It was an evening to remember for Michaela Coel as her acclaimed miniseries I May Destroy You landed top honours during last night’s BAFTA Television Awards.

Having already scooped wins for her writing and directing of the BBC One programme at last month’s BAFTA Craft Awards ceremony, Coel followed up that momentum by taking home the Leading Actress gong for her lauded performance as Arabella Essiedu, a young writer who is forced to reassess her life after being raped.

The series itself also saw off very strong competition from Steve McQueen’s Small Axe to win the Best Mini-Series category.

During both her speeches, Coel dedicated her awards to both the show’s crew, and its intimacy co-ordinator.

Having overcome the likes of Billie Piper (I Hate Suzie) and previous category winner Jodie Comer (Killing Eve), Coel also becomes only the second non-white woman in BAFTA history to win Leading Actress since the television awards were first formed back in 1954.

Elsewhere, Irish star Paul Mescal saw off The Crown’s Josh O’Connor and Small Axe duo John Boyega and Shaun Parkes to win Leading Actor for his breakthrough role as loved-up teenager Connell Waldron in BBC Three’s Normal People.

In the supporting categories, Malachi Kirby won Best Supporting Actor ahead of the likes of Michael Sheen (Quiz) for his portrayal of activist Darcus Howe in the Mangrove episode of Small Axe.

Meanwhile, Welsh performer Rakie Ayola took home the Best Supporting Actress gong for her turn as Gee Walker, the mother of murdered Liverpool teenager Anthony Walker in the fact-based BBC One drama Anthony.

The biggest upset of the night came in the Drama Series category, as Sky Atlantic’s Save Me Too preserved over the acclaimed fourth series of Netflix’s The Crown.

In the comedy categories, BBC Two’s Inside No. 9 overcame fellow BBC sitcoms Ghosts and This Country to clinch the Scripted Comedy accolade.

However, the latter series did celebrate a consolation win for absent star Charlie Cooper, as he was awarded the Male Comedy Performance prize for his swansong appearance as Cotswolds resident Lee “Kurtan” Mucklowe.

His victory came at the expense of other stellar performances, including Guz Khan (Man Like Mobeen) and the late Paul Ritter (Friday Night Dinner).

A bigger surprise came in the Female Comedy Performance field, as Aimee Lou Wood defeated co-star Emma Mackey to land the gong for her role as bubbly student Aimee Gibbs in Netfix’s Sex Education.

Elsewhere, the BBC One’s Casualty beat Coronation Street and EastEnders to the Soap & Continuing Drama accolade, while the Storyville documentary Welcome to Chechnya prevailed in the International category.

Meanwhile, Romesh Ranganathan saw off the likes of Graham Norton, Bradley Walsh and Claudia Winkleman to win the Entertainment Performance prize for BBC Two’s The Ranganation.

The other standout BAFTA successes on the night included Sitting in Limbo (Single Drama), The Great House Giveaway (Daytime Programme), Life & Rhymes (Entertainment Programme), The Big Narstie Show (Comedy Entertainment Programme), Once Upon a Time in Iraq (Factual Series), Locked In: Breaking the Silence (Single Documentary), Long Lost Family: Born without Trace (Features), Springwatch 2020 (Live Event) and England v West Indies Test Cricket (Sport).

Finally, the recipient of this year’s Virgin TV’s Must-See TV Moment was presented to the dance group Diversity for their controversial Britain’s Got Talent routine, which reflected the killing of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement.

Their victory came at the expense of memorable moments from the likes of Bridgerton, EastEnders and The Mandalorian.

The full list of major BAFTA winners are…

BEST DRAMA SERIES
SAVE ME TOO

BEST MINI-SERIES
I MAY DESTROY YOU

BEST SINGLE DRAMA
SITTING IN LIMBO

BEST LEADING ACTOR
Paul Mescal, NORMAL PEOPLE

BEST LEADING ACTRESS
Michaela Coel, I MAY DESTROY YOU

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Malachi Kirby, SMALL AXE

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Rakie Ayola, ANTHONY

BEST SCRIPTED COMEDY
INSIDE NO. 9

BEST MALE PERFORMANCE IN A COMEDY PROGRAMME
Charlie Cooper, THIS COUNTRY

BEST FEMALE PERFORMANCE IN A COMEDY PROGRAMME
Aimee Lou Wood, SEX EDUCATION

BEST SOAP & CONTINUING DRAMA
CASUALTY

BEST INTERNATIONAL
WELCOME TO CHECHNYA: THE GAY PURGE (STORYVILLE)

BEST DAYTIME PROGRAMME
THE GREAT HOUSE GIVEAWAY

BEST ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAMME
LIFE & RHYMES

BEST ENTERTAINMENT PERFORMANCE
Romesh Ranganathan, THE RANGANATION

BEST COMEDY ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAMME
THE BIG NARSTIE SHOW

BEST FACTUAL SERIES
ONCE UPON A TIME IN IRAQ

BEST SINGLE DOCUMENTARY
LOCKED IN: BREAKING THE SILENCE (STORYVILLE)

BEST FEATURES
LONG LAST FAMILY: BORN WITHOUT TRACE

BEST REALITY & CONSTRUCTED FACTUAL
THE SCHOOL THAT TRIED TO END RACISM

BEST SPECIALIST FACTUAL
THE SURGEON’S CUT

BEST CURRENT AFFAIRS
AMERICA’S WAR ON ABORTION (EXPOSURE)

BEST NEWS COVERAGE
SKY NEWS: INSIDE IDLIB

BEST LIVE EVENT
SPRINGWATCH 2020

BEST SPORT
ENGLAND V WEST INDIES TEST CRICKET

BEST SHORT FORM PROGRAMME
THEY SAW THE SUN FIRST

VIRGIN MEDIA’S MUST-SEE MOMENT
BRITAIN’S GOT TALENT, Diversity perform a routine inspired by the BLM protests

The full list of BAFTA craft winners can be found here: http://awards.bafta.org/award/2021/tvcraft