Baby Reindeer, Richard Gadd’s groundbreaking semi-autobiographical saga about his years of abuse and being stalked, has been nominated for the most 2025 TV Bafta awards.
The Netflix drama – which claimed to be a true story, prompting the woman who allegedly inspired the stalker character to sue for defamation – leads the pack with eight nominations, including a leading actor nod for Gadd as the traumatised comic Donny Dunn. Jessica Gunning, who plays the stalker lawyer Martha, goes head to head with Nava Mau, who plays Donny’s partner, Teri, for the supporting actress gong.
Baby Reindeer is also up for best limited drama, alongside the Netflix romcom One Day, the BBC’s gay adoption weepie Lost Boys and Fairies and ITV’s political powerhouse Mr Bates Vs the Post Office.
Coming in with six nominations apiece are Mr Bates Vs the Post Office, the drama about the post office operator scandal that led to legal reform; the Disney+ high-camp raunchfest Rivals; and Slow Horses, the Apple TV+ drama about the shambolic spies of Slough House.
The Slow Horses star Gary Oldman, who plays the inimitable grouch Jackson Lamb, is up for the leading actor award alongside Gadd. Joining them are David Tennant, for his turn as the regional TV kingpin Tony Baddingham in Rivals; Lennie James as closeted septuagenarian Barry Walker in Mr Loverman; and Toby Jones as the titular Mr Bates.
Up for leading actress are Monica Dolan, for her turn as Jo Hamilton in Mr Bates; Sharon D Clarke as Barry’s heartbroken wife Carmel in Mr Loverman; Marisa Abela as the hounded rich-kid banker Yasmin in Industry; Billie Piper for the Prince Andrew Newsnight film Scoop; Anna Maxwell Martin for the serial killer survivor drama Until I Kill You; and Lola Petticrew as Dolours Price in Say Nothing, the shocking IRA drama on Disney+.
Say Nothing also received nominations for Maxine Peake, for supporting actress in her role as the older Dolours, plus best international show.
Say Nothing joins Shōgun, the feudal Japanese samurai epic voted the Guardian’s No 1 show of 2024, in the running for best international show, along with the Jodie-Foster-fronted True Detective: Night Country, the provocative New Zealand hit After the Party, the popular Australian comedy Colin from Accounts and Netflix’s You Are Not Alone: Fighting the Wolfpack.
Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light, the concluding part of the Hilary Mantel Tudor epic, saw Mark Rylance return with another powerhouse performance as Thomas Cromwell. But it has received only two nominations – for best drama and best supporting actor, for Damian Lewis as Henry VIII, with Rylance royally snubbed.
Also in contention for best drama are the Belfast cop smash Blue Lights, the second series of James Graham’s “Shottingham” drama Sherwood and the superhero show Supacell, set in Peckham, south London.
Sophie Willan’s Alma’s Not Normal is up for two awards. The acclaimed comedy, which was inspired by Willan’s experiences and tackled everything from cancer to the welfare system, swept the Royal Television Society awards earlier this week and has already won two Baftas, including the 2022 gong for best comedy writing, based on the show’s pilot alone. Willan is nominated for best female performance in a comedy and is up against scouse sitcom G’Wed, Joseph Gilgun’s comedy Brassic and Ludwig, David Mitchell’s twin-swap cosy-crime show, for the best scripted comedy award.
Of the 44 nominees in the performance categories, 21 have received their first Bafta nominations, including Gadd, Gunning and Mau for Baby Reindeer; Jonathan Pryce as the former head of MI5 now living with dementia in Slow Horses; Petticrew for Say Nothing; Abela for her breakout turn in season three of Industry, Nabhaan Rizwan as the god of pleasure, Dionysus, in the controversially cancelled Netflix drama Kaos; Nicola Coughlan for the Channel 4 depression comedy Big Mood; plus Stacey Solomon for her home clean-up show Sort Your Life Out.
Six moments are up for memorable moment of the year, the only Bafta award decided by the public: Chris McCausland and Diane Buswell dancing to You’ll Never Walk Alone on Strictly Come Dancing; Diane in The Traitors revealing that Ross is her son; Colin (Luke Newton) and Penelope (Nicola Coughlan) finally admitting their feelings for each other in Bridgerton; Jo Hamilton (Monica Dolan) phoning the horrifying Horizon hotline in Mr Bates; Smithy (James Corden) asking if he should jilt his partner at the altar in the Gavin and Stacey finale; and the naked tennis scene in Rivals.
The 2025 TV Craft awards will take place on 27 April, with the 2025 TV Bafta awards to follow on 11 May at Royal Festival Hall in London; they will be broadcast on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. The Scottish actor and presenter of The Traitors US, Alan Cumming, will host the ceremony for the first time.
