Adolescence makes history at Bafta TV Awards - BBC

Netflix drama Adolescence was the big winner at the Bafta Television Awards on Sunday, with The Celebrity Traitors and Last One Laughing also scooping a share of the glory.

The Celebrity Traitors and Last One Laughing won two prizes each, while Adolescence took four - breaking the record for the most wins at the Bafta TV Awards ceremony in a single year.

The hard-hitting drama, which became a national talking point when it was released in March 2025, was named best limited series, and there were acting honours for its stars Stephen Graham, Owen Cooper and Christine Tremarco.

At 16, Cooper became the youngest ever winner of the award for best supporting actor.

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Cooper's Bafta can go alongside the Emmy, Golden Globe, National Television, Royal Television Society and Actor Awards he has already won for playing a boy accused of murdering a female classmate.

In his acceptance speech, the rising star from Warrington paid tribute to the Beatles.

"In the words of John Lennon, you won't get anything unless you have the vision to imagine it," he said.

"So in my eyes I think you only need three things to succeed: one, you need an obsession; two, you need a dream; and, three, you need the Beatles."

Graham was named best leading actor for playing Cooper's on-screen dad, and Tremarco won best supporting actress for playing his mum.

It was Graham's first Bafta win after seven previous nominations.

In his speech, he encouraged young viewers to believe they could follow a similar path in acting.

"We're not digging holes, we're not digging ditches, we're not saving lives, but we have the opportunity to tell the human condition, and we have the obligation to tell beautiful stories and we need to keep that going," he said.

He also ending his speech with a Beatles reference, telling the ceremony: "The kid's already said it, but in the words of the Beatles, all we need is love."

Actress wins for Zaghari-Ratcliffe role

Meanwhile, Narges Rashidi, who was born in Iran, won best leading actress for playing Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe in BBC One's real-life drama Prisoner 951.

Rashidi dedicated the award to the British-Iranian woman who was imprisoned in Tehran for six years, and her family, telling the ceremony: "Your resilience, your dignity, your love through impossible circumstances have moved us all.

"Your courage will stay with me for the rest of my life. This is for you."

Elsewhere, the award for best drama went to ITV's Code of Silence, which starred Rose Ayling-Ellis as a deaf woman who helps police with her lip reading skills.

The Celebrity Traitors, the most-watched programme of last year with more than 15 million viewers, won best reality programme.

Accepting the award, host Claudia Winkleman dedicated it to the show's "extraordinary cast who played with dignity, gusto and their entire hearts and we love them".

Alan Carr's victory on the programme was named the year's most memorable TV moment - the only award of the night to be voted for by the public.

In his acceptance speech, he joked: "Was I good? Was I really - or were the other celebrities just thick?!", referencing their inability to spot him as a Traitor.

Prime Video's hit Last One Laughing was named best entertainment programme, beating BBC One heavyweights The Graham Norton Show, Michael McIntyre's Big Show and Would I Lie To You.

Bob Mortimer's efforts to make his rival comedians crack a smile while he kept a straight face in Last One Laughing earned him the Bafta for best entertainment performance.

Coogan will play Alan Partridge 'until I die'

Steve Coogan won best actor in a comedy for How Are You? It's Alan (Partridge).

He said: "Doing comedy in these troubled times is so important. It's a privilege to make people laugh after all these years."

He continued: "I will keep on doing it. If anyone wants to know when Alan Partridge is going to die, it's about the same time that I am going to die."

Katherine Parkinson was named best comedy actress for her role as mum Rachel in family sitcom Here We Go.

Her competition in the category included a trio of stars from Amandaland (Lucy Punch, Philippa Dunne and Jennifer Saunders) as well as Diane Morgan and Rosie Jones.