There's no one else I would rather murder more than you. I love you.
On a Sunday evening at London's Royal Festival Hall, British television paused to take stock of itself — honoring the stories it had told, the people who had told them, and the complicated question of what it means to do that work with integrity. Netflix's Adolescence claimed the night's dominant prizes, while Dame Mary Berry, at ninety-one, received the fellowship that marks a life given to the medium. In between, the ceremony offered what such gatherings always quietly promise: the chance to see public figures as human beings, briefly unguarded.
- Adolescence swept the major awards with the momentum of a series that had already won the cultural argument before the ceremony began.
- A shelved BBC documentary on Gaza won the current affairs prize, and its director used the stage to ask the corporation, pointedly, whether it would now exclude him from its own broadcast of the evening.
- Alan Carr and Paloma Faith's unresolved Celebrity Traitors betrayal hung over the night until Carr dedicated his award to her with the line: 'There's no one else I would rather murder more than you — I love you.'
- Dame Mary Berry named her late son William in her fellowship acceptance speech, turning the industry's highest honor into a moment of private grief made briefly, tenderly public.
- Sixteen-year-old Owen Cooper won best supporting actor, backstage describing the disorienting vertigo of sudden recognition — his mind looping back to auditions and first days on set.
- The evening landed as a reminder that television's biggest night is less about the trophies than the unscripted instants that slip through — a wink, a dedication, a refusal to present an award.
The Bafta Television Awards gathered at London's Royal Festival Hall on Sunday with the particular energy of an industry examining its own reflection. Netflix's Adolescence dominated the prizes, its sweep feeling less like a surprise than a formal confirmation of what audiences had already decided. But the ceremony's most lasting moments came from elsewhere.
Host Greg Davies set the tone early, noting that Celebrity Traitors had somehow transformed Alan Carr into 'a manipulative serial killer' — before assuring the room he was, in fact, a good person. Paloma Faith, seated nearby, wagged her finger at the camera in theatrical disagreement. When Carr later accepted the memorable moments award for that very betrayal, he addressed her directly from the stage: 'There's no one else I would rather murder more than you. I love you.' The room understood they had always been fine.
Danny Dyer and his daughter Dani presented the reality award together, trading gentle jokes about his chins and his unexpected status as a heartthrob among younger viewers following his role in Rivals. Backstage, he warned audiences that the new series would feature him naked with some frequency. 'I will shatter the myth,' he said.
Owen Cooper, sixteen, won best supporting actor for Adolescence and spoke backstage about the strange vertigo of each award ceremony pulling him back to his first audition, his first day on set. Martin Lewis, receiving a special award, was asked whether he had ever made an impulse purchase. He had: a Van de Graaff generator and a theremin.
Dame Mary Berry, ninety-one, received the Bafta fellowship. She had known it was coming, but sitting in the front row waiting had still felt like agony. On stage, she thanked her children and paused to name her son William, who died in 1989 at nineteen. 'William is in heaven,' she said, 'but I thank him.'
The documentary Gaza: Doctors Under Attack won the current affairs prize despite having been shelved by the BBC the previous year over impartiality concerns. Channel 4 had aired it instead. Accepting the award, director Ben de Pear asked the BBC directly whether it would now remove him from its own broadcast of the ceremony. The BBC later included excerpts of his speech. The win felt like a quiet insistence that the work had found its audience regardless.
Orange dominated the red carpet. Greg Davies attempted to recruit last year's fellowship winner Kirsty Wark to present an award; she declined, repeatedly and with increasing theatrical finality, before winking at the camera. It was, as the evening kept demonstrating, exactly what television does best.
The Bafta Television Awards unfolded on Sunday at London's Royal Festival Hall with the kind of evening that reminded viewers why the ceremony matters—not just for the wins and losses, but for the moments that linger. Netflix's Adolescence swept through the night collecting multiple awards, cementing its status as the year's dominant television achievement. But the real story was written in the smaller gestures: reconciliations, tributes, and the particular electricity that comes when a room full of people who work in television gather to acknowledge their own.
Alan Carr and Paloma Faith arrived at the red carpet with a history that made their encounter deliciously awkward. Carr had won the first season of Celebrity Traitors, and in doing so, he had orchestrated Faith's elimination in a move that shocked everyone watching—mostly because the two were actually friends in real life. The tension hung there, unresolved, until the ceremony itself. Host Greg Davies leaned into it with a deadpan observation: "Celebrity Traitors managed to turn Alan Carr into a manipulative serial killer," he said, before adding, "We all know he's a good person." Faith, sitting nearby, smiled and wagged her finger at the camera in mock disagreement. Later, when Carr accepted the memorable moments award for that very betrayal, he used his final words to address her directly. "I dedicate this to Paloma," he said. "There's no one else I would rather murder more than you. I love you." The room understood: they were fine. They had always been fine.
