Benjamin’s Bafta warning as Top Boy triumphs
The television industry is “in turmoil” and needs “creative survival solutions” from the government, the children’s TV presenter and peer Floella Benjamin has said as she accepted her Bafta fellowship.
Benjamin, known for shows such as Play School, was praised in a video recording by Prince William at the Bafta Television Awards yesterday for being “an unwavering champion of inclusion” and her power to “remind us of the power of empathy”.
The veteran television star said that whenever she had spoken out throughout her career she had been told “shut up or you’ll never work again”, but she had made it her mission for half a century to get broadcasters to “have diversity and inclusion in their DNA”.
During a glittering evening on the banks of the Thames, when the crime drama Top Boy won best drama series, Benjamin used her speech to call for more help for the television industry and “high quality, regulated content” for children.
“Our industry is in turmoil, facing new technology, cuts and unemployment,” she said. “So government must provide creative, survival solutions as we navigate this rapidly changing landscape.”
On a night that closed a chapter of prestige television – with 2023 seeing finales from The Crown, Succession and Happy Valley, as well as Top Boy – the Bafta chair, Sara Putt, echoed the sentiment.
Speaking before the awards, Putt said the UK was a nation of “natural storytellers” who had created a “brilliantly mixed economy” of television, but in a speech to attenders she acknowledged that it had been “a really tough year for so many in our industry. For freelancers, indies, [public service broadcasters] and broadcasters alike.”
Top Boy, which came to a “powerful and potent conclusion” at the end of last year, won two awards, with Jasmine Jobson accepting the Bafta for best supporting actress.
The Crown left empty handed after leading the field with eight nominations, while Happy Valley collected two awards. Succession went home with one: best supporting actor for Matthew Macfadyen, for his role as Tom Wambsgans in the HBO drama.
After winning the Bafta for leading actress, the star of Happy Valley Sarah Lancashire thanked the writer Sally Wainwright and the BBC “for giving this very British drama a very British home”. The show also won in the most memorable TV moment category for its final showdown.
Accepting his Bafta for leading actor for his role in The Sixth Commandment, Timothy Spall said it was a “beautiful thing” to tell the story of people who had been through horror.
In glorious sunshine, the stars of British TV walked down the red carpet into the Royal Festival Hall as crowds on London’s South Bank tried to catch a glimpse. Among the tuxedos and ball gowns was Joe Lycett dressed as Queen Elizabeth I, replete with a full ruff, thanks to a lost bet. Collecting the entertainment performance Bafta for his show Late Night Lycett, he thanked his “mum and dad, Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII”.
Opening the ceremony, the cohosts Romesh Ranganathan and Rob Beckett joked that stars accepting their awards should keep their speeches short and sweet. “If you find you’re lost for words, good. Keep it that way,” quipped Beckett.
Strictly Come Dancing, presented by Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman, won the best entertainment Bafta in its 20th year.