I May Destroy You bags two Baftas

Michaela Coel in I May Destroy You

Michaela Coel and her BBC/HBO drama I May Destroy You were among the winners at the in-person British Academy Television Awards (Baftas) yesterday.

Following its three wins at the Bafta Craft Awards in May, I May Destroy You won two more Baftas, triumphing in the Miniseries and Leading Actress categories.

The drama series, about a woman who seeks to rebuild her life after a sexual assault, was a huge success with both critics and audiences when it aired last year.

Sky thriller Save Me Too won the Drama Series category, while Sitting in Limbo, the BBC1 feature-length factual TV drama about the Windrush scandal, won for Single Drama.

The Leading Actor award was won by first-time nominee Paul Mescal for his performance as Connor in Normal People.

The awards, hosted by Richard Ayoade (The IT Crowd), also recognised Malachi Kirby, another first-time winner, for his performance in BBC anthology series Small Axe in the Supporting Actor category.

Rakie Ayola won her first Bafta for Supporting Actress for her performance in BBC1 drama Anthony, about Anthony Walker, a black youth murdered in Merseyside in 2005.

Aimee Lou Wood, another first-time nominee, won the Female Performance in a Comedy Programme award for playing Aimee Gibbs in Netflix’s Sex Education.

The Bafta for Male Performance in a Comedy Programme was awarded to Charlie Cooper for his turn in BBC3 mockumentary series This Country, while Romesh Ranganathan received the Bafta for Entertainment Performance for his BBC2 show The Ranganation.

Channel 4 chatshow The Big Narstie Show won in the Comedy Entertainment Programme category, its first win following its previous nomination in 2019, while the Bafta for Entertainment Programme was awarded to Sky Arts series Life & Rhymes.

The Scripted Comedy prize was awarded to BBC series Inside No 9, while Channel 4’s The School That Tried to End Racism received the Bafta for Reality and Constructed Factual. ITV show Long Lost Family: Born Without Trace won in the Features category and They Saw the Sun First won the Bafta for Shortform Programme.

The News Coverage award was won by Sky News’ Inside Idlib, and the award for Current Affairs was presented to America’s War on Abortion (Exposure), which aired on ITV. Welcome to Chechnya: The Gay Purge (BBC Storyville) won in the International category.

BBC2 documentary Once Upon a Time in Iraq received the Bafta for Factual Series, Locked In: Breaking the Silence (BBC Storyville) won Single Documentary and Netflix documentary The Surgeon’s Cut won Specialist Factual.

Sponsor Virgin Media’s Must-See Moment award, the only award voted for by the public, was won by Britain’s Got Talent for the moment when Diversity performed a routine inspired by the events of 2020.

Finally, BBC medical drama Casualty was awarded the Bafta for Soap and Continuing Drama, its first since 2018, and
C4’s The Great House Giveaway won the Bafta in the new Daytime category.