This year's BAFTA's took place last week, and in truth, I was pretty much dismayed at their boring, narrow-minded choices. Of course, British television is hardly at its peak at the moment, but nevertheless, there certainly is much more to reward than you'd think there was judging by the decisions of the British Academy. As if the Keira snub didn't piss me off enough.
So in a rather infuriated fashion, I reacted by compiling my own awards for the last year of television. To be honest I can't help myself. I've included all television shows broadcast on British screens, not just the home-grown stuff. Here are my choices:
TV Series – Drama
Bad Girls
Coronation Street
Eastenders
ER
Lost
Eastenders is really a filler. It has and will see much better era's. ER continues to be as exhilarating as Coronation Street is enlightening. The seemingly never-ending Lost may tease to the point of torture, but is just so god damn addictive. But it's Bad Girls, even despite not being the best series of its run, that was really the highlight of the year for me. Think an hour of Cell Block Tango every week. Bliss.
TV Series – Comedy
The Catherine Tate Show
Desperate Housewives
Extras
Little Britain
Shameless
While Little Britain continues to entertain with its funny sketches, Catherine Tate mesmerises even more with her stark-raving hilarious one-woman assault. Ricky Gervais was busy proving that The Office was not a one-off success and that he is in fact a genius. Still, comic genius was also evident in the massive worldwide success, Desperate Housewives, which, while a lovely little satire, really coasts on the performances of its four main stars. However, no programme this year made me laugh more than the perfectly named 'Shameless', which satirises an entirely different type of desperation.
Actor – Drama
Jack Ellis – Bad Girls
Chris Fountain – Hollyoaks
Matthew Fox – Lost
Dominic Monaghan – Lost
Bill Ward – Coronation Street
My two favourite performances in this line-up are villains, oddly enough. Bill Ward's psychological ego-driven Charlie, who continues to manipulate, yet find a way to be so dangerously attractive (tell me I'm not the only one that feels this way) and Jack Ellis' detestable creation Jim Fenner, whose plain evil drives me to pure hatred. None moreso than in his final series. Yes people, he's gone. May the bastard rot in hell. Quite a dishy category generally, excluding my winner of course :P
Actress – Drama
Danielle Brent – Bad Girls
Kate Ford – Coronation Street
Zoe Lucker – Footballers’ Wives
Maura Tierney – ER
Lacey Turner – Eastenders
What a bloody brilliant category. It was at this point that I really discovered I LOVE television. Brent, Ford, and Lucker are complete bitches, but all in fairly different ways. They all implant their own ways of making you hate them in any case. Tierney is my favourite part of ER, and I'm including the entire length of its run here. She makes her character so much more human and relatable than any other in the programme. It's surprising then that I find myself falling for Lacey Turner's strong, feisty tearaway Stacey Slater. She is solely responsible for reviving the programme through her 'Slater' appeal. The show revolves around that family, and her grounded recognisable presence is indicative of what Eastenders is supposed to be about. Brilliant.
Actor – Comedy
Ricky Gervais – Extras
Jody Latham - Shameless
Matt Lucas – Little Britain
David Threlfall – Shameless
David Wailliams – Little Britain
David Threlfall, playing a character essentially used as a figure of fun, steals the show in Shameless, despite sometimes not appearing for a single episode. Latham really steers the show with his stupidly brilliant naivety, his coming-of-age through the series' near completion. The team of Lucas and Wailliams each contribute something different to Little Britain, remaining fairly equally hilarious. Gervais improvises much of his six episodes, even though he's often outshone.
Actress – Comedy
Marcia Cross – Desperate Housewives
Felicity Huffman – Desperate Housewives
Ashley Jensen – Extras
Eva Longoria – Desperate Housewives
Catherine Tate – The Catherine Tate Show
Brilliant, brilliant category. Catherine Tate wades through her sketches with an inspired familiarity, bringing to life characters that are felt and acknowledged in a way that many other comedians haven't. Jensen really steals the Extra's show, ad-libbing with a freshness that defines British humour. The housewives (sans Terri, who I sadly had to leave out) really flesh out quite archetypal roles. None moreso than the house-proud Bree Van De Camp, played by Marcia Cross. Cross has a gift of conveying dismay, anguish, satisfaction through her essentially porcelain complexion.
Supporting Actor – TV Series
James Alexandrou - Eastenders
Mekhi Phifer - ER
Doug Savant – Desperate Housewives
John Savident – Coronation Street
Shane West - ER
West and Phifer, while their characters remain a little too familiar, give them an added punch. Huffman overshadows Savant but don't be fooled - he plays his part very well. Alexandrou is close to perfect as the strong, stubborn young husband in Eastenders, and Savident is utterly hilarious is Coronation Street, and when called upon for dramatic acting gladly turns it up a notch.
Supporting Actress – TV Series
Kacey Ainsworth - Eastenders
June Brown - Eastenders
Linda Cardellini - ER
Maggie O’Neill – Shameless
Wendi Peters - Coronation Street
Wendi Peters' Cilla is one of the brightest spots of the Street. Peters has that common as muck attitude that many working class women have. Ainsworth, whose character has been victimised throughout her stay, deserves credit, in the sense that you never doubt her spiralling plight for a second. Brown is an icon that continues to be the programme's MVP. Cardellini is convincing as a young mother. Yet, O'Neill's mentally trodden Sheila, in Shameless, is the character I find I warm to most, even though it's perhaps the last acknowldgeable of the five. O'Neill's timid, mousy exterior is laugh-out-loud funny throughout, giving Shameless another asset. Frank and Sheila forever.
Presenter
Ant & Dec – I’m a Celebrity…
Noel Edmonds – Deal or No Deal
Bruce Forsyth – Strictly Come Dancing
Davina McCall – Big Brother
Paul O’Grady – The Paul O’Grady Show
Chat Show
Friday Night with Jonathan Ross
The Kumars at Number 42
Parkinson
The Paul O’Grady Show
Richard & Judy
Quiz Show
Deal or No Deal
University Challenge
The Vault
The Weakest Link
Who wants to be a Millionaire?
Reality Show
Big Brother
Celebrity Big Brother
The Games
I’m a Celebrity, Get Me out of Here
Strictly Come Dancing
Factual Show
Loose Women
Question Time
Ready Steady Cook
Supernanny
What Not to Wear
