'BGT', 'Thick Of It' win at TV BAFTAs

[dutchman]

Britain's Got Talent and The Thick Of It were among the victors at this evening's British Academy Television Awards.

The ITV1 talent show won its first ever BAFTA in the 'Entertainment Programme' category, while judge Simon Cowell took home the Academy's Special Award in recognition for his outstanding contribution to the entertainment industry.

The Thick Of It received the 'Situation Comedy' award, with Peter Capaldi winning 'Male Performance In A Comedy Role' for his portrayal of spin doctor Malcolm Tucker in the BBC political satire. Co-star Rebecca Front also won the accolade of best 'Female Performance In A Comedy Role'.

Other winners included Julie Walters, who received her sixth BAFTA in the 'Leading Actress' category for her performance in Channel 4's Mo, while Kenneth Branagh took home the 'Leading Actor' gong for playing the title role in Wallander.

Matthew Macfadyen and Rebecca Hall each claimed their first awards as 'Supporting Actor' and 'Supporting Actress' respectively, with Macfadyen winning for Criminal Justice and Hall for her performance in serial killer drama Red Riding 1974.

Ant & Dec also won in the 'Entertainment Performance' category as hosts of I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!, while EastEnders was judged the best 'Continuing Drama', the soap's first BAFTA in four years.

Finally, the Academy's Fellowship award was given to former South Bank Show host Lord Melvyn Bragg for his contribution to arts programming.

[pollyanna]

I started watching this last night - and after 20 minutes, when I realised I'd not heard of any of the programmes that were nominated - switched it off

Is it me - or is the choice of tv programmes just getting worse - what with repeats, American imports, cookery programmes, old black & white films etc. etc. yaaaaaaawn.