BAFTA: ‘The Crown’ spurned as ‘Happy Valley’ triumphs
LONDON: Netflix’s ‘ The Crown’ was spurned as BBC’s ‘ Happy Valley’ was named Best Drama, with Sarah Lancashire winning the Best Actress title.
That summed up this year’s BAFTA TV Awards – UK’s equivalent of the Emmys.
‘ The Crown’ was snubbed, failing to collect any of its five nominations at the Royal Festival Hall on Sunday night.
Elsewhere, Phoebe WallerBridge claimed the best female performance in a comedy programme award for ‘Fleabag’ and ‘ The Night Manager’s’ Tom Hollander went home with the Best Supporting Actor award. Best actor went to Adeel Akhtar, who pipped Benedict Cumberbatch in the category.
Fans of ‘ The Crown’ were left outraged after the show, which follows the reign of a young Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, failed to score any prizes.
Claire Foy lost out on her big acting award to Sarah Lancashire, who plays Sgt Catherine Cawood in ‘Happy Valley’.
Vanessa Kirby, who plays Elizabeth’s younger sister Princess Margaret on the show, then lost out to Wunmi Mosaku on the night, for her powerful performance in the BBC’s ‘Damilola, Our Loved Boy’.
John Lithgow and Jared Harris then lost out in the Supporting Actor category for their roles as Winston Churchill and King George VI, to Tom Hollander for his role in ‘The Night Manager’.
Viewers immediately took to Twitter to express their outrage at the results - and speculate whether the outcome would have been different if the series was not aired on the streaming site.
One disgruntled fan wrote: ‘Shameful that #TheCrown didn’t win a single tonight but let’s face it, it was far too British to stand a chance this year.’
The night ended with Joanna Lumley being awarded BAFTA’s highest honour, the BAFTA Fellowship. The TV icon used the opportunity to praise her ‘Absolutely Fabulous’ collaborator Jennifer Saunders.
“You write it, I just do it,” she deadpanned.