BAFTA TV Awards 2024: Top Boy, Happy Valley and The Sixth Commandment triumph

Top Boy, Happy Valley, and The Sixth Commandment won big at this year's BAFTA TV Awards on Sunday evening, celebrating the best of British and international television.

The final season of the highly praised Netflix show Top Boy received the biggest award of the night for Best Drama, while Jasmine Jobson, who played Jaq Lawrence in the show, took home the prize for Best Supporting Actress.

Timothy Spall won Best Actor for his role in The Sixth Commandment, a BBC One drama based on the murder of a retired schoolmaster. The show also received the award for Best Limited Drama.

“I’ve always wanted one of these – it’s just lovely to have one," the 67-year-old Spall admitted upon receiving his award.

Sarah Lancashire received the Best Actress award for her performance in the final season of the BBC’s hit drama Happy Valley. The show, written and created by Sally Wainwright, also won the “P&O Cruises memorable moment” award for its intense final showdown between police sergeant Catherine Cawood (Lancashire) and serial killer Tommy Lee Royce (James Norton).

"I would like to acknowledge my fellow nominees and their tremendous work," said Lancashire. "Sally Wainwright, I shall forever be grateful to you for this opportunity."

Other wins and snubs

Other notable wins included Squid Game: The Challenge for Best Reality, Strictly Come Dancing for Best Entertainment Programme, and Joe Lycett for Best Entertainment Performance (Late Night Lycett).

Two major US series from last year, Succession and The Crown, received little recognition. Succession managed only one award, Best Supporting Actor for Matthew Macfadyen, who wasn't present to accept it. The Crown missed out entirely despite four nominations.

Also absent from the winners' circle was ITV’s Mr Bates vs the Post Office. Inspired by the Horizon Scandal, the show caused national outrage and government intervention upon its release in January. Eleanor Tomlinson clarified that Mr Bates was ineligible for this year's nominations as it aired after the BAFTA 2024 broadcast cut-off date.

Full list of winners:

Drama series

The Gold (BBC One)

Happy Valley (BBC One)

Slow Horses (Apple TV+)

Top Boy (Netflix) – WINNER

International

The Bear (Disney+)

Beef (Netflix)

Class Act (Netflix) – WINNER

The Last of Us (Sky Atlantic)

Love & Death (ITVX)

Succession (Sky Atlantic)

Limited drama

Best Interests (BBC One)

Demon 79, Black Mirror (Netflix)

The Long Shadow (ITV1)

The Sixth Commandment (BBC One) – WINNER

Leading actress

Anjana Vassan, Black Mirror (Netflix)

Anne Reid, The Sixth Commandment (BBC One)

Bella Ramsey, The Last of Us (Sky Atlantic)

Helena Bonham Carter, Nolly (ITVX)

Sarah Lancashire, Happy Valley (BBC One) – WINNER

Sharon Horgan, Best Interests (BBC One)

Leading actor

Brian Cox, Succession (Sky Atlantic)

Dominic West, The Crown (Netflix)

Kane Robinson, Top Boy (Netflix)

Paapa Essiedu, The Lazarus Project (Sky Max)

Steve Coogan, The Reckoning (BBC One)

Timothy Spall, The Sixth Commandment (BBC One) – WINNER

Supporting actress

Elizabeth Debicki, The Crown (Netflix)

Harriet Walter, Succession (Sky Atlantic)

Jasmine Jobson, Top Boy (Netflix) – WINNER

Lesley Manville, The Crown (Netflix)

Nico Parker, The Last of Us (Sky Atlantic)

Siobhan Finneran, Happy Valley (BBC One)

Supporting actor

Amit Shah, Happy Valley (BBC One)

Éanna Hardwick, The Sixth Commandment (BBC One)

Harris Dickinson, A Murder At The End of The World (Disney+)

Jack Lowden, Slow Horses (Apple TV+)

Matthew MacFadyen, Succession (Sky Atlantic) – WINNER

Salim Daw, The Crown (Netflix)

