• Adolescence won four BAFTA TV Awards — the most ever won by a single series in one night, surpassing Killing Eve and Happy Valley.
• Owen Cooper, 16, became the youngest ever BAFTA supporting actor winner, completing a historic sweep of every major TV acting award.
• Stephen Graham won best leading actor on his eighth nomination — his first BAFTA win ever.
• The Celebrity Traitors and Last One Laughing each took two prizes, while Gaza: Doctors Under Attack won current affairs after the BBC refused to air it.
• Dame Mary Berry received the BAFTA Fellowship at 91, and Martin Lewis gave an emotional speech accepting the Special Award.

Netflix’s Adolescence has done it again. The four-part limited series capped one of the most decorated runs in television history on Sunday night, walking away from the 2026 BAFTA TV Awards with four prizes — a record haul that no show has ever matched at the ceremony. Not Killing Eve. Not Happy Valley. Nobody.

The ceremony, hosted by Taskmaster’s Greg Davies at London’s Royal Festival Hall, saw the Jack Thorne- and Stephen Graham-created drama take home best limited drama, best leading actor for Graham, best supporting actor for Owen Cooper, and best supporting actress for Christine Tremarco. Combined with two BAFTA TV Craft Awards won earlier this season, it’s been a clean sweep that feels almost surreal in its completeness.

Producer Mark Herbert, accepting the limited drama award on behalf of the cast and crew, captured the show’s raw power in one line: “Jack and Stephen, your amazing script — it ripped out our hearts and punched us in the gut.” He added that the production’s on-set motto, printed on every call sheet, was simple: “Don’t be a dick.”

Owen Cooper Makes History — Again

At 16 years old, Owen Cooper is now the youngest actor ever to win the BAFTA supporting actor prize. But that’s almost a footnote at this point. The teenager — who had zero professional acting experience before being cast as 13-year-old Jamie Miller, a boy accused of murdering a female classmate — has now won the Emmy, the Golden Globe, the Critics’ Choice Award, the Actor Award, and the BAFTA. He’s the youngest actor in history to sweep all four major U.S. TV awards for a single performance, and now he’s done the same on home soil.

“Wow, it’s heavy that to be fair,” Cooper said as he lifted the award. “A year ago this time last year I was presenting an award and now I’m collecting one, so this is a bit mad.”

He dedicated his win with a quote that’s already becoming his signature: “In the words of John Lennon, you won’t get anything unless you have the vision to imagine it.” Then he laid out his personal formula for success — “One, an obsession. Two, a dream. And three, the Beatles.”

His central episode of Adolescence, filmed in a single unbroken hour-long take opposite Erin Doherty as clinical psychologist Briony Ariston, was the kind of television that people will still be talking about in ten years. Cooper beat out a stacked field that included his own castmate Ashley Walters and Paddy Considine in MobLand.

Graham Finally Gets His BAFTA

For Stephen Graham, Sunday night was deeply personal. He’s been nominated at the BAFTA TV Awards eight times across his career — all in acting categories — and never won. That changed in spectacular fashion.

“I’ve been nominated eight times and it’s the first time I’ve won,” he told the audience. “Nice one BAFTA, this is lovely.”

Graham co-created, co-wrote, executive produced, and starred in Adolescence — playing Eddie Miller, a plumber and father thrust into the nightmare of his 13-year-old son’s arrest. He produced the series through Matriarch Productions, the banner he co-founded in 2020 with his wife Hannah Walters, alongside Warp Films and Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment. The series, directed by Philip Barantini in four unbroken continuous takes with no cuts or digital blending, premiered on March 13, 2025 and became the second-most-watched English-language series in Netflix history.

He used his moment at the podium to speak to something bigger. “We’re not digging holes, we’re not digging ditches, we’re not saving lives, but we have the opportunity to tell the human condition, and we have the obligation to tell beautiful stories and we need to keep that going,” he said. And then, following his young co-star’s lead, he closed with the same reference: “The kid’s already said it, but in the words of the Beatles, all we need is love.”

He also had a direct message for any children watching: “No matter where you’re from, anything is possible.”

Graham has already collected the Primetime Emmy, the Golden Globe, and the Critics’ Choice Award for the role. He also co-wrote the series with Jack Thorne, and won the Emmy for writing alongside him. Thorne, for his part, attended Downing Street to meet Prime Minister Keir Starmer to discuss the show’s themes around online safety and incel culture — and Netflix made the series freely available to schools as a teaching resource.

Christine Tremarco, who played Jamie’s mother Manda, won best supporting actress — a mild surprise given that Adolescence co-star Erin Doherty was also nominated in the same category for her work on the show. Tremarco dedicated her win to the production’s family spirit. The show received 12 nominations across the BAFTA Television and Craft Awards, entering Sunday night with 11 in the TV ceremony alone.