Danny Dyer and his daughter Dani presented the reality show award together, a father-and-daughter moment that felt genuinely warm. Danny opened with a joke about how people tell them apart. "My chins," he said. Dani responded with genuine affection: "I love your chins, dad." Backstage, Danny reflected on his unexpected status as a heartthrob among younger viewers, thanks to his role in the Disney+ series Rivals. He seemed bemused by the whole thing. "Who's Gen Z again?" he asked, before Dani jumped in to clarify she was "on the cusp." He went on to warn viewers that in the new series, he appears naked frequently. "I will shatter the myth," he said, with the self-aware humor of someone who knows exactly what people think they want from him.
Owen Cooper, at sixteen, won best supporting actor for his role in Adolescence. Backstage, he spoke about the strange vertigo of sudden success, how each award ceremony sent his mind spinning back to his first audition, his first day on set, the first time he met the cast. "It's been an unreal two years," he said. Stephen Graham, who starred in and co-wrote the series, spoke with genuine pride about what they had built together, though he was careful to position himself as just one part of a larger machine. The film's dominance felt less like a surprise and more like a confirmation of something everyone already knew.
Martin Lewis, the broadcaster and money expert who has built a career advising people on their finances, received a special award. Backstage, someone asked him the question that had probably occurred to many viewers over the years: had he ever made an impulse purchase? He had. A Van de Graaff generator and a theremin. The answers were so specific, so unexpected, that they felt like a small gift—a reminder that even the people who seem to have everything figured out occasionally buy things they don't need.
Dame Mary Berry, at ninety-one, received the Bafta fellowship, the academy's highest honor. She had known it was coming, but waiting in the front row for the moment still felt like agony, she said backstage. "I listened to everybody giving the most wonderful speeches and laughs and so on, but it's going to be me soon. I hope they'll laugh." On stage, she thanked her three children, pausing to acknowledge her son William, who died in 1989 at nineteen. "William is in heaven," she said, "but I thank him." The moment carried the weight of a life lived fully in public, and the private griefs that accompany such a life.
The documentary Gaza: Doctors Under Attack won the current affairs prize, a choice that carried its own significance. The BBC had shelved the film the previous year, citing impartiality concerns. Channel 4 aired it instead. Ben de Pear, the founder of Basement Films, used his acceptance speech to pose a question directly to the BBC: "Given you dropped our film, will you drop us from the Bafta screening later tonight?" He thanked the journalists working on the ground in Gaza. The BBC later included excerpts of his speech in its broadcast of the awards. The win felt like a quiet assertion—that the work mattered, that the decision to pull it had been questioned, and that the story itself had found its audience anyway.
The red carpet had been dominated by orange. Adjoa Andoh wore an orange pantsuit. Ayamé Ponder floated in a flowing orange dress. Lucy Punch appeared in an orange outfit that would have pleased her vainglorious character on Amandaland. It was a color that seemed to announce itself, to refuse to be ignored.
Greg Davies, hosting the ceremony, tried to persuade Kirsty Wark, the veteran BBC News presenter and last year's fellowship winner, to help present an award. She declined, repeatedly, each time making him ask more politely. Finally, she simply turned away and said no with theatrical finality. Davies mock-floundered beside her. She winked at the camera and grinned. It was the kind of moment that television does best—two professionals understanding exactly how to play a scene together, the audience in on the joke.
Notable Quotes
Every time we are at these sort of events, and your name gets called out, your mind just flashes back to the first audition, the first time on set, the first time meeting the cast and stuff like that. So it's been an unreal two years.— Owen Cooper, best supporting actor winner
Given you dropped our film, will you drop us from the Bafta screening later tonight?— Ben de Pear, founder of Basement Films, on the BBC's decision to shelve Gaza: Doctors Under Attack
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
What struck you most about the evening—was it the wins, or the moments between them?
The moments between. Adolescence winning was inevitable at this point. But watching Carr and Faith reconcile on stage, watching that happen in real time, that felt like television remembering what it's for.
Which is what, exactly?
Bringing people together. Making space for small human gestures. Carr dedicating an award to someone he'd just betrayed on camera—that's absurd and genuine at the same time.
And Dame Mary Berry's speech—that felt different, didn't it?
It did. She's ninety-one. She's been on television for decades. And she still gets nervous waiting for her moment. She still thinks about her son who died. That's the thing about these ceremonies—they're not really about the awards. They're about acknowledging that the people in the room have given something to the culture.
What about the Gaza documentary winning? That seemed loaded.
It was. The BBC pulled it, Channel 4 aired it, and then the Bafta goes to it anyway. De Pear's question—"will you drop us from the screening?"—that was pointed. It was saying: you made a choice, and the work survived your choice.
Do you think that changes anything?
Not immediately. But it's a marker. It says the industry saw something the BBC didn't want to see.