19.03.02
Nominations
announced for The British Academy Television Awards Sponsored by
Radio Times
The
television phenomenon Pop Idol has won major recognition in the
list of nominations for the British Academy Television Awards sponsored
by Radio Times, which were unveiled today. The programme that captivated
millions of viewers, and captured miles of column inches, is nominated
in the Entertainment Programme or Series category alongside Have
I Got News For You, Parkinson and Room 101.
Meanwhile
Pop Idol presenters Ant and Dec find themselves nominated in the
Entertainment Performance category. The Geordie double act will
do battle with John Bird and John Fortune for Bremner, Bird and
Fortune, Paul Merton for Have I Got News For You, and last year's
winner Graham Norton for So Graham Norton.
Chris
Tarrant will host the prestigious British Academy Television Awards
at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane on Sunday 21 April. Hundreds of
stars of the small screen are expected to attend the glittering
ceremony to celebrate with the British Academy, the television industry
and sponsors Radio Times.
As
ever, the cream of the British acting community has been recognized
in the Actress and Actor categories:
Lindsay
Duncan is nominated for her role in Perfect Strangers as is Sheila
Hancock for Russian Bride, Lesley Sharp for Bob & Rose and Julie
Walters for her role in My Beautiful Son.
In
the Actor category, Michael Gambon, who has taken home this particular
BAFTA for the last two years, secures another nomination for Perfect
Strangers, as does Alan Bates for Love in A Cold Climate, Timothy
Spall for Vacuuming Completely Nude in Paradise and David Suchet
for The Way We Live Now.
Another
of 2001's most talked about television programmes, The Office, is
rewarded with a nomination for Situation Comedy alongside Gimme
Gimme Gimme, Happiness and Spaced II. The Office also scoops another
nomination for its creator Ricky Gervais for Comedy Performance,
as does Kathy Burke for Gimme Gimme Gimme. My Family's Robert Lindsay
and Absolutely Fabulous' Joanna Lumley will also contest this Comedy
Performance category.
In
Comedy Programme or Series, perhaps the most provocative programme
of last year, the Brass Eye Special, receives a nomination alongside
Bremner, Bird And Fortune, The Kumars at No 42 and The Sketch Show.
Brass Eye Special will also wrestle with Blue Planet, Double Take
and Banzai in the Innovation Category.
Blue
Planet also notches up a nomination in the Factual Series or Strand
category with Horizon, Langan Behind the Lines and Welcome to Britain.
As
well as nominations for its leading actor and actress, Perfect Strangers
has also been recognised in the Drama Serial category. It faces
competition from Bob & Rose, Russian Bride and The Way We Live
Now.
For
Single Drama, My Beautiful Son goes up against The Navigators, Othello
and When I was 12, while Drama Series sees last year's winners Clocking
Off take on At Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ With The Braithwaites, Cold Feet and Tales From
the Pleasure Beach.
The
BAFTA Award for Soap has been residing at The Woolpack in Emmerdale
for the past year but won't be returning for a while, as the nominations
this time round are EastEnders, Coronation Street, Hollyoaks and
Doctors.
This
year, News and Current Affairs has been split into two categories
and not surprisingly the events of September 11 2001 dominate the
News Coverage category. Both Channel 4 and ITV News receive nominations
for Attack on America - 11 September while Sky News secures a nod
for September 11th -12th. The Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ News Coverage of the Fall of Kabul
12-13 November completes the category.
In
the Current Affairs category, the nominations are Beneath the Veil,
Endgame in Ireland, Jeffery Archer: A Life of Lies and One Day of
Terror - New York Witnesses.
The
Richard Dimbleby Award for the Best Presenter pits Michael Parkinson
for his chat show against Jeremy Paxman for Newsnight and Simon
Schama for A History of Britain. Louis Theroux, last year's winner
for Weird Weekends is nominated again - this time for When Louis
Met Β…
Theroux
also secures a second nomination in the Flaherty Documentary category
with When Louis Met the Hamiltons but will fight it out with Battle
Centres (True Stories), Ellen MacArthur: Sailing Through Heaven
and Hell, and Kelly and her Sisters.
Nominations
for The Huw Wheldon Award for Specialist Factual include 1940's
House, The Private Dirk Bogarde (Arena), The Six Wives of Henry
VIII and Walk on By: The Story of Popular Song.
After
They Were Famous: The Sound of Music Children, Faking It, The Farmer
Wants A Wife and What Not to Wear compete for the Features BAFTA.
As
ever there's no lack of top quality competition in the Sport category
with the British Grand Prix Silverstone 2001 taking on Channel 4
Cricket, FA Cup Final 2001: Liverpool vs Arsenal, and Germany vs
England.
Four
BAFTAs in The Gift of the Academy - The Dennis Potter Award, The
Alan Clarke Award, a Fellowship of the Academy and a Special - will
also be presented on the night.
Amanda
Berry, Chief Executive of BAFTA, said: "It
has been another truly memorable year of achievement and this is
reflected in the calibre of nominations unveiled today. We at BAFTA
are looking forward to honouring all the nominees at the British
Academy Television Awards on Sunday 21st April at the Theatre Royal
Drury Lane."
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