The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) has released its list of nominees for their Television Awards and it very refreshingly has an excellent representation of queer programs and performers. In fact, leading the pack with the most nominations medical comedy-drama This Is Going To Hurt, starring openly gay Gilden Globe/Emmy Award winner Ben Whishaw and is based on the book of the same name by gay writer Adam Kay and is up for 6 Awards. It includes a Best Writer nomination for Kay, a Leading Actor nod for Ben Whishaw for his role-playing Kay, and a Best Miniseries nomination for the series as a whole.
Jake Rooke’s semi-autobiographical comedy BIG BOYS about a working-class gay man navigating university was close behind with 4 nominations that including Scripted Comedy, Male Performance for Jonathan Pointing’s role as Danny, and two for Rooke himselfOne of Queerguru’s favorite standup comedians the droll Joe Lycett for his one-off Channel 4 show Joe Lycett Vs Beckham: Got Your Back at Xmas, highlighting his viral PR stunt of “shredding” £10,000 in order to shame David Beckham for accepting a $15millon check for promoting the very homophobic Qatar.
Lesbian comedians Sue Perkins and Rosie Jones are nominated in the Entertainment Performance Category although they are up against the outrageous The Traitors host Claudia Winkleman who has a very big gay following.
Irish Talk Show Host Graham Norton is hoping to add another BAFTA to the 7 he has already. And another Irish performer the lesbian multi-award-winning actress Fiona Shaw has been nominated Best Supporting Actress again. In 2019 she won it for her role in Killing Eve.
Drag Race UK is hoping this will be the third time lucky, having been unsuccessful with its last two nominations.
The BAFTA Television Awards, hosted by Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan, take place on Sunday 14 May
and can be viewed on BBCI Player (accessible globally by a VPN)
Labels: 2023, BAFTA TV Awards, Ben Whishaw, nominations, This Is Going To Hurt
