The nominations for the 2019 BAFTA Television Awards and the BAFTA TV Craft Awards were unveiled last week from the British Academy’s London headquarters. Killing Eve is leading the nominations with 14 nods and A Very English Scandal has picked up 12 nominations.
Created by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Killing Eve, which stars Sandra Oh, Jodie Comer and Sean Delaney in key roles, has five nominations for the main awards and nine for the Craft Awards.
While terrorist thriller Bodyguard had record-breaking rating on the BBC before leaping to Netflix in the U.S., Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s female-led Killing Eve was among the most critically-acclaimed, much-watched shows of 2018.
“Patrick Melrose has secured six nominations across the two events, while Bodyguard and The Little Drummer Girl have picked up five each. Killing Eve will go up against breakout BBC One terror hit Bodyguard, BBC/Amazon co-pro Informer and Sky sleeper hit Save Me in the main drama category,” noted Deadline.
Apart from that, A Very English Scandal’s Hugh Grant will compete against Patrick Melrose star Benedict Cumberbatch, Killed By My Debt’s Chance Perdomo and Kiri’s Lucian Msamati in the lead actor category while Killing Eve’s Jodie Comer and Sandra Oh, Bodyguard’s Keely Hawes and Mrs Wilson’s Ruth Wilson will fight it out in the lead actress category.
A Very English Scandal and Patrick Melrose will also compete for best mini-series against Kiri and Mrs Wilson.
Killing Eve is nominated in 14 categories including best drama series, best writing for a drama, two lead actress nods for Comer and Oh, best supporting actor for Kim Bodnia, best supporting actress for Fiona Shaw as well as nods in Costume Design, Director Fiction, Editing Fiction, Original Music, Photography & Lighting Fiction, Production Design, Sound Fiction and Titles and Graphic Identity.
However, with Killing Eve getting the most nods, it seems that the show may have slid into the awards conversation through a slight bending of the rules.
According to the BAFTA eligibility requirements, for a show to qualify for a nomination it “must have had the worldwide premiere transmission in the UK.” It goes on to say that “creative control: must ‘reside’ within the UK and/or a UK broadcaster must have the primary editorial control over the programme.”
Though the show did air on the BBC in the UK, it was quite clearly a BBC America commission and was only subsequently acquired by the British public broadcaster, via Endeavor Content, after the AMC Networks-backed broadcaster ordered it.
A BAFTA spokeswoman told Deadline, “BAFTA’s TV Committee has deemed Killing Eve eligible owing to the significant creative contribution from key talent residing in the UK both in front of, and behind, the camera. Development and post-production also took place in the UK.”
The 2019 BAFTA Television Awards ceremony is set to take place on May 12 and the ceremony for the British Academy Television Craft Awards will be held on April 28.
– With information from Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter.