Bafta Film Awards, review: Can the BBC really justify this snoozefest's primetime slot?

Telegraph

16-02-2025

And the winner is… certainly not TV viewers. The Bafta Film Awards 2025 (BBC One) was a typically out-of-touch endurance test. If you managed to last the course without nodding off or feeling nauseous at all the gushing, you deserve a golden mask gong yourself.
Broadcast not-quite-live from London's Royal Festival Hall, the 78th annual shindig promised A-list glitz, spectacular gowns and spicy gossip. Sadly, by the time it arrived on our screens, it was all backslapping, strained banter and bland platitudes. The sheen of glamour couldn't conceal the fact that this was essentially a corporate awayday with ideas far above its station.
Presenter David Tennant – the first returning host since the Stephen Fry era ended in 2017, so he must be doing something right – wasn't afraid to get political in his opening monologue, calling President Trump a 'villain'. Cue whooping from the assembled thesps. The quip where he compared Trump to sleazy ghost Beetlejuice and demonic vampire Nosferatu was judiciously cut from the broadcast.
Proceedings opened with a pre-show skit in which Dame Helen Mirren, Jim Broadbent and Brian Cox, aka 'the gods of the Baftas', offered Tennant tips for his big night. The kilt-clad host arrived in the auditorium singing I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) by The Proclaimers and cajoling confused celebrities to join in. It made for a spirited and rousing introduction, even if there was sadly no sign of Tennant's adorable dog, Bark Ruffalo. Thereafter the pace sagged and the fun factor plummeted. The remainder of the 125-minute transmission was like wading through televisual treacle.
The musical turns could hardly have had their fingers further from the pulse. Veteran boy band Take That crooned their 17-year-old hit Greatest Day (which features on the Anora soundtrack), while septuagenarian actor Jeff Goldblum's jazzy piano stylings accompanied the 'In Memoriam' section. Did nobody south of 50 answer the phone?
Papal thriller Conclave led the pack with 12 nominations and duly scooped four baubles, including Best Film. It shared the flagship categories with awards-bait epic The Brutalist. Also a quadruple winner, the architectural marathon took home Best Leading Actor for Adrien Brody and Best Director for Brady Corbet.
In one of the night's few surprises, Demi Moore expected Best Actress victory failed to materialise. The accolade instead went to Mikey Madison for screwball caper Anora. 'I probably should have listened to my publicist and written a speech,' she said. Well, yes, it might have been nice. Kieran Culkin won Best Supporting Actor for A Real Pain but wasn't there to collect it in person, eliminating another possibility of an entertaining acceptance speech.
Best Animated Film and the night's new award, Best Children's & Family Film, were both rightly won by Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl. Celebratory Wensleydale all round. Let's just hope Feathers McGraw doesn't steal the trophy.
Mexican musical melodrama Emilia Pérez, which derailed its own awards campaign with an unedifying social media scandal, picked up a pair of prizes: Best Film Not in English and Best Supporting Actress for Zoe Saldaña. Director Jacques Audiard extended an olive branch to the film's disgraced star Karla Sofía Gascón, telling her 'my dear, I kiss you'. Naturally, this newsworthy nugget was left on the cutting room floor.
Irish hip hop trio Kneecap won Best British Debut for their self-titled comedy. At least, they did when Selena Gomez managed to read the cue card. Director Rich Peppiatt said the Irish republican rappers were 'a movement' and 'everyone should have their language, culture and homeland respected'. He dedicated the award to 'everyone out there who's fighting that fight'.
Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown went home empty-handed, although it was memorably described by Tennant as 'Mamma Mia! for middle-aged dads'. Bristolian beanpole Stephen Merchant delivered the night's funniest speech, denying that he was street artist Banksy and poking fun at Hollywood's tendency to recycle ideas.
An edible popcorn bucket, seaweed caviar and a 'zero-waste root vegetable bhaji' were on the menu for the 2,000 VIP guests as the Baftas embraced sustainability. The BBC could join in by doing some judicious housekeeping of its own. The Corporation should consider either demoting this annual event to BBC Two or broadcasting it live, like almost every other major awards show.
Airing on a two-hour delay seems ever more baffling in the social media age. The winners were all over the internet before this broadcast had even begun. As the gong-giving action unfolded, BBC One was showing an Antiques Roadshow repeat. Why the gap wasn't utilised to snip out some of the interminable walks to the stage, tumbleweed-worthy attempts at humour and endless thank-yous is a cinematic mystery.
Does this self-indulgent luvvie parade deserve to man-spread over more than two hours of weekend primetime? Recent ratings of around 3 million would suggest not. One felt for Call the Midwife fans, forced to miss their weekly fix of wimples and wailing babies for an industry backslapping session which attracts half the viewing figures. Coverage of this prestigious but po-faced ceremony needs a serious overhaul. The tireless Tennant did his bit. Now it's time for Bafta and the BBC to do theirs.