Star-studded Bafta TV Awards to celebrate best of British television

Acting heavyweights Cillian Murphy, Gary Oldman and Taron Egerton are among the first-time nominees for the top gongs at the Bafta TV Awards this year.

The ceremony, which honours the best of British television, will be hosted by comedians Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan at the Royal Festival Hall on Sunday.

Murphy, who is nominated for best actor for his role as gangster Tommy Shelby in Peaky Blinders, will take on Oldman for Slow Horses, Egerton for Black Bird, Chaske Spencer for The English, Martin Freeman for The Responder and Ben Whishaw for This Is Going To Hurt – which also received a nod for best mini-series.

Dark medical comedy This Is Going To Hurt, based on the best-selling book of the same name by Adam Kay, and Liverpool-set thriller The Responder, which won plaudits for its gritty style and narrative, led the nominations this year for TV and craft awards with six apiece.

Meanwhile, the best actress prize will see Kate Winslet, who is nominated for Channel 4 drama I Am Ruth, compete against Imelda Staunton for The Crown, Billie Piper for I Hate Suzie Too, Maxine Peake for Anne, Sarah Lancashire for Julia and Vicky McClure for Without Sin.

The ceremony, billed as the biggest night in the UK television calendar, will see the BBC compete in the live event category, receiving nods for its coverage of the Queen’s state funeral and Party At The Palace during the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

Paddington Bear’s meeting with the Queen during the Platinum Jubilee celebrations is competing for this year’s Memorable Moment Award, alongside the series finale of Channel 4 comedy Derry Girls, in which the people of Northern Ireland vote overwhelmingly for peace, and Sir Mo Farah revealing he was illegally trafficked to the UK during a BBC One documentary.

The TV moment of the year also features the scene from Netflix series Stranger Things in which the cast rescue Max from the demonic Vecna by playing her favourite song, Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill, as well as the final roundtable on BBC’s The Traitors and Nick and Charlie’s first kiss in cult Netflix series Heartstopper.

Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe secured his first Bafta TV nomination, in the male performance in a comedy programme category, for his portrayal of ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic, the US singer known for his musical parodies, in the Roku biopic, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.

A special episode of The Repair Shop, which saw host Jay Blades meet the King before his accession to the throne, is also tapped for a daytime award, alongside ITV game show The Chase and Scam Interceptors on BBC One.

Claudia Winkleman is up for an entertainment performance award as host of BBC One’s hit mystery show The Traitors, with the programme also recognised in the reality and constructed factual category, alongside Freddie Flintoff’s Field Of Dreams on the same channel.

Good Morning Britain on ITV is nominated in the news coverage category for presenter Susanna Reid’s interview with Boris Johnson.

During the ceremony, historian and broadcaster David Olusoga will receive the Bafta Special Award for being a “trailblazer” in the TV industry during his three-decade career and “expanding the diversity of stories told”.

Meanwhile, comedian, actress, playwright and author Meera Syal, known for comedy shows Goodness Gracious Me and The Kumars At No 42 which saw British Asian actors in prominent roles, will receive a Bafta Fellowship – the highest accolade the awards organisation can give.

During the ceremony, Scottish superstar Lewis Capaldi will give his first televised performance of his new chart-topping single Wish You The Best and Jax Jones is also set to take to the stage.

Viewers can tune into RuPaul’s Drag Race star Michelle Visage and radio DJ Clara Amfo live from the star-studded red carpet on Bafta’s YouTube channel.

The Bafta Television Awards with P&O Cruises will be broadcast on BBC One and iPlayer on Sunday at 7pm.