Baftas ratings: TV viewership plummets by 500,000 as host Joanna Lumley fails to pull audience

An average of 3.5 million people watched the broadcast

The number of people who watched the Baftas dropped by half a million compared with last year, overnight figures show.

Sunday night’s (10 February) awards ceremony, which aired on BBC One, drew an average of 3.5 million viewers, with a peak of 4.1 million.

The Joanna Lumley-hosted event attracted an audience share of 20.7% between 9pm and 11pm.

Last year’s Baftas – the Absolutely Fabulous actor’s first as host – averaged four million viewers and peaked at 4.6 million.

Stephen Fry previously presented the awards, with his final time as host in 2017 drawing an average of 3.9 million viewers.

The awards are broadcast after the actual ceremony, which began at 7pm.

Lumley drew mixed reviews from viewers for her jokes throughout the ceremony, including her opening monologue, in which she quipped about the Ku Klux Klan while referring to nominated film BlacKkKlansman.

Olivia Colman took the leading actress award for her role as Queen Anne in period drama The Favourite, which was also named outstanding British film and the best supporting actress in Rachel Weisz.

Other winners included Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma, which won the best film accolade, and Bohemian Rhapsody star Rami Malek, who took the leading actor gong.

Additional reporting by agencies.