Medical and police dramas lead nominations for BAFTA TV Awards

The British Academy Television Awards (BAFTA) has announced its nominees for 2023. 

Topping the tables are the shows This Is Going to Hurt and The Responder each collecting six nominations in major categories.

Author and ex-doctor Adam Kay’s TV adaptation of his book ‘This is Going To Hurt’ brought his complex fictional junior doctor persona to the screen with an incredible performance from Ben Whishaw. The dramatic take on the overworked and stressful environment of the UK’s NHS service rocked audiences and also earned Kay a Best Writing nomination in the parallel BAFTA TV Craft Awards.

The Responder also featured a celebrated actor in a tense workplace drama from a writer who used to live the profession. Martin Freeman starred as a conflicted police officer and was written by ex-police officer Tony Schumacher.

Martin Freeman in ‘The Responder’BBC

With five nominations, Irish actor and writer Sharon Horgan’s black comedy Bad Sisters and revisionist western series The English starring Emily Blunt are standouts of the announcement.

For the sixth and final series of the 1930s Birmingham-based gangster show Peaky Blinders, lead actor Cillian Murphy has also picked up his first nomination.

While the BAFTAs focus on British television, in the Best International Programme category, mega-hits Wednesday and The Bear have also picked up nominations, alongside Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story and The White Lotus. 

Sarah Greene, Eve Hewson, Sharon Horgan and Eva Birthistle in ‘Bad Sisters’Apple TV+

Representing some of the most dramatic British news stories of the past year, the Best Live Event also highlights Queen Elizabeth II’s Jubilee party and her funeral.

The BBC stands as the big winner in terms of nominations. The broadcaster received 81 nominations, with Channel 4 trailing with 33, and Netflix with 24.

The BAFTA TV Awards will be presented at a ceremony on 14 May.

Here are the nominees:

Best Drama series

Bad Sisters — Apple TV+
The Responder — BBC One
Sherwood — BBC One
Somewhere Boy — Channel 4

Best Scripted comedy

Am I Being Unreasonable? — BBC One
Big Boys — Channel 4
Derry Girls — Channel 4
Ghosts — BBC One

Best Single drama

I Am Ruth — Channel 4
The House — Netflix
Life and Death in the Warehouse — BBC Three

Best Mini-Series

A Spy Among Friends — ITVX
Mood — BBC Three
The Thief, His Wife And The Canoe — ITV1
This Is Going To Hurt — BBC One

Best Soap and Continuing Drama

Casualty — BBC One
EastEnders — BBC One
Emmerdale — ITV1

Best Comedy Entertainment Programme

Friday Night Live — Channel 4
The Graham Norton Show — BBC One
Taskmaster — Channel 4
Would I Lie To You? — BBC One

Best Actor

Ben Whishaw, This Is Going To Hurt — BBC One
Chaske Spencer, The English — BBC Two
Cillian Murphy, Peaky Blinders — BBC One
Gary Oldman, Slow Horses — Apple TV+
Martin Freeman, The Responder — BBC One
Taron Egerton, Black Bird — Apple TV+

Best Actress

Billie Piper, I Hate Suzie Too — Sky Atlantic
Imelda Staunton, The Crown — Netflix
Kate Winslet, I Am Ruth — Channel 4
Maxine Peake, Anne — ITV1
Sarah Lancashire, Julia — Sky Atlantic
Vicky McClure, Without Sin — ITVX

Best Supporting Actor

Adeel Akhtar, Sherwood — BBC One
Jack Lowden, Slow Horses — Apple TV+
Josh Finan, The Responder — BBC One
Salim Daw, The Crown — Netflix
Samuel Bottomley, Somewhere Boy — Channel 4
Will Sharpe, The White Lotus — Sky Atlantic

Best Supporting Actress

Adelayo Adedayo, The Responder — BBC One
Anne-Marie Duff, Bad Sisters — Apple TV+
Fiona Shaw, Andor — Disney+
Jasmine Jobson, Top Boy — Netflix
Lesley Manville, Sherwood — BBC One
Saffron Hocking, Top Boy — Netflix

Best Male Comedy Performance

Daniel Radcliffe, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story — The Roku Channel
Jon Pointing, Big Boys — Channel 4
Joseph Gilgun, Brassic — Sky Max
Lenny Rush, Am I Being Unreasonable? — BBC One
Matt Berry, What We Do In The Shadows — Disney+
Stephen Merchant, The Outlaws — BBC One

Best Female Comedy Performance

Daisy May Cooper, Am I Being Unreasonable? — BBC One
Diane Morgan, Cunk On Earth — BBC Two
Lucy Beaumont, Meet The Richardsons — Dave
Natasia Demetriou, Ellie & Natasia — BBC Three
Siobhán Mcsweeney, Derry Girls — Channel 4
Taj Atwal, Hullraisers — Channel 4

Best Entertainment Performance

Big Zuu, Big Zuu’s Big Eats — Dave
Claudia Winkleman, The Traitors — BBC One
Lee Mack, The 1% Club — ITV1
Mo Gilligan, The Lateish Show With Mo Gilligan — Channel 4
Rosie Jones, Rosie Jones’ Trip Hazard — Channel 4
Sue Perkins, Sue Perkins: Perfectly Legal — Netflix

Best Factual Series

Jeremy Kyle Show: Death On Daytime — Channel 4
Libby, Are You Home Yet? — Sky Crime
Vatican Girl: The Disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi — Netflix
Worlds Collide: The Manchester Bombing — ITV1

Best Specialist Factual

Aids: The Unheard Tapes — BBC Two
The Green Planet — BBC One
How To Survive a Dictator With Munya Chawawa — Channel 4
Russia 1985-1999: Traumazone — BBC iPlayer

Best Single Documentary

Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes — Sky Documentaries
Escape From Kabul Airport — BBC Two
Our Falklands War: A Frontline Story — BBC Two
The Real Mo Farah — BBC One

Best Feature

Big Zuu’s Big Eats — Dave
Joe Lycett vs Beckham: Got Your Back At Xmas — Channel 4
The Martin Lewis Money Show Live — ITV1
The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan — BBC Two

Best Reality and Constructed Factual

Freddie Flintoff’s Field of Dreams — BBC One
RuPaul’s Drag Race UK — BBC Three
The Traitors — BBC One
We Are Black and British — BBC Two

Best Live Event

Concert For Ukraine — ITV1
Platinum Jubilee: Party At The Palace — BBC One
The State Funeral of HM Queen Elizabeth II — BBC One

Best News Coverage

BBC News at Ten: Russia Invades Ukraine — BBC One
Channel 4 News: Live in Kyiv — Channel 4
Good Morning Britain: Boris Johnson Interview — ITV1

Best Current Affairs

Afghanistan: No Country For Women (Exposure) — ITV1
Children of the Taliban — Channel 4
The Crossing (Exposure) — ITV1
Mariupol: The People’s Story (Panorama) — BBC One

Best Daytime

The Chase — ITV1
The Repair Shop: A Royal Visit — BBC One
Scam Interceptors — BBC One

Best Short Form Programme

Always, Asifa — Together TV
Biscuitland — All 4
How To Be a Person — E4
Kingpin Cribs — Channel 4

Best International Programme

The Bear — Disney+
Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story — Netflix
Wednesday — Netflix
Oussekine — Disney+
Pachinko — Apple TV+
The White Lotus — Sky Atlantic

Best Sport

Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games — BBC One
Uefa Women’s Euro 2022 — BBC One
Wimbledon 2022 — BBC One

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