Happy Birthday, Arthur Conan Doyle, it's a BAFTA for Sherlock!
How appropriate. It was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s birthday. At a mere 152, he certainly would have enjoyed Sherlock’s BAFTA award for Best Drama series last night besting Downton Abbey, Misfits and the brilliance of Being Human. Along with the series win, Martin Freeman won Best Supporting Actor for his role as Doctor Watson in the Steven Moffat/Mark Gatiss creation, Sherlock.
Not having seen Eric and Ernie, the drama about the ‘formative’ years of the brilliant comedy duo of Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise, it’s hard for me to say that Daniel Rigby’s BAFTA-winning performance as Eric Morecambe over the likes of Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock) and Matt Smith (Doctor Who) was somewhat of a shock. Given both of their performances, however, it does seem rather surprising, to say the least.
A bigger shock of the night was the BAFTA in the YouTube Audience Award going to The Only Way is Essex, a docu-soap that pales in comparison to its fellow nominees, Sherlock and Downton Abbey. It may have had a miniscule audience to the others, but its audience definitely knows it’s way around YouTube better given the average age of their viewers.
The BAFTA for Best Sitcom went to Rev, starring Tom Hollander, which has a good chance to coming to a public television station near you in 2012.
FYI, tellyspotting readers should feel pretty good about accurately selecting Sherlock for Best Drama over the likes of Downton Abbey, Being Human and Misfits. On the bad news front of the good news, bad news front, you also gave zero votes to Daniel Rigby for his role in Eric and Ernie. Oh well, keep in mind, a .333 average gets you in the Hall of Fame so 50% is not too bad.
