Bafta TV Awards 2019: the five biggest snubs

BBC spy thriller Killing Eve scooped three high-profile prizes at the Baftas last night but there were also some notable snubs.

Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s cat-and-mouse series took home Best Drama Series, Best Actress for Jodie Comer and Best Supporting Actress for Fiona Shaw.

Other big winners included Benedict Cumberbatch for Best Actor in Patrick Melrose and Ben Whishaw for Best Supporting Actor in A Very English Scandal.

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Here are the shows that missed out.

The Bodyguard

Jed Mercurio’s Bodyguard was the most-watched drama of 2018. Its finale peak of 11 million had not been reached on the BBC since Doctor Who’s Christmas Day episode in 2008. Yet it lost in five categories, including Best Drama, Best Actress and Best Director. The sole award it did pick up was the Must-See Moment, “the only trophy decided by public vote, which suggests a gulf between audience and industry values”, says Mark Lawson in The Guardian.

Derry Girls

Viewers were left “outraged” that Derry Girls did not win the Scripted Comedy award, according to the Daily Express. The show has been praised by fans and critics for treading a delicate line between comedy and the sensitive subject matter of The Troubles, but it lost last night to Sally4Ever by Julia Davis.

The Cry

Other viewers were disappointed by the lack of recognition for Jenna Coleman’s performance in The Cry. Her role as an unravelling new mother whose baby is abducted from a small coastal town in Australia was praised by The Independent as “brilliant” but the show received no nominations.

Black Mirror: Bandersnatch

One of the few Netflix shows to be nominated, Bandersnatch was overshadowed by BBC Three’s Killed By My Debt in the Single Drama category. The decision to snub the “truly innovative interactive edition of Charlie Brooker’s technological horror series may be thought to reflect hostility in the UK TV community against Netflix”, says Lawson in the Guardian.

Barry Chuckle

Paul Chuckle was feeling put-out after his late brother Barry failed to get a mention in the show’s in memoriam tributes, reports The Sun. Responding to a fan who questioned why the comic wasn’t included following his death last August, Paul tweeted: “I quite agree my friend. We received our BAFTAs ten years ago. He should have been mentioned.”