TV Baftas 2019: Richard Madden For Bodyguard And 9 Other Surprises And Snubs

Some of the biggest names in telly are celebrating their well-deserved nominations at the TV Baftas this morning.

However, while we can’t say we’re surprised to see stars like Keeley Hawes, Jodie Comer and Benedict Cumberbatch being recognised by Bafta, we can’t deny thinking about a few of this year’s nominees referring to themselves as “Bafta nominees” did raise a bit of a smirk.

Meanwhile, there were also a couple of people from the last year of TV that we were surprised to see missing from the list.

Here are all the snubs and surprises from this year’s TV Baftas…

SNUB - Richard Madden

Best Leading Actor

Let’s start with the big one, shall we? We weren’t surprised to see that Killing Eve was the top nominee this year, with 14 nods overall, but we had been expecting Bodyguard to sweep the board too.

But while Keeley Hawes and the show itself have been recognised in Best Leading Actress and Best Drama respectively, Richard Madden was noticeably absent from the list of nominees, a snub that is particularly noticeable when you take into account he’s already won at both the Golden Globes and National Television Awards earlier this year.

SURPRISE - Good Morning Britain

 Best News Coverage (twice!)

Piers Morgan’s interviewing style isn’t everyone’s cup of tea (to say the last) since he arrived as the anchor of Good Morning Britain, yet 2019 marks the first time the ITV daytime show has been recognised by Bafta.

GMB has scooped not one but two nods in the Best News Coverage category, one for their discussions around knife crime and the other for Piers’ interview with Thomas Markle.

He is not going to shut up about it between now and 12 May, is he?

SNUB - Emmerdale

Best Soap And Continuing Drama

This year marks the first time since 2015 that Emmerdale hasn’t been nominated in the category of Best Soap And Continuing Drama, an award it triumphed in just two years ago.

Sadly for the cast and crew of the ITV soap, they’ve been overlooked in favour of Coronation Street, Hollyoaks, EastEnders and, interestingly enough, Casualty.

Corrie is also the only soap to have been nominated in the Must-See Moments category, for a speech made by Gail in the wake of Aidan’s suicide in 2018.

SURPRISE - Bros

Best Specialist Factual

Anyone who actually watched When The Screaming Stops will totally understand why it’s been recognised by Bafta, so we’re not necessarily surprised by that.

But by the same token, we’re not sure we’d have believed it if we’d been told this time a year ago that Matt and Luke would be in the running for an actual Bafta... 

SURPRISE - Big Narstie

Best Comedy Entertainment Programme

A whole world of yes. We can not wait for the grime star to hit that red carpet and, more to the point, the glitzy Baftas afterparties.

SNUB - Cruising With Jane McDonald

Best Feature

Now listen, we know that your first thought upon gazing upon Jane McDonald’s smiling face and her Channel 5 travels how isn’t “wow, now there’s a woman they should be chucking Baftas at”.

Lest we forget, though, Cruising With Jane McDonald triumphed in the Best Feature category last year, so we’re alarmed to see she’s not even in the running for the 2019 ceremony. 

SNUB - Love Island

Best Reality & Constructed Factual

Similarly, while last year Love Island’s recognition was a surprise, this year so is its absence from the list of nominees.

In 2018, Love Island continued to go from strength to strength, yet this year it has missed out in the Best Reality & Constructed Factual in favour of Dragon’s Den, I’m A Celebrity, Old People’s Home For 4 Year Olds and – believe it or not – The Real Full Monty: Ladies’ Night.

SNUB - The Assassination Of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story

Best International

The second series of American Crime Story has been absolutely lauded in the last year, and was among the top winners at both the Golden Globes and Emmys.

As a US-based show, its options were limited in terms of what it was eligible for, but considering it was shown on BBC Two towards the end of last year, we’re really shocked it wasn’t recognised in the International category.

SNUB - Graham Norton

Best Entertainment Programme and Best Entertainment Performance

With only four slots to fill, narrowing the contenders for Best Entertainment is an unenviable job, so calling this one a snub might be a bit of a reach.

Still, though, Graham Norton has become the go-to TV interviewer of choice for A-list celebrities, so we’re surprised to see that Bafta has chosen not to nominate him or his show at this year’s awards. Particularly when...

SURPRISE - Ant and Dec 

Best Entertainment Programme and Best Entertainment Performance

Yes, the National Television Awards are happy to give Ant and Dec awards for as much as sneezing, but they’ve never been dead certs at the TV Baftas.

So when we saw their names on the shortlist, despite having only hosted the Britain’s Got Talent auditions and six weeks of Saturday Night Takeaway together in 2018, we’ll admit we were a little surprised.

After winning the Best Presenter award at the NTAs last month, Ant admitted he didn’t think he could accept it, because Dec had flown solo for so much of the year, so we’re intrigued to see how this one plays out…

This year’s TV Baftas will take place on Sunday 12 May.