Bafta TV Awards winners: Killing Eve steals the show
Bafta TV Awards winners: Killing Eve’s supporting actress Fiona Show, writer Phoebe Waller-Bridge and leading actress Jodie Comer. (Jeff Spicer/Getty)
Thriller Killing Eve has triumphed at the Bafta TV Awards held on Sunday (May 12).
The women-led BBC series about a MI5 agent becoming obsessed with an astute assassin took home a total three awards, including best actress for Jodie Comer who plays the aptly named villain, Villanelle.
Comer defeated her co-star Sandra Oh to the award, as they were both nominated for leading actress.
Killing Eve was nominated for a total 14 Bafta TV Awards including best drama series and best writer for Phoebe Waller-Bridge, also known for the critically-acclaimed series Fleabag.
Waller-Bridge lost, but Fiona Shaw won an award for best supporting actress instead.
Oh congratulated the show’s stars on their victory in a tweet: “Congratulations @KillingEve !!! BATFA for Best Series Fiona Shaw and @jodiecomer !!! Yay yay yay!!”
Bafta TV Awards winners Jodie Comer (Best Leading Actress Award for Killing Eve) and Benedict Cumberbatch (Best Leading Actor Award for Patrick Melrose). (Jeff Spicer/Getty)
Comer has previously praised the drama for its handling of LGBT+ themes.
“What I’ve really picked up on is the connection that people have had with Villanelle’s sexuality,” the star told Entertainment Weekly.
“[She has] really resonated with the LGBT community … You can have these relationships with women, this fascination, this compulsiveness to know this, and I don’t think that I’ve ever really seen that explored on television.”
Other LGBT+ show bag Bafta TV Awards
Other LGBT+ winners of the night included A Very English Scandal, which was the second most-nominated show of the night.
The gay BBC limited drama series was based on the real-life scandal that enveloped Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe, who was accused of attempting to have his lover Norman Scott murdered to save his political career.
While Hugh Grant, who played Jeremy Thorpe, lost the best actor award to Benedict Cumberbatch’s Patrick Melrose, out actor Ben Wishaw took home the trophy for best supporting actor for his role as Norman Scott—for which he also won a Golden Globe earlier this year.
A Very English Scandal also won big at the Bafta Craft Awards, which recognise behind-the-scenes talent like writers and sound editors and were held last month, as the BBC reported.
Sky lesbian comedy series Sally4Ever, which was nominated for three awards, won the trophy for best scripted comedy.
The Bafta TV Awards also honoured producer Nicola Shindler, whose first project with her Red Production Company was Russell T Davies’ gay drama serial Queer as Folk, with a Special Award, recognising her outstanding contribution to TV production.
