Happy Valley, Top Boy and The Sixth Commandment were the big winners at the Bafta television awards tonight.
A tearful Sarah Lancashire was named as leading actress for her portrayal of Sergeant Catherine Cawood in the final series of Sally Wainwright’s thriller set in Yorkshire.
Fighting back tears as she collected the gong, Lancashire said: “I feel very, very privileged to have been surrounded by these brilliant actors and I thank each and every one of you.”
She also thanked the BBC’s chief content officer Charlotte Moore and the broadcaster “for giving this very British drama a very British home”.
Gang drama Top Boy was named best drama series, while Jasmine Jobson was named best supporting actress for her role as Jaq Lawrence in the series about the lives of two drug dealers on a Hackney estate.
Collecting her prize, Jobson said: “I don’t know what to say, I’m so overwhelmed, I was not expecting this.
“I just try to do what I do to change a life and save a life.”
Timothy Spall took home the leading actor Bafta for true-crime series The Sixth Commandment, about the deaths of Peter Farquhar and Ann Moore-Martin in a quiet Buckinghamshire village.
The veteran star said: “I didn’t actually write anything down. Look it all up on IMDB and you will see who was involved because to each and every soul of them, they are brilliant.
“Acting is a stupid thing, it’s a soppy old thing, standing up pretending to be someone and pissing around in costume.
“Sixty-seven and you think ‘am I still doing this?’”
“But sometimes you get the chance to play people that have had a terrible thing happen to then and all they wanted was love, and it’s a beautiful thing to be able to tell a story about that. It’s about crimes but it’s also about love.
“And when it makes a difference and we can all share in the human condition, some of it horrible and some of it beautiful and even though acting is a silly stupid thing, its lovely,”
The drama also won the limited series Bafta.
Succession, which had been nominated for five awards, came away with one as Matthew Macfadyen won the supporting actor category for his performance as ambitious Tom Wambsgans but the actor did not attend the ceremony.
Strictly Come Dancing won the best entertainment prize in its 20th year on the air and Tess Daly, who co-hosts the show with Claudia Winkleman, celebrated the triumph, saying it was “the best birthday present” to mark two decades on the BBC.
The show first aired in 2004 as a new incarnation of the professional ballroom show Come Dancing.
Collecting the gong, Daly said: “We are properly and genuinely overwhelmed. Thank you Bafta for making it worth putting on Spanx on the hottest day of the year.”
Strictly defeated shows including Hannah Waddingham: Home For Christmas.
Ted Lasso and West End star Waddingham could be seen swigging from a miniature hip flask on her bracelet as the camera cut to her.
Awards hosts Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan looked bashful when their show Rob And Romesh VS won the comedy entertainment Bafta, while Mawaan Rizwan won the award for best male performance in a comedy for his role in Juice, about a young gay man who desperately wants to be the centre of attention, but his family keep stealing his thunder.
Accepting the award, Rizwan said: “Thank you to my therapist – we had a conversation last week where we said I had to stop relying on external forms of validation.”
Squid Game: The Challenge won the reality Bafta, while The Eurovision Song Contest 2023 won the award for live event coverage.
Waddingham, who co-hosted the contest in Liverpool, accepted the trophy, saying: “The week we had this time last year was, I know for everybody here, the most exceptional, stressful week but so fabulous.”
Former Play School children’s presenter Baroness Floella Benjamin was presented with Bafta’s highest honour, the Fellowship, by newsreader Clive Myrie.
In a video tribute, Bafta president the Prince of Wales sent his “heartfelt congratulations” and said he wanted to say “thank you” to the children’s TV presenter and campaigner.
Collecting the trophy, Baroness Benjamin said: “I feel blessed as I stand on the summit of life’s mountain looking back on life’s journey.”
Daytime stalwart Lorraine Kelly was also honoured at the ceremony with a special award.
Comedian Joe Lycett turned heads by turning up to the glitzy event dressed as Britain’s Tudor monarch Queen Elizabeth I, who reigned between 1558 and 1603.
The TV presenter wore a flowing silver cape, which resembled a gown and trailed along the floor, as well as an Elizabethan-style high ruff around his neck.
Lycett, who won the Entertainment Performance Award for his Channel 4 Comedy show Late Night Lycett, revealed on the red carpet that he agreed to wear the outfit after losing a bet with his aunts, Margaret and Pauline.
The funnyman said he agreed to don the period dress after they managed to get 100,000 followers on their new Instagram account.
A tearful Sarah Lancashire was named as leading actress for her portrayal of Sergeant Catherine Cawood in the final series of Sally Wainwright’s thriller set in Yorkshire.