Life can be transformed, it can get better.
On a Sunday evening in London, the Bafta Television Awards became a mirror held up to the stories a society chooses to tell about itself — and which voices it decides to honor. A drama about a boy, a crime, and the quiet failures of the adult world around him swept the ceremony with record wins, while documentaries bearing witness to Gaza and Grenfell reminded the room that television, at its most serious, is an act of moral attention. Across the evening, acceptance speeches returned again and again to grief, resilience, and the stubborn human need to be seen.
- Adolescence shattered Bafta records with four wins in a single year, cementing its status as one of the most culturally significant British dramas in recent memory.
- At just 16, Owen Cooper became the youngest best supporting actor in Bafta history, completing a sweep of nearly every major awards circuit for his role as a boy accused of murder.
- Gaza: Doctors Under Attack won the current affairs prize despite — or because of — the BBC's decision to shelve it over impartiality concerns, with its makers publicly challenging the broadcaster from the stage.
- Tributes to grief ran through the night: a fellowship recipient thanked a son lost at 19, a special award winner traced his life's purpose back to losing his mother at 11.
- From comedy to reality television to documentary, the ceremony mapped a broad landscape of British storytelling — but the heaviest emotional weight settled on the stories rooted in real suffering.
Netflix's Adolescence arrived at the Bafta Television Awards on Sunday night and left with four prizes — a new record for a single programme in a single year. Named best limited series, the show also delivered acting wins for Stephen Graham, Christine Tremarco, and 16-year-old Owen Cooper, who became the youngest best supporting actor in the ceremony's history. Cooper, whose role as a boy accused of murdering a classmate has already earned him an Emmy, a Golden Globe, and several other major honours, quoted John Lennon in his speech. Graham, accepting his first Bafta after seven nominations, closed with a simpler message: all we need is love.
Narges Rashidi won best leading actress for playing Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe in Prisoner 951, dedicating the award to the real woman who spent six years imprisoned in Tehran. ITV's Code of Silence, featuring Rose Ayling-Ellis as a deaf woman helping police through lip reading, took best drama. On the lighter side, The Celebrity Traitors won best reality programme, Alan Carr's moment on the show was voted the public's most memorable TV moment of the year, and Bob Mortimer won best entertainment performance for his deadpan work on Last One Laughing.
Steve Coogan won best comedy actor for his return as Alan Partridge, promising to play the character until he dies. Katherine Parkinson took best comedy actress for Here We Go, and Amandaland won scripted comedy — its creator dedicating the prize to anyone in the middle of reinventing themselves.
The evening's most charged moment came when Gaza: Doctors Under Attack won the current affairs prize. The BBC had dropped the documentary last year over impartiality concerns before Channel 4 broadcast it. From the stage, producer Ben de Pear asked the BBC directly whether, having dropped the film, they would now ask the team to leave the Bafta screening. Reporter Ramita Navai spoke about the women, children, and healthcare workers killed in Gaza. Netflix's Grenfell: Uncovered, examining the 2017 fire that killed 72 people, won best single documentary.
The night ended with its most personal notes. Dame Mary Berry, 91, received the Bafta Fellowship and thanked her late son William, killed in a car accident at 19. Financial journalist Martin Lewis received the Special Award and spoke about losing his mother when he was 11, and the six years he barely left the house afterward. 'Life can be transformed,' he told the room. 'It can get better.'
The Netflix drama Adolescence swept the Bafta Television Awards on Sunday night, claiming four prizes and setting a new record for the most wins any single programme has taken home in a single year at the ceremony. The show, which became a cultural flashpoint when it premiered in March 2025, was named best limited series, and three of its cast members walked away with acting honours: Stephen Graham for best leading actor, Christine Tremarco for best supporting actress, and Owen Cooper for best supporting actor.
Cooper's win carries particular weight. At 16 years old, he is now the youngest person ever to receive the best supporting actor award at the Baftas. The role—a boy accused of murdering a female classmate—has already brought him an Emmy, a Golden Globe, a National Television Award, a Royal Television Society Award, and an Actor Award. In his acceptance speech, Cooper quoted John Lennon, telling the room that success requires three things: obsession, a dream, and the Beatles. Graham, accepting his first Bafta after seven previous nominations, also ended on a Beatles note, speaking about the obligation to tell beautiful stories and reminding viewers that "all we need is love."
