Sunday TV Choice: ​British Academy Television Awards (BBC One, 7pm)

​Their organisers have certainly recognised the fact that the attention span of some viewers was beginning to run out towards the end, meaning that TVs were being switched off in their droves before the big names arrived on stage.

As a result, some showbiz events are now split in two, with the more technical trophies handed out at a different time. For instance, the Oscars’ Scientific and Technical Awards were held at the end of April, almost two months after the makers of Anora took home the statuette for Best Picture.

However, the Bafta TV Craft Awards have already taken place, and could be an indicator of where the rest of the famous mask-style gongs will go during tonight’s programme. Baby Reindeer, Rivals and Slow Horses all won two each, and you wouldn’t bet against them bagging more at the main ceremony, which is happening at London’s Royal Festival Hall, hosted by Alan Cumming.

Baby Reindeer has the most nominations with eight, while Mr Bates vs The Post Office and Rivals follow with six each. Locking horns in the Leading Actor category will be a performer from each of them – Richard Gadd, Toby Jones and David Tennant. The last on that list was very surprised to find himself in the running.

“It was a real shock, I was not expecting it and I’m very thrilled,” he said during a party for the nominees, held recently at the Victoria and Albert Museum. “My wife (Georgia Tennant) was always very sure (of the show). She knew the book of old, and when she saw that it was being dramatised, and indeed when a script pinged through on an email, she went, ‘oh, this is going to be the biggest show of the year’.”

EastEnders received a special award at the craft ceremony to mark its 40th anniversary, and is in the running for another Bafta in the soap category, where it faces stiff opposition from Casualty and Coronation Street.

Sophie Willan receives two nods for her work on Alma’s Not Normal, the sitcom she created, writes and stars in; Monica Dolan could also go home with two trophies, having been nominated as Leading Actress in the aforementioned Mr Bates and as Supporting Actress in Sherwood. Other shows that may do well include The Traitors, Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light, and G’Wed.

One person who already knows she’s she has an award in the bag is Kirsty Wark, who discovered she was the recipient of this year’s Bafta Fellowship on her 70th birthday.

“This is a wonderful surprise and a great honour,” she said. “Television has been my home for 40 years, both at the BBC and in independent production, and I continue to learn every day from people with awe-inspiring skills who have become treasured colleagues and dear friends.”