Bafta TV Awards 2025, BBC One review: Alan Cumming turned the Festival Hall into a laugh-free zone

Telegraph

11-05-2025

First-time Bafta TV awards host Alan Cumming had cautioned viewers against expecting wall-to-wall jokes. 'I don't see it as a stand-up comedy routine,' he told the Telegraph, and goodness was he true to his word. Taking over from the deadpan duo of Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan, Cumming turned the ceremony at London's Royal Festival Hall into a laugh-free zone – starting with an opening monologue that had about as many chuckles as Mr Bates vs the Post Office, the state-of-the-nation drama that was one of the big winners of the evening.
Cumming kicked off with a skit about his day job as the face of The Traitors USA – a gag which might have struck a chord on the far side of the Atlantic but which, airing on BBC, was a reminder of how much better Traitors UK presenter Claudia Winkleman is at the cloak and dagger stuff.
His introductory remarks were rich in smarm, low on wit. There was a gag about Prince Andrew docudrama Scoop not having any ice cream and Troubles thriller Say Nothing being full of people talking constantly. A vague ripple of titters passed around the room.
Comedy wise Cumming never got out of first gear. Most of the zingers revolved around the two television shows he seemed to have watched last year: Traitors and Jilly Cooper romp Rivals. He will have been relieved to see that the celebrities handing out awards weren't any funnier. One excruciating low point featured actors Daniel Mays and Russell Tovey giving shout-outs to random members of the public before naming Mr Bates winner of Best Limited Drama. Mid-routine, the camera had cut to a bored-looking David Mitchell and then to an even more disconsolate James Corden. He hadn't looked so glum since forced to apologise for being rude to that waiter in New York.
Musical guests seemed to have wandered in from next year's Brit Awards. Tom Grennan bashed out a song that asks the audience to imagine a mildly funkier Ed Sheeran. Then came Jessie J's big comeback as she made her first TV appearance in six years. Alas, the diva-like majesty of her power ballad was undermined slightly by the decision to have her start singing from the middle of the crowd – her performance accompanied by shots of audience members wandering back from the loo.
The TV Baftas are, by their very nature, less searingly glitzy than the movie ceremony. The film Baftas have the stars of Hollywood; its TV sibling, the cast of Taskmaster. Still, amid the slog, there were some memorable moments, including appearances at the podium by a tearful Marisa Abela (winning Leading Actress for Industry), Danny Dyer, Lennie James, Ruth Jones, and Strictly's Dianne Buswell – the latter accepting the Memorable Moment prize on behalf of herself and the show's 2024 winning celeb Chris McCausland. There was even a genuine shock when Belfast police drama Blue Lights scored Best Drama ahead of head-chopping costume extravaganza Wolf Hall.
The In Memoriam section featured a beautiful performance by violinist Esther Abrami as it marked the passing of, among others, Michael Mosley, Henry Kelly, Tony Slattery, and original Shōgun actor Richard Chamberlain. Winning the Best Daytime category for his Caribbean Adventure, Clive Myrie, for his part, asked the industry to support the struggling independent sector.
Earlier, Mr Bates vs the Post Office's producer, Patrick Spence, had praised viewers for responding to the dramatisation of the scandal in which hundreds of sub-postmasters were falsely accused of theft. 'They showed in their responses we cannot abide liars and bullies,' he said. It was an all-too-rare display of genuine emotion in an evening full of sparkle but sadly lacking in substance. If he's asked back, Cumming should consider packing his joke book next time.