The Stage

Co-stars Dench and Atkins to be rivals in Bafta TV awards

Published Tuesday 18 March 2008 at 11:20 by Matthew Hemley

Judi Dench has picked up her 12th British Academy Television Awards nomination for her role in the BBC1 drama Cranford.

The actress will go head-to-head with her co-star Eileen Atkins in the best actress category, in which Gina McKee and Kierston Wareing have also been nominated.

Cranford has also picked up nominations in the best drama serial category, alongside Britz, Five Days and Murphy’s Law, and in the programme of the year category alongside Strictly Come Dancing, The Apprentice, Britain’s Got Talent, Andrew Marr’s History of Modern Britain and Gavin and Stacey.

Gavin and Stacey actor and writer James Corden is up for best comedy performance and will battle it out against The Thick of It’s Peter Capaldi, Extra’s Stephen Merchant and Peep Show’s David Mitchell.

In the best actor category, Andrew Garfield has been nominated for the Channel 4 drama Boy A. He will face competition from Tom Hardy, who has been nominated for Stuart: A Life Backwards, Matthew Macfadyen, who is up for Secret Life and Antony Sher, who is nominated for Primo. All have been nominated for a Bafta TV award for the first time.

Elsewhere, Life on Mars, Rome, Skins and The Street are up for best drama series, and The Bill, EastEnders, Emmerdale and Holby City are nominated in the best continuing drama category.

Boy A, Coming Down the Mountain, The Mark of Cain and The Trial of Tony Blair have all picked up nominations for best single drama.

The shows nominated for best entertainment programme are Britain’s Got Talent, Harry Hill’s TV Burp, Have I Got News For You and Strictly Come Dancing.

Meanwhile, Fonejacker, The Armstrong and Miller Show, Russell Brand’s Ponderland and Star Stories are all up against each other in the category of best comedy programme, while Benidorm, The IT Crowd, Peep Show and The Thick of It are nominated in the best situation comedy category.

The Bafta TV awards, supported by Sky+, will take place at the London Palladium on Sunday, April 20 and will be hosted by Graham Norton.

BBC1 will broadcast the event.

For a full list of nominees visit http://www.bafta.org/awards/television or see the list on the TV Today blog here.