Bafta TV Awards 2022: most surprising snubs including It’s A Sin and Ncuti Gatwa - and the biggest winners

The prestigious Bafta TV awards ceremony, celebrating the best of British and international TV, was held on 8 May.

And it was a surprising night in many respects with one of the biggest fan favourite shows of last year being snubbed.

It’s A Sin, a five-part miniseries set against the backdrop of the 1980’s AIDs crisis in London, was a devastating and heartwarming testament to friendship under the most painful circumstances.

What was It’s A Sin nominated for?

It’s A Sin had the most nominations for any show at this year’s awards with five.

Yet despite racking up all these nominations, the show was not able to convert any into a win and the cast and crew left the ceremony without a gong between them.

Years & Years singer Olly Alexander was nominated for Leading Actor for his role as Ritchie in the show, while Lydia West, who played Jill, was nominated for Leading Actress.

Alexander was beaten by Sean Bean for his role as a new inmate at a rough prison in drama series Time, and West lost out to Jodie Comer who played a carer in the pandemic series Help.

It’s A Sin was also nominated for Mini-series, had three nominations for Supporting Actor, and one particularly emotional scene was up for Virgin Media’s Must-See Moment.

Time beat It’s A Sin again, taking the Mini-series award, Matthew Macfadyen won the Supporting Actor award for his role in Succession, and Strictly Come Dancing took the win for Must-See Moment.

It’s A Sin did achieve two wins at April’s Bafta TV Craft awards for Editing: Fiction, and Director: Fiction.

Was It’s A Sin snubbed?

While it’s not necessarily fair to claim that the programme deserved to win in every category, it does feel a little odd that one of the biggest (and most important) shows of the year didn’t win a single Bafta TV award.

Rose Ayling-Ellis and Giovanni Pernice’s Symphony performance on Strictly Come Dancing always felt like a shoe-in for Must-See Moment, and Sean Bean’s lead performance in Time was exceptional, so perhaps their wins can be forgiven.

But, even though Time was a fantastic, taught series, with every scene seared with tension, it’s hard to argue that it deserved to beat It’s A Sin for Best Mini-Series.

It’s A Sin took viewers on a journey that crisscrossed the entire spectrum of human emotion, and was a teachable moment about a very recent but not well-known part of British history.

What is truly incomprehensible is how Callum Scott Howells’ performance as the tragic and innocent Colin was not Best Supporting Actor worthy.

What else was snubbed at the Bafta TV awards 2022?

Netflix was also given the cold shoulder at the awards ceremony, having amassed nominations across six categories and winning none.

The most egregious of these losses was Ncuti Gatwa, (who was recently announced as the new star of Doctor Who) for Male Performance in a Comedy Programme for his role in Sex Education.

Gatwa lost out to Jamie Demetriou for his role in the sitcom Stath Lets Flats.

Additionally, Netflix’s smash-hit Squid Game, which was viewed by more than 140 million people in its first 28 days on the platform, lost out on the award for International series to Amazon’s The Underground Railroad.