'Longford' and 'Life on Mars' lead the way in TV Bafta nominations

Arifa Akbar

Thursday, 12 April 2007

Share
Close
- Digg
- del.icio.us
- Facebook
- Reddit
- Google
- Stumble Upon
- Fark
- Newsvine
Print
Email

A powerful television drama about the friendship between a Labour peer and the Moors murderer Myra Hindley dominated the Bafta awards shortlist announced yesterday.

Longford, the Channel 4 film, received four nominations for Jim Broadbent's portrayal of Lord Longford, the Catholic peer whose attempts to rehabilitate Hindley earned him widespread derision. Samantha Morton was nominated for the best actress award in her role as Hindley and Andy Serkis was shortlisted for best actor for his portrayal of her accomplice, Ian Brady.

When the drama was broadcast last October, it was praised as a sensitive examination of the nature of good and evil and the price Longford paid for his belief in redemption.

Hindley was still in love with Brady when Longford first visited her in Holloway prison in 1968, and she wanted him to persuade the Home Office to allow inter-prison visits. For 35 years Longford was her most eloquent apologist, yet by the end of his life, he was described as a "pestilential pain" by Hindley.

Meanwhile, ITV's rival drama about the Moors Murders, See No Evil, starring Maxine Peake as Hindley, was nominated for best drama serial.

Life On Mars was nominated for three Baftas, including the Pioneer audience award - the only prize with a public vote. The series' final episode was watched by seven million viewers on Tuesday. John Simm is up for best actor for his role as Sam Tyler, who is apparently displaced into the 1970s following a car accident. But there was no nomination for his co-star, Philip Glenister.

Ricky Gervais is pitted against his collaborator Stephen Merchant for best comedy performance in the sitcom Extras. The show follows the ups and downs of a minor TV star, Andy Millman, played by Gervais, and his hapless agent, Darren Lamb, played by Merchant.

Michael Winterbottom's drama documentary, The Road to Guantanamo, about a trio of Britons who were held at the high security prison without charge for two years, was nominated for best single drama.

The Newcastle duo Ant and Dec were nominated for best entertainment performance for Saturday Night Takeaway against Jonathan Ross for his Friday night chat show, Paul Merton for Have I Got News For You and Stephen Fry for QI.

The awards ceremony will be held at the London Palladium on 20 May. It will be broadcast on BBC1.

In the running

Best Actor

Jim Broadbent - Longford

Andy Serkis - Longford

Michael Sheen - Kenneth Williams: Fantabulousa!

John Simm - Life on Mars

Best Actress

Anne-Marie Duff - The Virgin Queen

Samantha Morton - Longford

Ruth Wilson - Jane Eyre

Victoria Wood - Housewife, 49