Adolescence tipped to triumph at Bafta TV awards

Adolescence is tipped to triumph at the Bafta TV awards following its headline-making year.

The hit series, which prompted a national conversation about online safety, is up for 11 categories at the award show – including for best limited drama.

Co-creator Stephen Graham is also up for the lead actor category and expected to attend the ceremony in central London on Sunday.

The four-part drama follows 13-year-old Jamie Miller, played by Owen Cooper, who is arrested for the murder of a teenage girl in his school, and examines so-called incel (involuntary celibate) culture.

The series has already picked up nine Emmy awards, including the best actor in a limited series gong for Graham – while his co-star Cooper broke records and became the youngest ever male Emmy award-winner at the age of 15.

Graham will face Colin Firth in the best actor category, who is up for his role in Lockerbie: A Search For Truth, as well as Ellis Howard for What It Feels Like For A Girl.

Other stars nominated include James Nelson-Joyce for This City Is Ours, Matt Smith in The Death Of Bunny Munro and Taron Egerton in Smoke.

Meanwhile Graham’s Adolescence co-stars will face one another in their respective supporting actor/actress categories – including Ashley Walters and Cooper, while Christine Tremarco is up against Erin Doherty.

Doherty is also nominated for the leading actress award for her role in the Victorian boxing drama A Thousand Blows.

Others up for the award include Toxic Town’s Jodie Whittaker, Narges Rashidi for Prisoner 951, Sheridan Smith for I Fought The Law, Sian Brooke in Blue Lights, and Aimee Lou Wood for her role in Film Club – which she co-created.

Wood’s role playing Chelsea in the third series of Mike White’s black comedy The White Lotus also bagged her a nomination in the best supporting actress category.

Hosted by comedian and actor Greg Davies, the awards ceremony will feature musical performances from Cat Burns and Aurora.

The night will see The Traitors presenter Claudia Winkleman reunite with series winner comedian Alan Carr, and a few faithfuls including Nick Mohammed and Celia Imrie.

The hit celebrity spin-off reality series scored five nominations including best reality series and best entertainment performance for host Winkleman.

Carr is also up for two awards including the memorable moment award, the only category voted for by the public, for the moment Carr took the victory away from Mohammed and historian David Olusaga.

He was also nominated alongside Amanda Holden for entertainment performance category for their renovation series Amanda And Alan’s Spanish Job.

Other celebrity presenters include Severance actor Adam Scott, The Walking Dead star Lennie James, Amandaland’s Lucy Punch and Rivals stars Alex Hassell, Bella Maclean and Danny Dyer.

The awards show will also see Dame Mary Berry receive a Bafta fellowship and financial journalist and broadcaster Martin Lewis will receive the Bafta television special award.

Northern Irish drama Trespasses is nominated for six gongs, including best limited drama, while Seth Rogan’s The Studio is up for the International Bafta award and will face The Bear, The Diplomat, Pluribus, The White Lotus and Severance.

In the current affairs category, there is a nomination for Gaza: Doctors Under Attack, the documentary commissioned and then shelved by the BBC over impartiality concerns and later aired by Channel 4.

The awards show follows on from the Bafta Film awards in February which stirred controversy after Tourette Syndrome activist John Davidson could be heard shouting a racial slur at Michael B Jordan and Delroy Lindo as they were presenting.

The involuntary verbal tic was not edited out of the BBC broadcast, which had a two-hour time delay.

The Bafta TV awards will be broadcast on BBC One on Sunday at 7pm.

Published: 10/05/2026 by Radio NewsHub