The Rest of the Night’s Big Moments

The Celebrity Traitors — BBC One’s most-watched programme of 2025 with over 15 million viewers — won best reality programme, with host Claudia Winkleman accepting and dedicating it to the “extraordinary cast who played with dignity, gusto and their entire hearts.” Alan Carr’s victory on the show was also voted the year’s most memorable TV moment in the public-voted P&O Cruises Memorable Moment Award. Carr’s acceptance speech was characteristically self-deprecating: “Was I good? Was I really — or were the other celebrities just thick?!”

Prime Video’s Last One Laughing took best entertainment programme and saw Bob Mortimer win best entertainment performance, beating out Claudia Winkleman and a field that included Lee Mack and Romesh Ranganathan.

Narges Rashidi won best leading actress for playing Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe in BBC One’s Prisoner 951. Born in Iran herself, Rashidi delivered one of the night’s most moving speeches, dedicating the award directly to Zaghari-Ratcliffe: “Your resilience, your dignity, your love through impossible circumstances have moved us all. Your courage will stay with me for the rest of my life. This is for you.”

ITV’s Code of Silence — starring Rose Ayling-Ellis as a deaf woman who assists police with her lip-reading skills — won best drama series. Steve Coogan took best actor in a comedy for How Are You? It’s Alan (Partridge), promising the audience that Alan Partridge isn’t going anywhere: “I will keep on doing it. If anyone wants to know when Alan Partridge is going to die, it’s about the same time that I am going to die.” Katherine Parkinson won best comedy actress for Here We Go, while Amandaland took the scripted comedy prize.

The current affairs award went to Gaza: Doctors Under Attack — a documentary the BBC pulled last year over what it described as impartiality concerns, and which was subsequently broadcast by Channel 4. Reporter and producer Ramita Navai accepted the award and spoke about the numbers of women, children, and healthcare workers killed in Gaza. Basement Films founder Ben de Pear was more pointed, thanking Channel 4 directly and asking the BBC a pointed question: “Given you dropped our film, will you drop us from the BAFTA screening later tonight?” His comments were later included in the BBC’s own broadcast of the ceremony. Netflix’s Grenfell: Uncovered won best single documentary.

For the international award, the BAFTA went to The Studio on Apple TV. Co-creator Seth Rogen paid tribute to the late Catherine O’Hara, saying: “I assume her work has been so important to you all over here as it was to us. So this is for Catherine.”

Mary Berry and Martin Lewis Close the Night

Dame Mary Berry, at 91 years old, received the BAFTA Fellowship — the organisation’s highest honour. “I’m really bowled over by this accolade. I’m a cook, I’m a teacher, so I feel very honoured to be given BAFTA’s highest award,” she said. She closed by thanking her three children, including her late son William, who died in a car accident in 1989 at the age of 19. “William is in heaven, but I thank him,” she said.

Financial journalist Martin Lewis received the Special Award, and his speech was the kind that stays with you. He told the audience he had written it on a Thursday — 42 years after the death of his mother, when he was just 11 years old. “For six years, barring school, I barely left the house. Now I’m picking up a BAFTA,” he said. “Life can be transformed, it can get better. If you had told that broken, scared boy that I’d proudly be a campaigning journalist, his jaw would have dropped. So I dedicate this to consumer journalism, where I found my voice.”

As for Adolescence — a show that began as a Netflix drama and became a national reckoning — Owen Cooper said it best a year into this wild ride: “Thank you to the Adolescence family — and they are family now.”

The post Adolescence Makes BAFTA History With Record Four Wins appeared first on Cream.

• The 72nd BAFTA Television Awards took place Sunday at London’s Royal Festival Hall, hosted by Greg Davies
• Netflix’s Adolescence led all shows with 11 nominations, including Best Limited Drama and five acting nods
• Adam Scott, Chase Sui Wonders, Seth Rogen, Paapa Essiedu and Jessica Gunning were among the red carpet arrivals
• The ceremony aired on BBC One at 7pm and marks BAFTA’s first major TV broadcast since the controversial Film Awards incident
• Multiple baby bumps stole the fashion spotlight, with Vogue Williams, Scarlett Moffatt and Laura Whitmore all glowing on the carpet

London’s Royal Festival Hall was the place to be on Sunday night as the 72nd BAFTA Television Awards brought out some of the biggest names in British and international TV for a night that felt bigger — and more loaded — than usual.

Taskmaster host Greg Davies took the stage as this year’s host, opening the ceremony with a quip that “a quick AI search” revealed that television began when David Attenborough “first hugged a monkey” — a nod to outgoing BAFTA chair Sara Putt’s opening remarks, in which she wished Attenborough a happy 100th birthday (he celebrated on Friday) and declared that “TV isn’t going anywhere” despite the disruption reshaping the industry. Davies also gave a warm welcome to nominees including Colin Firth — mentioning, with characteristic deadpan, how attractive his aunt finds him — and Stephen Graham and the entire Adolescence team.

The ceremony, which aired on BBC One and iPlayer, is BAFTA and the BBC’s first major televised awards show since the controversy at this year’s Film Awards, when Tourette’s campaigner John Davidson involuntarily yelled a racial slur during a live broadcast appearance. BAFTA subsequently apologized “unreservedly” and an independent review found “a number of structural weaknesses in BAFTA’s planning, escalation procedures and crisis coordination arrangements” — including that early warning signs were not escalated and that no clear operational command structure was in place. The BBC has been quietly but carefully prepping for Sunday’s broadcast ever since.

Adolescence Dominates — But Has Company

Netflix’s Adolescence — the Stephen Graham and Jack Thorne-created limited series that became one of the most talked-about shows of the year — arrived at the BAFTAs as the undisputed frontrunner, carrying 11 nominations into the night. That haul includes five acting nods for Graham, Ashley Walters, Owen Cooper, Christine Tremarco and Erin Doherty, as well as a spot in the coveted Limited Drama category. The show had already picked up two prizes at the BAFTA Television Craft Awards two weeks prior, for director and sound.

If Adolescence keeps winning, it could be on track for a record-breaking BAFTA feat by the end of the night.

Hot on its heels is Disney+’s A Thousand Blows with seven nominations, while The Celebrity Traitors — the BBC’s top-rated show of the year — is up for five. In the Limited Drama race, Adolescence faces competition from BBC’s What It Feels Like for a Girl, ITV’s I Fought the Law and Channel 4’s Trespasses.

The Leading Actor category is one of the most stacked in recent memory: Colin Firth (Lockerbie: A Search for Truth), Matt Smith (The Death of Bunny Munro), and Taron Egerton (Smoke) are all in the mix alongside Graham. Leading Actress features Aimee Lou Wood (Film Club), Erin Doherty (A Thousand Blows), Jodie Whittaker (Toxic Town) and Sheridan Smith (I Fought the Law), among others. Both Doherty and Wood are each nominated in two separate categories.

On the international front, the nominees read like a streaming greatest-hits playlist: Severance, The White Lotus, The Bear, The Diplomat and The Studio are all in contention.

The Red Carpet: Who Showed Up and What They Wore

The arrivals outside the Southbank Centre were a full fashion moment. On the international side, Severance stars Adam Scott and Chase Sui Wonders made the trip to London, joined by Seth Rogen and Ike Barinholtz repping The Studio, and Paapa Essiedu and Jessica Gunning also walking the carpet. Matt Smith, nominated for Leading Actor, was there too.

Aimee Lou Wood went full vampire glamour — a buckle-adorned gown, black eyeshadow, and the kind of commitment to a look that makes a red carpet moment. Jodie Whittaker went the opposite direction in a bold red halterneck gown that worked perfectly with her copper bob. Amandaland‘s Lucy Punch brought tangerine energy in a fitted gown with white heels, while Erin Doherty kept it sleek in a black strapless gown with her hair slicked back.

Amanda Holden was pure spectacle in a grey tassel-adorned crop top paired with a mermaid skirt and a train — the kind of look that guarantees a front page. Claudia Winkleman, the woman behind The Celebrity Traitors‘ five nominations, surprised in her usual all-black but swapped the gown for capri pants. Silent Witness star Emilia Fox was elegant in bottle green with gold hardware, and Back to Black‘s Marisa Abela wore an appropriately vampy black Bardot-neck gown with a corseted bodice.

Three baby bumps commanded their own spotlight on the carpet. Vogue Williams, pregnant with her fourth child with husband Spencer Matthews, was radiant in a white lace-adorned gown with a new fringe. Scarlett Moffatt — currently expecting her second — hugged her bump in a chocolate brown dress with a dramatic asymmetrical cape, coordinating her earrings and cuff to match. And presenter Laura Whitmore wore a textured gown with a linen skirt and a pearlescent clutch.

Mary Berry, national treasure, arrived in a soft pink A-line gown and a double string of pearls — because of course she did.

Katie Piper, stunning in a mint green cut-out ruched gown, took a moment on the carpet to speak about confidence and self-image. “Comparison is the fastest way to disconnect with yourself,” she told HELLO!. “I’ve always thought that the ultimate body positivity is actually feeling neutral about your appearance… the neutrality of it doesn’t define you.” She added simply: “I’m not beautiful like her, I’m beautiful like me.”

Among the What It Feels Like for a Girl contingent, Alex Thomas-Smith arrived in a high-neck, glossy PVC black gown with a thigh-high split and gloves, while Adam Ali went bold in a sequinned jacket, wide-collared shirt and flared trousers with platform shoes. Former EastEnders star Shona McGarty brought drama in a strapless black tulle gown covered in sequins — and crucially, with pockets.

Love Island and Strictly alum Tasha Ghouri went for sparkle in a stone-hued maxi with a diamante-detailed tulle skirt, and This Morning‘s Ashley James dazzled in a rhinestone-corseted gown that pooled at her feet. James used her carpet moment to speak out on body image too, telling HELLO!: “I think the advice is to know that you don’t need to shrink yourself. It doesn’t make you more lovable or more confident. Your worth isn’t defined by your body.”

The 2026 BAFTA TV Awards are live now — with Adolescence already the night’s biggest story before a single trophy has been handed out.

The post 2026 BAFTA TV Awards: Red Carpet, Looks & Nominees appeared first on Cream.