BAFTA TV Nominees Announced

LONDON, March 19: The
nominees have been unveiled for the British Academy Television Awards, with the
period drama Cranford leading
the pack with three nods, and Judi Dench receiving her 12th BAFTA TV nomination
for her role in the series.

Dench will be competing in
the best actress category alongside her Cranford co-star Eileen Atkins, first-time nominee Kierston
Wareing for It’s A Free World
and Gina McKee, who receives her third nomination, this time for The Street.

Up for best actor are
Andrew Garfield for Boy A, Tom
Hardy for Stuart: A Life Backwards,
Matthew Macfadyen for Secret Life
and Antony Sher for Primo.

Cranford will face off with Murphy’s Law, Five Days and Britz for best
drama serial, while The Trial of Tony Blair, The Mark of Cain, Coming Down The Mountain and Boy A compete in the single drama category. Continuing drama nominees are The
Bill, Holby City, EastEnders and Emmerdale.

The comedy category is
comprised of all first-time nominees with The Armstong & Miller Show, Russell Brand’s Ponderland, Star Stories and Fonejacker facing
off. On the comedic performance side, Stephen Merchant and David Mitchell
receive individual nods this year for Extras Christmas Special and Peep Show, respectively. They go up against new nominee James Corden for Gavin
and Stacey and previous winner
Peter Capaldi for The Thick of It.

The factual series
category is lead by Paul Merton in China, along with fellow nominees Meet The Natives, The Tower: A Tale of Two Cities and Tribe.

For best entertainment
program, Britain’s Got Talent
goes head-to-head with three-time nominee Strictly Come Dancing, nine-time nominee Have I Got News For You and second-time nominee Harry Hill’s TV Burp. Harry Hill receives his first nomination on the
performance side of category, and will face off with first-time nominees Simon
Amstell for Never Mind The Buzzcocks, Alan Carr and Justin Lee Collins for The Friday Night Project and fourth-time nominee Stephen Fry for QI.

Nominees in the features
category are Heston Blumenthal: In Search of Perfection, Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares, The Secret Millionaire and Top Gear.

Cranford is also up for this year’s Sky+ Audience Award,
which is the only award of the night decided by the public. Fellow nominees are
Andrew Marr’s History of Modern Britain, The Apprentice, Britain’s
Got Talent, Gavin and Stacey and Strictly Come Dancing.

The British Academy
Television Awards, supported by Sky+, will be held at the London Palladium on
Sunday, April 20, and broadcast on BBC One, with Graham Norton as host.

—By Kristin
Brzoznowski