BBC dramas Small Axe and I May Destroy You are among the most nominated shows in a Bafta TV Awards shortlist strong on diversity.
Steve McQueen’s five-part anthology Small Axe leads the way, with 15 nominations including five acting nods and a huge showing in the Craft awards, in categories such as Costume Design (Jacqueline Durran), Make-up and Hair Design (JoJo Williams) and Production Design (Helen Scott). McQueen is up for Director - Fiction and shares an Editing – Fiction nomination with collaborator Chris Dickens.
Netflix’s royal drama The Crown is next in line with 10 nominations, followed by eight for Michaela Coel’s acclaimed BBC1 drama series I May Destroy You. Coel herself is up for Leading Actress and Writer – Drama and shares a Director – Fiction nod with co-director Sam Miller. The editing team on the 12-part series is also up for Editing – Fiction and its other nominations include Make-up and Hair Design (Bethany Swan).
This year, Bafta formally implemented the BFI Diversity Standards for the Television and Television Craft Award, which it piloted in 2020.
Productions had to show they addressed under-representation in the industry in one of four areas: on-screen representation, themes and narratives; project leadership and creative practitioners; industry access and opportunities; and opportunities for diversity in audience development.
Young skew
This year’s crop of nominations feature several series that skewed towards a younger audience, including recognition for BBC3’s Normal People, Netflix’s Sex Education, Channel 4’s Adult Education and Sky drama I Hate Suzie.
Factual is dominated by BBC2’s Once Upon a Time In Iraq, which has scored four nominations, including Director – Factual (James Bluemel) and two separate Editing – Factual nods (Will Grayburn, episode two, and Anna Price, episode three).
The Emerging Talent – Factual list comprises Ashley Francis-Roy, shooting producer/director on Channel 4’s Damilola – The Boy Next Door and The Real Eastenders; Jessica Kelly, director of BBC News Arabic documentaries The Schools That Chain Boys and Silicon Valley’s Online Slave Market; Kandise Abiola, producer of YouTube’s Terms & Conditions: A UK Drill Story; and Marian Mohamed, director of BBC3 doc Defending Digga D.
Battling it out in Emerging Talent – Fiction are: Georgi Banks-Davies, lead director on I Hate Suzie; Harry Tulley, dubbing mixer on BBC1 single drama Anthony; Stephen S. Thompson, writer of BBC1’s Sitting in Limbo; and William Stefan Smith, director of Channel 4’s On the Edge: BBW.
For a full list of nominees click here: https://www.bafta.org/television/awards/tv-2021