Elsewhere in the ceremony, Narges Rashidi won best leading actress for her portrayal of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe in the BBC One drama Prisoner 951. Rashidi, born in Iran, dedicated the award to the British-Iranian woman who spent six years imprisoned in Tehran, speaking directly to her resilience and courage. The best drama prize went to ITV's Code of Silence, which featured Rose Ayling-Ellis as a deaf woman who assists police through lip reading.
The Celebrity Traitors, which drew more than 15 million viewers last year, won best reality programme. Host Claudia Winkleman accepted on behalf of the show's cast. Alan Carr's appearance on the programme was voted by the public as the year's most memorable TV moment—the only award decided by audience vote—and Carr joked about whether his fellow contestants were simply unable to spot him as a Traitor. Prime Video's Last One Laughing took best entertainment programme, with Bob Mortimer winning best entertainment performance for his deadpan efforts to keep a straight face while making other comedians laugh.
Steve Coogan won best actor in a comedy for How Are You? It's Alan (Partridge), saying that making people laugh in troubled times is a privilege and that he will continue playing Alan Partridge until his own death. Katherine Parkinson was named best comedy actress for her role in Here We Go. The scripted comedy award went to Amandaland, four years after the character first appeared in Motherland. Creator Holly Walsh dedicated the win to "everyone who is going through a process of reinvention."
The current affairs prize went to Gaza: Doctors Under Attack, a documentary that the BBC had shelved last year citing impartiality concerns before Channel 4 agreed to broadcast it. Reporter and producer Ramita Navai told the audience the award meant everything, then spoke about the women, children, and healthcare workers killed in Gaza. Ben de Pear, founder of the production company behind the film, posed a pointed question 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. Netflix's Grenfell: Uncovered, documenting the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire that killed 72 people, won best single documentary.
Dame Mary Berry, the former Great British Bake Off judge, received the Bafta Fellowship at age 91. In her speech, she thanked her three children, including her late son William, who died in a car accident in 1989 at 19. Financial expert Martin Lewis received the Special Award and spoke emotionally about his mother's death 42 years earlier when he was 11, after which he barely left his house for six years. "Life can be transformed, it can get better," he told the audience, dedicating his award to consumer journalism, where he found his voice.
Citas Notables
In the words of John Lennon, you won't get anything unless you have the vision to imagine it. You only need three things to succeed: obsession, a dream, and the Beatles.— Owen Cooper, in his acceptance speech
We have the opportunity to tell the human condition, and we have the obligation to tell beautiful stories and we need to keep that going.— Stephen Graham, in his acceptance speech
We refused to be silenced and censored and we thank Channel 4.— Ramita Navai, reporter and producer of Gaza: Doctors Under Attack
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
What made Adolescence break through so completely? Four Baftas is extraordinary.
It arrived at a moment when people were hungry for drama that felt urgent and real. A boy accused of murder, his parents trying to understand what happened—it tapped something raw about adolescence itself, about how quickly things can spiral.
Owen Cooper was 16 when he won. Does that change how you think about the role?
It does. He wasn't playing a character at a distance. He was living inside it at an age when you're still forming who you are. That proximity between actor and role—that's part of what made people respond so fiercely.
Stephen Graham's first Bafta after seven nominations. What does that say?
That recognition isn't always immediate, even for brilliant actors. But when it comes, it comes with weight. He played the father trying to hold everything together, and that role required a kind of restraint that doesn't always get noticed until suddenly it does.
The Gaza documentary won despite being dropped by the BBC. That's a statement.
It is. The filmmakers refused to be silenced. They went to Channel 4, made their case, and the work spoke for itself. The Bafta was a kind of vindication—not just for the film, but for the principle that important stories shouldn't disappear because of institutional caution.
Mary Berry at 91 receiving the Fellowship. What does that moment represent?
A lifetime of showing up, of teaching, of making something as ordinary as baking feel like it matters. She thanked her late son in her speech. There's a generosity in that—acknowledging loss while celebrating what endures.
Martin Lewis spoke about transformation. From a broken boy to a campaigning journalist.
That's the real story of the night, maybe. Not just awards, but people who found their way through darkness into work that helps others. He's saying: your beginning doesn't determine your ending.