Charles III star first contender for lead actor TV Bafta after death
TIM PIGOTT-SMITH has become the first person to be nominated posthumously for a lead actor TV Bafta. The actor has been recognised for his performance in King Charles III, a BBC Two adaptation, which was broadcast after he died aged 70 in April last year.
Pigott-smith previously won the television Bafta for his lead role in The
Jewel in the Crown, the 1984 series. For the Broadway and West End productions of King Charles III, in which he also played the title role, the play won the Olivier Award and the Critics’ Circle Theatre Award.
Pigott-smith was awarded an OBE a month before he died for his services to drama. While he is the first to be posthumously nominated for a lead actor television Bafta, Pete Postlethwaite was nominated for best supporting actor in 2010 for his performance in Ben Affleck’s The Town less than a month after his death. Oliver Reed was also nominated for that award after he died in 2000, for his performance in
Gladiator, Ridley Scott’s Roman epic. John Grant, Pigott-smith’s former agent, told The Daily Telegraph: “It is wonderful news that Tim’s remarkable performance in Charles III has been recognised by Bafta. It is a fitting tribute to his long and illustrious career.
“He had a rare and much admired talent and it was a privilege and a joy to represent such a charming actor.”
Other contenders for the best lead actor Bafta include Jack Rowan, for his performance in Born To Kill, the Channel 4 drama; Joe Cole, who had the lead on Hang The DJ, part of the Black Mirror Netflix series; and Sean Bean, who starred in Broken, the BBC drama. Anthony Mcpartlin and Declan Donnelly – Ant and Dec – have had two of their programmes nominated. Saturday
Night Takeaway and Britain’s Got Talent are both up for best entertainment programme. The news of their nominations comes after Donnelly presented their Saturday night show alone as Mcpartlin faced drink-driving charges.
The comedy pair have scored 13 awards as a pair, and Saturday Night
Takeaway scooped the award for best entertainment programme last year.
For the first time, all the shows in the scripted comedy section include a woman in their writing teams. And two comedy shows with majority black casts are up for awards – Famalam,
BBC Two’s sketch show, and Timewasters, ITV2’S time-slip sitcom.
Line of Duty, the BBC’S police procedural, is the most successful television show on the list, achieving four nominations, including for best drama series.
The Crown, Netflix’s royal drama, is nominated in three categories. Claire Foy, who plays the Queen, has been nominated for the second year in a row, while Vanessa Kirby – who plays Princess Margaret – was nominated for best supporting actress. The drama was nominated for best drama series.
Blue Planet II, the David Attenborough-narrated documentary series that stirred the nation into action over the world’s over-reliance on plastics, and broadcast the devastating footage of a mother whale carrying her dead calf, has been nominated for best specialist factual and the audience-voted award for Virgin’s must-see moments.
The awards take place on May 13, hosted by Sue Perkins.