BAFTA: Heartstopper, Big Boys and Drag Race UK get TV award nominations
This Is Going to Hurt leads with 6 nominations.
A number of LGBTQ shows made it onto the 2023 BAFTA TV nominations shortlists, including Heartstopper, Big Boys, and RuPaul’s Drag Race UK.
Leading the pack, though, is This Is Going to Hurt after being shortlisted in six categories, including Best Miniseries.
This Is Going to Hurt’s nominations include a Leading Actor nod for Ben Whishaw, who plays the central surgeon.
The 42-year-old actor already has two TV BAFTAs for The Hollow Crown: Richard II and also A Very English Scandal.
Also, the medical comedy drama’s writer, Adam Kay, has been nominated for Drama Writer. He’s up against Heartstopper’s Alice Oseman for the BAFTA award.
Oseman’s nomination is the only Heartstopper recognition, the show is notably absent from other categories.
Also up for BAFTAs is Big Boys, Jack Rooke’s Channel 4 drama that follows a first-year university student (Dylan Llewellyn) grieving his father and exploring his sexuality.
The show has four notations: Male Performance in a Comedy Programme for Jon Pointing, Scripted Comedy. Jack Rooke is up for Emerging Talent: Fiction, and Writer: Comedy
Rooke excitedly tweeted about the BAFTA nominations, he also shared he was ordering breakfast to star Jon Pointing (nominated for his performance) to wake him up.
Season four of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK is nominated in the Reality And Constructed Factual category.
The show was nominated in the same category in 2020 and 2022 but didn’t win either time. This year it’s up against fierce competition: namely, The Traitors.
We’d love to see Claudia Winkleman and RuPaul lipsync for the trophy!
Joe Lycett, the beloved comedian turned campaigner has also been recognised for the one-off show, Joe Lycett Vs Beckham: Got Your Back at Xmas.
Lycett recounted his antics of confronting footballer David Beckham over his Qatar World Cup ambassador deal.
The BAFTA Television Craft Awards will take place on Sunday 23 April.
The BAFTA TV Awards will be held on Sunday 14 May. Comedians Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan will host.