The Oscars are over. The Golden Globes have all been handed out. And the BAFTAs are but a swiftly fading, "Did David Tennant really sing 500 Miles with James McAvoy and Anna Kendrick?" memory now. But the BAFTA TV awards are very much still on the horizon, and as the celebration of the small screen gears up for its 11 May telecast, today we've learned who the nominees are that'll be vying for those precious golden statues. Leading the way with a solid eight nominations is Richard Gadd's Netflix stalker drama Baby Reindeer, while racy Disney+ show Rivals, Apple TV+ Slough House spies joint Slow Horses, and ITV's incendiary Mr Bates Vs The Post Office all follow close behind with an impressive six nominations each.
Among Baby Reindeer's many nods are noms for Richard Gadd in Leading Actor and Writer, Jessica Gunning and Nava Mau in Supporting Actress for their roles as Gadd's stalker and girlfriend respectively (Mau is also noteworthily nominated elsewhere for her work in Truelove), and the show itself for Limited Drama. Joining Gadd in an incredibly tight Leading Actor race this year are David Tennant (Rivals), Gary Oldman (Slow Horses), Lennie James (Mr Loverman), Martin Freeman (The Responder), and Toby Jones (Mr Bates Vs The Post Office). The Leading Actress run-in is no less star-studded either, as first-time nominee Marisa Abela leads the line-up for her role as publishing heiress Yasmin in Industry. She's joined by fellow first-time nominee Sharon D. Clarke (Mr. Loverman), one-time BAFTA winner Monica Dolan (Mr Bates Vs The Post Office), Anna Maxwell Martin (Until I Kill You), Billie Piper (Scoop), and Lola Petticrew (Say Nothing).
Elsewhere, other first-time nominees at this year's awards include Nicola Coughlan (Big Mood), Christopher Chung and Jonathan Pryce (Slow Horses), Lolly Adefope (The Franchise), Mckinley Belcher III (Eric), Nabhaan Rizwan (Kaos), and Ariyon Bakare (Mr Loverman). Other noteworthy nominations include Empire favourite Supacell for Drama Series, Ruth Jones for Leading Actress In A Comedy in recognition of her belting final bow as Nessa in Gavin & Stacey: The Finale, Danny Dyer for Male Performance In A Comedy for Mr. Big Stuff, and International Series heavy hitters Shōgun, True Detective: Night Country, Say Nothing, and Colin From Accounts. The major surprise then perhaps for this edition of the BAFTA TV Awards is the relative absence of Sky's stunning Eddie Redmayne sniper thriller The Day Of The Jackal, which is up for a couple of technical awards but has found itself shut out in the Drama and Leading Actor categories, both of which would've previously seemed like dead certs. Still, there's always time for Season 2 to hit its mark with BAFTA voters when that rolls around...
For a full rundown of the nominees at this year's BAFTA TV Awards and TV Craft Awards, you can find the complete list of nominations on BAFTA's website. Next stop, Royal Festival Hall — or, if you'd rather, BBC1/iPlayer — on 11 May, where Avengers: Doomsday's Alan Cumming (yeah, we're still processing that one) will be hosting the starriest event in the British TV calendar.