BAFTAs 2007

NORTHWEST WINS AT BAFTAS

IT was a night of triumph for the Northwest at Britain’s TV Oscars, held on Sunday May 20. The British Academy Television Awards, hosted by Graham Norton, attracted stars to the London Palladium, as BBC1 TV viewers across the country watched Bury-raised comedy star, Victoria Wood, take two top awards.

Scooping the top Actress prize for her role in Housewife, 49, Victoria looked stunned to have won. This was her first ITV1 drama for 25 years, telling the wartime story of Lancashire wife and mother Nella Last. The actress also took the Single Drama prize.

North West Vision’s Cumbria Film Officer, Alan Saywell, was on hand throughout the shooting of Housewife, 49, which filmed several scenes in the region. Our assistance was also requested on other BAFTA-winning programmes.

Manchester’s time travel cop series, Life On Mars, took the Pioneer Audience Award, the only BAFTA category voted for by the public. And Jimmy McGovern’s The Street, filmed on location in Higher Broughton, Manchester, clinched the Drama Series category.

“We were able to help with location sourcing and getting relevant permissions for both of those programmes,” explains Manchester Film Officer, Susan Williams. “Life On Mars was shot exclusively across Greater Manchester and we’re delighted with its BAFTA success.”

ITV1’s See No Evil: The Moors Murders was named Best Drama Serial, and Channel 4’s Longford produced the Best Actor award for Jim Broadbent, in his role as Lord Longford. NWV’s Film Officers assisted both productions.

Granada Success
Former Media Training North West trainee Sarah Jayne Hallworth enjoyed the spotlight when the Manchester-based Granada Reports production team won a BAFTA for "news coverage".

She says, “the most amazing thing about it was that Granada Reports are the first ever regional news programme to be nominated and win a BAFTA award, so it was a fantastic achievement for all involved. I was involved technically on the 30 minute documentary, looking at the tragic story of the Morecombe bay cockle pickers where 23 innocent workers died in the cold sea working for a gangmaster based in China.”

As a result of the win Michael Grade donated £5,000 to the families who were effected by the tragedy.

Full List of Winners

Best actor
Winner: Jim Broadbent - Longford (Channel 4)
Andy Serkis - Longford (Channel 4)
Michael Sheen - Kenneth Williams: Fantabulosa! (BBC Four)
John Simm - Life on Mars (BBC One)

Best actress
Winner: Victoria Wood - Housewife, 49 (ITV1)
Anne-Marie Duff - The Virgin Queen (BBC One)
Samantha Morton - Longford (Channel 4)
Ruth Wilson - Jane Eyre (BBC One)

Best entertainment performance
Winner: Jonathan Ross - Friday Night With Jonathan Ross (BBC One)
Ant & Dec - Saturday Night Takeaway (ITV1)
Stephen Fry - QI (BBC Two)
Paul Merton - Have I Got News For You (BBC One)

Best comedy performance
Winner: Ricky Gervais - Extras (BBC Two)
Dawn French - The Vicar of Dibley (BBC One)
Stephen Merchant - Extras (BBC Two)
Liz Smith - The Royle Family: Queen of Sheba (BBC One)

Best single drama
Winner: Housewife, 49 (ITV1)
Kenneth Williams: Fantabulosa! (BBC Four)
Longford (Channel 4)
The Road To Guantanamo (Channel 4)

Best drama serial
Winner: See No Evil: The Moors Murderers (ITV1)
Low Winter Sun (Channel 4)
Prime Suspect: The Final Act (ITV1)
The Virgin Queen (Channel 4)

Best drama series
Winner: The Street (BBC One)
Life on Mars (BBC One)
Sugar Rush (Channel 4)
Shameless (Channel 4)

Best continuing drama
Winner: Casualty (BBC One)
EastEnders (BBC One)
Coronation Street (ITV1)
Emmerdale (ITV1)

Best factual series
Winner: Ross Kemp on Gangs (Sky One)
Stephen Fry: The Secret Life of a Manic Depressive (BBC Two)
Tribe (BBC Two)
Who Do You Think You Are? (BBC Two)

Best entertainment programme
Winner: The X Factor (ITV1)
Dancing On Ice (ITV1)
Derren Brown: The Heist (Channel 4)
How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria (BBC One)

Best situation comedy
Winner: The Royle Family: Queen of Sheba (BBC One)
Green Wing (Channel 4)
The IT Crowd (Channel 4)
Pulling (BBC Three)

Best comedy programme or series
Winner: That Mitchell and Webb Look (BBC Two)
Little Miss Jocelyn (BBC Three)
The Catherine Tate Show (BBC Two)
Little Britain Abroad (BBC One)

Audience award
Winner: Life on Mars (BBC One)
The Royle Family: Queen of Sheba (BBC One)
Dragons' Den (BBC Two)
The Vicar of Dibley Christmas Special (BBC One)
Planet Earth (BBC One) Celebrity Big Brother (Channel 4)

Best single documentary
Winner: Evicted (BBC One)
Breaking Up With The Joneses (Channel 4)
9/11: The Falling Man (Channel 4)
Rain In My Heart (BBC Two)

Best feature
Winner: The Choir (BBC Two)
The Apprentice (BBC Two)
Dragon's Den (BBC Two)
The F Word (Channel 4)

Best international
Winner: Entourage (ITV2)
House (Five)
Lost (Sky One)
My Name Is Earl (Channel 4)

Best sport
Winner: Formula One - Hungarian Grand Prix (ITV1)
The Boat Race (ITV1)
Cricket on Five (Five)
Winter Olympics (BBC Two)

Best news coverage
Winner: Granada Reports: Morecambe Bay (ITV1)
BBC Ten O'Clock News - Terrorism plot at Heathrow
Channel 4 News - News from Iran
ITV Evening News - the Israel/Lebanon crisis

Best Interactivity
Winner: Terry Pratchett's Hogfather (Sky One)
Dispatches - War Torn: Stories of Separation (Channel 4.com)
Meltdown and the Big Climate Experiment (BBC Four)
The Secret Policeman's Ball (Channel 4)

Best specialist factual
Winner: Nuremberg: Goering's Last Stand (Channel 4)
Munich: Mossad's Revenge (Channel 4)
Planet Earth (BBC One)
Simon Schama's Power of Art (BBC Two)

The Academy Fellowship - Richard Curtis

The Special Award - Andy Harries