BAFTAs told of industry 'turmoil' as Top Boy, Happy Valley pick up ...

UK crime dramas Top Boy and Happy Valley were among the big winners at last night’s BAFTA TV Awards in England, as attendees bemoaned the embattled state of the content industry.

Former children’s presenter Floella Benjamin spoke of a screen sector “in turmoil” and BAFTA chair Sara Putt acknowledged a “really tough year,” as celebrities in tuxedos and ball gowns posed for cameras on the red carpet at London’s Royal Festival Hall.

Netflix’s Top Boy, which stars Ashley Walters and Kane Robinson as rival drug dealers, took home the drama series gong, beating The Gold, Happy Valley (both BBC One) and Apple TV+’s Slow Horses.

Top Boy’s Jasmine Jobson scooped the supporting actress award for her role as gangster Jaq in the fifth and final season of the show, which is executive produced by rapper Drake.

Baroness Benjamin

Yorkshire-set police procedural Happy Valley, produced by Lookout Point TV, meanwhile, was victorious in the P&O Cruises Memorable Moment category, for the show’s final kitchen showdown between cop Catherine Cawood and her nemesis, murderer Tommy Lee Royce.

Sarah Lancashire, who plays Cawood, was also presented with the leading actress award.

One of the night’s biggest shocks was in the international category, where Netflix’s French miniseries Class Act bettered HBO’s critically lauded Succession and hit Disney+ chef comedy-drama The Bear.

Perhaps also surprising was Timothy Spall being honoured as best leading actor, ahead of hotly tipped contenders such as Succession’s Brian Cox, The Crown’s Dominic West and Top Boy’s Kane Robinson.

Succession’s Matthew MacFadyen triumphed in the supporting actor category for his role as Tom Wambsgans.

BBC One’s true-crime series The Sixth Commandment scooped the best limited drama gong.

The comedy categories saw victories for Black Op’s Gbemisola Ikumelo (female performance), Juice’s Mawaan Rizwan (male performance), Such Brave Girls (scripted comedy) and Rob & Romesh Vs… (comedy entertainment).

The 70th BAFTA TV Awards were broadcast on BBC One and hosted by comedians Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan.

Voters favoured BBC One’s long-running medical drama Casualty over EastEnders and Emmerdale in the soap category.

In unscripted, meanwhile, there were wins for Strictly Come Dancing (entertainment programme), Joe Lycett (entertainment performance), White Nanny (specialist factual), Scam Interceptors (daytime), The Shamima Begum Story (current affairs), and Hannah Waddington: Home for Christmas (entertainment).

Top Boy picked up the best drama BAFTA

It was a night to celebrate for All3Media-backed prodco Studio Lambert, which collected awards for both Celebrity Race Across the World (factual entertainment) and Squid Game: The Challenge (reality), coproduced with The Garden.

In factual, there were victories for ITV’s Ellie Simmonds: Finding My Secret Family (single documentary), Channel 5’s White Nanny, Black Child (specialist factual), Sky Documentaries’ Lockerbie (factual series) and Channel 4 News: Inside Gaza, Israel and Hamas at War (news coverage).

Rounding out the awards, the Eurovision Song Contest won best live event, BBC Three’s Mobility bagged a short film honour and Cheltenham Festival Day One was voted best sport show.

Amidst the glitz, glamour and celebrations, the current contraction in the content industry did not go unnoticed.

On accepting her BAFTA fellowship, Baroness Benjamin (Play School), who now sits in the House of Lords, said: “Our industry is in turmoil, facing new technology, cuts and unemployment. So government must provide creative survival solutions as we navigate this rapidly changing landscape.”

Speaking before the awards, BAFTA chair Sara Putt said: “It’s been a really tough year for so many in our industry – for freelancers, indies, PSBs and broadcasters alike.”