DUBAI: The BAFTA Television Awards 2026 took place in London on Sunday night, with Narges Rashidi taking home the Best Leading Actress award for “Prisoner 951.”
The actress, who was born in Iran, plays the role of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe in BBC One’s real-life drama. Rashidi dedicated the award to the British-Iranian woman who was imprisoned in Iran for six years.
The star of “Casualty,” Sarah Seggari, a London-born actress of Italian and Moroccan descent, walked the red carpet in traditional Moroccan attire ahead of the ceremony at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall in London.
The documentary, “Gaza: Doctors Under Attack,” won the Current Affairs prize. The work investigates Israeli military attacks on hospitals in Gaza and it won months after it was shelved by the BBC over what the broadcaster described as “impartiality concerns.”
The documentary was eventually aired on Channel 4.
The Netflix drama, “Adolescence,” emerged as the biggest winner of the evening after taking home four awards, including Best Limited Drama. Hosted by comedian Greg Davies, the ceremony celebrated the best of British television from the past year.
The drama “Adolescence” dominated the acting categories, with Stephen Graham winning Best Leading Actor for his performance in the series, while co-stars Christine Tremarco and Owen Cooper secured the Supporting Actress and Supporting Actor awards respectively.
Sixteen-year-old Cooper’s emotional acceptance speech included a reference to one of the UK’s biggest music exports. “In the words of John Lennon, you won’t get anything unless you have the vision to imagine it.
“In my eyes you only need three things to succeed in life. One, an obsession. Two, a dream. And three, The Beatles,” he said.
In the drama categories, “Code of Silence” won Best Drama Series. Comedy winners included “Amandaland,” which won Best Scripted Comedy, alongside acting wins for Katherine Parkinson for “Here We Go” and Steve Coogan for “How Are You? It’s Alan Partridge.”
Reality and entertainment programming also featured heavily during the ceremony, with the “The Celebrity Traitors” taking the Reality category as well as the audience-voted Memorable Moment Award, while “Last One Laughing UK” won Best Entertainment Program.
Meanwhile, “EastEnders” was named Best Soap for the second consecutive year. The ceremony also honored television icons Mary Berry, who received the BAFTA Fellowship, and Martin Lewis, who was presented with the BAFTA Special Award.
