

With a digital subscription, you can read more than five articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptions now to sign up.

Thank you