Actor Phil Davis has rescinded his Bafta membership after its 2023 awards show, which he has labelled “embarassing”.
The veteran actor announced on Twitter that he had quit Bafta, in a blistering rant over this year’s awards ceremony, which he called a “travesty”.
Mr Davis, who starred as the first killer in Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock, tweeted: “The BAFTA awards were an embarrassing travesty.
“Cutting deserving winners speeches for toe-curling non-interviews. Poor Richard E Grant pretending to arrive in a Batmobile and no Bernard Cribbins in memorium. I resigned my membership.”
This year’s film awards were co-hosted by the duo of Richard E Grant and Alison Hammond, the latter of whom said she felt like a “competition winner” herself when she was on stage.
After facing criticism over Bernard Cribbins being omitted from the In Memorium segment, Bafta tweeted that the Doctor Who star was now being “considered” for the TV awards, but that too was deemed insulting.
Showrunner for Doctor Who, Russell T Davies replied: “It’s fair enough to remember Bernard Cribbins at the TV @bafta, not the film. To say he’s being ‘considered’ is the work of an idiot.”
Bafta later confirmed Cribbins would be remembered at its TV awards in May.
English actor Davis has appeared in a range of British TV series, such as Doctor Who and Sherlock, as well as such films as Vera Drake, In the Name of the Father, and Alien 3.
His comments came following last Sunday’s ceremony, on February 19, which has received a horde of criticism.
One criticism of the event, held inside the Royal Festival Hall, was for a lack of diversity among winners.
Noise about the issue has grown in recent days, with it being said that the vast majority of this year’s winners were white, three years after the #BAFTASoWhite controversy erupted and forced the British Academy to undergo a nine-month review and overhaul that led to more than 120 changes to its awards process and rules.
There has been other criticism aimed at the way there was a lull at the two-hour mark, with talent interviews appearing to pad out proceedings so the show could sync up with the BBC One broadcast and the final four categories could be aired live. Some categories and acceptance speeches were also said to be condensed for the broadcast.
The BAFTA awards were an embarrassing travesty. Cutting deserving winners speeches for toe curling non interviews. Poor Richard E Grant pretending to arrive in a Batmobile and no Bernard Cribbens in memorium. I resigned my membership
— Phil Davis (@PhilDavis6) February 22, 2023