Female performance in a comedy programme

Bridget Christie, The Change (Channel 4)

Gbemisola Ikumelo, Black Ops (BBC One) – WINNER

Máiréad Tyers, Extraordinary (Disney+)

Roisin Gallagher, The Lovers (Sky Atlantic)

Sofia Oxenham, Extraordinary (Disney+)

Taj Atwal, Hullraisers (Channel 4)

Male performance in a comedy programme

Adjani Salmon, Dreaming Whilst Black (BBC One)

David Tennant, Good Omens (Prime Video)

Hammed Animashaun, Black Ops (BBC One)

Jamie Demetriou, A Whole Lifetime with Jamie Demetriou (Netflix)

Joseph Gilgun, Brassic (Sky Max)

Mawaan Rizwan, Juice (BBC Three) – WINNER

Scripted comedy

Big Boys (Channel 4)

Dreaming Whilst Black (BBC One)

Extraordinary (Disney+)

Such Brave Girls (BBC Three) – WINNER

Entertainment performance

Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! (ITV1)

Big Zuu, Big Zuu’s Big Eats (Dave)

Graham Norton, The Graham Norton Show (BBC One)

Hannah Waddingham, Eurovision Song Contest 2023 (BBC One)

Joe Lycett, Late Night Lycett (Channel 4) – WINNER

Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan, Rob and Romesh Vs… (Sky Max)

Comedy entertainment programme

The Graham Norton Show (BBC One)

Late Night Lycett (Channel 4)

Rob & Romesh Vs … (Sky Max) – WINNER

Would I Lie To You? (BBC One)

Entertainment programme

Hannah Waddingham: Home For Christmas (Apple TV)

Later with Jools Holland (BBC Two)

Michael McIntyre’s Big Show (BBC One)

Strictly Come Dancing (BBC One) – WINNER

Factual entertainment

Celebrity Race Across The World (BBC One) – WINNER

The Dog House (Channel 4)

Endurance: Race To The Pole (Channel 5)

Portrait Artist of the Year (Sky Arts)

Factual series

Dublin Narcos (Sky Documentaries)

Evacuation (Channel 4)

Lockerbie (Sky Documentaries) – WINNER

Once Upon A Time In Northern Ireland (BBC Two)

Reality

Banged Up (Channel 4)

Married at First Sight (E4)

My Mum, Your Dad (ITV1)

Squid Game: The Challenge (Netflix) – WINNER

Specialist factual

Chimp Empire (Netflix)

The Enfield Poltergeist (Apple TV+)

Forced Out (Sky Documentaries)

White Nanny, Black Child (Channel 5) – WINNER

Live event

The Coronation Concert (BBC One)

Eurovision Song Contest (BBC One) – WINNER

Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance (BBC One)

Short film

Mobility (BBC Three) – WINNER

The Skewer: Three Twisted Years (BBC iPlayer)

Stealing Ukraine’s Children: Inside Russia’s Camps (Vice)

Where It Ends (BBC Three)

Sport

Cheltenham Festival Day One (ITV1) – WINNER

MOTD Live: Fifa Women’s World Cup 2023 (BBC One)

Wimbledon 2023: Men’s Final (BBC One)

News coverage

Channel 4 News: Inside Gaza, Israel and Hamas at War (Channel 4) – WINNER

Sky News: Inside Myanmar, The Hidden War (Sky News)

Sky News: Israel/Hamas War (Sky News)

Current affairs

Inside Russia: Traitors and Heros – Storyville (BBC Two)

Putin Vs The West (BBC Two)

Russell Brand: In Plain Sight (Channel 4)

The Shamima Begum Story (BBC Two) – WINNER

Daytime

Loose Women and Men (ITV1)

Lorraine (ITV1)

Make It At Market (BBC One)

Scam Interceptors (BBC One) – WINNER

Soap

Casualty (BBC One) – WINNER

Eastenders (BBC One)

Emmerdale (ITV1)