'Let's hear it for the long-running, unsung heroes of TV, as they win a BAFTA'
The one thing you can be sure about when it comes to the Bafta TV Awards is that it's impossible to predict who will go home with a gong. On Sunday night many big shows who'd done well in the nominations came away empty-handed, including The Traitors (up for three), Slow Horses (also three) and Rivals (three again).
But it did turn out to be a very good night for the long-running underdog, with several previously unsung small-screen heroes leaving with their hands full of golden mask.
In the entertainment category, Would I Lie to You? has run for 18 series and been nominated a whopping eight times, but never left with the prize. Its triumph this time, after so many near misses, sparked a hilarious comment from team captain Lee Mack about presenter Rob Brydon having fronted the adverts for this year's sponsor P&O Cruises. 'The whiff of scandal is in the air,' Brydon laughingly agreed.
It's understandable they were a bit worried about returning to filming the latest series today, having potentially 'peaked'. 'The BAFTA winning series is finished and statistically this is probably the beginning of another non-BAFTA winning series,' Mitchell gloomily quipped afterwards. 'It does feel a bit like when the old fellow at work gets the carriage clock,' Mack agreed. 'You know he's not going to be around next year."
There was similar surprise from BBC Breakfast, who made a debut win in the news category for a special report on the Post Office scandal. Collecting the award, the programme's editor Richard Frediani thanked the brave contributors before dedicating the award to all those who 'toil through the night' to make early-bird programming. 'Breakfast TV has been around for more than 40 years and has never won this award - so this is for everybody who's ever worked in breakfast TV,' he declared.
It was a similar story in the live event category, won by BBC Studios Music Productions for its extensive Glastonbury coverage. Collecting the award, executive producer Alison Howe was greeted with wild applause as she said: 'This is such a big moment for us. We've been covering the Glastonbury Festival for the BBC for nearly three decades - and this is our first Bafta.'
There's no way that Strictly Come Dancing could be described as an underdog, as it has many Baftas to its name. But it does seem fitting - for its 20th anniversary year - that the show became the first ever to win twice in the category voted for by the public. Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell made a little bit of history as they followed in the footsteps of Rose Ayling-Ellis and Giovanni Pernice from 2021.
And EastEnders also managed to triumph in its 40th anniversary year, which must have been particularly sweet for outgoing boss Chris Clenshaw on the day that Danny Dyer made headlines for saying the show has been 'sh*t' since he left.
Bafta begged to differ - and we know Danny loves Bafta don't we? Because he won one too.
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