Bafta viewers were left furious after veteran actors Timothy West and Brian Murphy were “snubbed” from the In Memoriam segment of the awards show.
The film awards were held at the Royal Festival Hall on Sunday (16 February) with Hollywood actors Adrien Brody, Selena Gomez, Timothée Chalamet, Ariana Grande and Zoe Saldaña flying in to attend.
This year’s show was again presented by Doctor Who actor David Tennant, with a musical performance from Take That who performed their hit “Greatest Day”, which is featured in the multi-nominated film Anora.
Hollywood star Jeff Goldblum performed a touching piano cover of “As Time Goes By” during the In Memoriam segment.
Dame Maggie Smith, Dame Joan Plowright, James Earl Jones, and Donald Sutherland were all honoured during the moving tribute.
However, fans were left unimpressed as they noticed that two actors had been missed from the list. But there was good reason for their exclusion from the segment as the Bafta TV Awards are due to take place in May. Actors who are more closely associated with television and known for their TV achievements, are usually honoured at the TV event.
West was best known to TV audiences for his roles in Coronation Street and EastEnders, and had a distinguished career on both stage and screen. He won a TV Bafta for his performance in Edward the Seventh in 1976. He died aged 90 in November 2024.
Some commented that Bernard Hill had been missing from the line up, but Bafta paid tribute to him at last year’s TV event.
Hill, star of Titanic and Oscar-winning fantasy film Lord of the Rings, died aged 79 in May 2024. He was also known for his iconic role as Yosser Hughes in Alan Bleasdale’s seminal British drama Boys from the Blackstuff. The actor had been nominated for two Baftas throughout his career.
Man About the House actor Murphy died aged 92 earlier this month. He won a TV Bafta in 1985.
“Seriously no Bernard Hill In Memoriam?? Absolutely disgusting omission,” wrote one person on X/Twitter, as another added they were “disappointed” not to see Murphy mentioned.
In other tributes, Warwick Davis left viewers in tears with a sweet tribute to his wife as he was awarded the Bafta’s highest honour, the Fellowship Prize.
Becoming emotional, Davis admitted that “life has been pretty tough” since the death of his wife Samantha last year.
Praising his late wife for “always supporting” his career and encouraging him to go for roles, Davis joked that her desire for him to take a job corresponded to how much she wanted to buy a new handbag.
