26 April, 2009
By Scott MatthewmanSource: Stage
Anna Maxwell Martin was tonight named best actress for her role in Channel 4 drama Poppy Shakespeare, in a ceremony which saw the broadcaster take home eight gongs. It was the second Bafta for Maxwell Martin, who previously won for her role as Esther Summerson in 2005’s Bleak House. Maxwell Martin beat Andrea Riseborough, Maxine Peake and June Brown, who had been nominated for her portrayal of EastEnders’ Dot Branning. Her defeat meant that EastEnders failed to win any awards, with ITV1’s The Bill winning Best Continuing Drama for the first time. Channel 4 also secured the Best Actor gong, with Stephen Dillane winning for his portrayal of a grieving father in The Shooting of Thomas Hurndall. The acting awards led a successful night for the broadcaster, who secured eight wins overall, including the audience award — the only one to be voted for by audiences – for Skins. In the drama categories, though, it was the BBC who dominated, winning all three categories. Wallander was awarded Best Drama Series, while Criminal Justice, Peter Moffat’s drama starring Ben Whishaw, won Best Drama Serial. White Girl, written by Abi Morgan and directed by Hettie Macdonald, won the Single Drama category. A further award, the Bafta Special Award, was presented to former BBC Head of Fiction, Jane Tranter, who last year moved to Los Angeles to join BBC Worldwide as exectuive vice-president of programming and production. Harry Hill won the Entertainment Performance award for the second year running for ITV1’s TV Burp, while the broadcaster’s X Factor took its third Entertainment Programme award in four years. Entertainment also took the Features award, with The Choir: Boys Don’t Sing winning for its coverage of musical director Gareth Malone’s efforts to create a boys’ choir in an inner-city school. The Comedy Programme award was given to Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse for their sketch show Harry and Paul. In their accpetance speech, they dedicated their win to producer Geoffrey Perkins, who died last August.
