It’s a Sin sweeps BAFTA TV Awards with 11 nominations including Best Actor
Olly Alexander in It’s a Sin. (Channel 4)
The nominations for the BAFTA TV Awards 2022 have been revealed, with the acclaimed Channel 4 series, It’s A Sin, leading the way with 11 nods.
The cast of It’s a Sin stormed the acting categories as the BAFTA TV Awards nominations were announced Wednesday (30 March).
Olly Alexander, who played the show’s lead Ritchie, is in the running for Leading Actor, while Callum Scott Howells, Omari Douglas, and David Carlyle are all up for Supporting Actor.
Lydia West is up for Leading Actress for her role as fan-favourite, Jill, Ritchie’s best friend. It’s the first time all actors have received a nomination.
It’s a Sin is also nominated for BAFTA for Mini-Series, and Russell T Davies has been nominated for Writer: Drama.
Davies’ wrenching and euphoric drama follows a group of friends living through the AIDS crisis in 1980s London. It became the network’s most-binged series ever when it debuted last year.
And finally… It’s Writer: Drama!
📺 Jack Thorne – Help
📺 Jesse Armstrong – Succession
📺 Kayleigh Llewellyn – In My Skin
📺 Russell T Davies – It’s A Sin#BAFTATV pic.twitter.com/3uJuPddxDY
— BAFTA (@BAFTA) March 30, 2022
It’s a Sin has also been recognised in the Director: Fiction, Editing Fiction, Make-up & Hair Design, and Scripted Casting categories.
It has previously been revealed that Colin’s devastating AIDS diagnosis in the show is up for the fan-voted Virgin Media’s must-see moment award.
The show’s reception has continued to be a defining moment for queer representation on British television, as the world continues to praise a show written by a queer man, about queer people and played by a queer-majority cast.
Our Leading Actress nominees 🌟
📺 Denise Gough
📺 Emily Watson
📺 Jodie Comer
📺 Kate Winslet
📺 Lydia West
📺 Niamh Algar (@NiamhAlgar)#VirginMediaBAFTAs pic.twitter.com/lStNBZRA2W— BAFTA (@BAFTA) March 30, 2022
Our Leading Actor nominees 🌟
📺 David Thewlis
📺 Hugh Quarshie (@HughQuarshie)
📺 Olly Alexander (@alexander_olly)
📺 Samuel Adewunmi
📺 Sean Bean
📺 Stephen Graham (@StephenGraham73)#VirginMediaBAFTAs pic.twitter.com/OmwrRhBp6x— BAFTA (@BAFTA) March 30, 2022
Indeed, around 19 million people watched It’s a Sin on Channel 4’s streaming service, according to figures from the broadcaster.
As the series provided an unflinching gaze on the horrors – and heart – of the AIDS epidemic, social media was full of people sharing their devastation at seeing the show’s young queer characters have their lives torn apart by a rapidly spreading mystery virus.
It was praised for the way it brilliantly deconstructed the impact homophobia had on the spread of the virus – whether that was systemic homophobia or familial rejection.
Comedian and actor Richard Ayoade will host the Virgin Media BAFTA TV Awards ceremony for the third consecutive year as it returns to London’s Royal Festival Hall on May 8.
The BAFTA TV Craft Awards will take place on April 24.
