It was a night to remember for crime-related programmes, as the best of the small-screen came together for the 2024 BAFTA Television Awards.

On the drama front, the final series of both BBC One’s Happy Valley, and Netflix’s Top Boy bagged two wins apiece.

In the case of Top Boy, the crime drama, which follows the lives of two drug dealers on a Hackney estate, clinched a surprise victory in the prestigious Best Drama Series category, while star Jasmine Jobson made it third time lucky by taking home Best Supporting Actress for her performance as drug dealer Jaq.

The rising starlet told the audience she was “overwhelmed” to win the prize, and concluded with a tribute to her niece.

Despite its loss in the Drama Series category, the much-loved Happy Valley scored two notable awards, including a third BAFTA success for Sarah Lancashire for her swansong turn as seasoned Yorkshire police officer Catherine Cawood.

Upon accepting the accolade, Lancashire thanked the BBC “for giving this very British drama a very British home” and paid tribute to writer and creator Sally Wainwright.

Additionally, the crime drama also won the P&O Cruises Memorable Moment Award for Catherine’s final showdown with her nemesis Tommy Lee Royce.

Elsewhere, the fact-based BBC One series The Sixth Commandment scored a key victory in Best Limited Drama, while veteran star Timothy Spall finally landed his first BAFTA win for his lead role as tragic teacher Peter Farquhar.

His competition in that versatile category included Steve Coogan (The Reckoning) and Dominic West’s (The Crown) portrayals of real-life figures Jimmy Savile and King Charles III.

On the series, Spall said: “This is a story about many things, about terrible crimes, but it’s also about love.”

He later added: “We’re privileged, particularly when you’re telling real stories about real lives, that people give you permission to do this. We’re just storytellers really.”

Meanwhile, an absent Matthew Macfadyen won his third BAFTA for his farewell turn as ambitious CEO Tom Wambsgans in the final series of the hit HBO drama Succession.

However, the biggest upset of the night came in Best International where Succession, The Bear and The Last of Us all lost out to the French-based Netflix miniseries Class Act.

In the comedy categories, the female-led BBC Three sitcom Such Brave Girls scored a surprise victory in Best Scripted Comedy ahead of Big Boys.

Meanwhile, Gbemisola Ikumelo took home the Female Comedy Performance gong for her turn as undercover support officer Dom in BBC One’s Black Ops while the Male Comedy Performance award was given to Mawaan Rizwan for his flamboyant role as homosexual comedian Jamal “Jamma” Jamshidi in BBC Three’s Juice.

In his acceptance speech, Rizwan joked: “Thank you to my therapist – we had a conversation last week where we said I had to stop relying on external forms of validation. Bad timing!”

Elsewhere, BBC One’s Casualty overcame EastEnders and Emmerdale to win Best Soap for the third time in four years, while Joe Lycett held off strong competition from Ant & Dec, Graham Norton and Hannah Waddingham to take home Best Entertainment Performance for his Channel 4 programme Late Night Lycett.

Lycett paid tribute to the people of Birmingham and jokingly paid tribute to his parents, “Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII.”

The other notable victors on the night included Strictly Come Dancing (Entertainment Programme), Lockerbie (Factual Series), Ellie Simmons: Finding My Secret Family (Single Documentary), Squid Game: The Challenge (Reality) and Eurovision Song Contest 2023 (Live Event Coverage).

In a humorous turn of events, BAFTA hosts Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan were also in a jubilant mood as their Sky series Rob & Romesh vs. triumphed in the Best Comedy Entertainment Programme category.

The night also saw Baroness Floella Benjamin become the recipient of this year’s BAFTA Fellowship, while seasoned television presenter Lorraine Kelly was honoured with a special award for her outstanding contribution to television over the past forty years.

Baroness Benjamin said:

“I feel blessed, looking back at my adventurous journey, sparkled with affection but also challenges and adversities.” She later added: “It’s important that we provide high quality, regulated content, which reflects children’s lives, no matter where or how they’re watching.”

Meanwhile, Kelly said:

“I’ve got to thank everybody that I’ve worked with over the past 40 years, and I’m really proud to work on breakfast and daytime telly, because we’re campaigning, we’re groundbreaking, but we also have an awful lot of fun.”

“I’m so honoured our viewers think of me as a friend, that’s incredible.”

The full list of TV BAFTA winners are…

BEST DRAMA SERIES
TOP BOY

BEST LIMITED DRAMA
THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT

BEST LEADING ACTRESS
Sarah Lancashire, HAPPY VALLEY

BEST LEADING ACTOR
Timothy Spall, THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jasmine Jobson, TOP BOY

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Matthew Macfadyen, SUCCESSION

BEST SCRIPTED COMEDY
SUCH BRAVE GIRLS

BEST FEMALE PERFORMANCE IN A COMEDY PROGRAMME
Gbemisola Ikumelo, BLACK OPS

BEST MALE PERFORMANCE IN A COMEDY PROGRAMME
Mawaan Rizwan, JUICE

BEST SOAP
CASUALTY

BEST INTERNATIONAL
CLASS ACT

BEST DAYTIME PROGRAMME
SCAM INTERCEPTORS

BEST ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAMME
STRICTLY COME DANCING

BEST ENTERTAINMENT PERFORMANCE
Joe Lycett, LATE NIGHT LYCETT

BEST COMEDY ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAMME
ROB & ROMESH VS

BEST FACTUAL SERIES
LOCKERBIE

BEST SINGLE DOCUMENTARY
ELLIE SIMMONDS: FINDING MY SECRET FAMILY

BEST FACTUAL ENTERTAINMENT
CELEBRITY RACE ACROSS THE WORLD

BEST REALITY
SQUID GAME: THE CHALLENGE

BEST SPECIALIST FACTUAL
WHITE NANNY, BLACK CHILD

BEST CURRENT AFFAIRS
THE SHAMIMA BEGUM STORY (THIS WORLD)

BEST NEWS COVERAGE
CHANNEL 4 NEWS: INSIDE GAZA: ISRAEL AND HAMAS AT WAR

BEST LIVE EVENT COVERAGE
EUROVISION SONG CONTEST 2023

BEST SPORTS COVERAGE
CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL DAY ONE

BEST SHORT FORM PROGRAMME
MOBILITY

P&O CRUISES MEMORABLE MOMENT
HAPPY VALLEY (Catherine Cawood and Tommy Lee Royce’s final kitchen showdown)