Narges Rashidi delivered an emotional acceptance speech after winning Best Actress for her portrayal of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe in the BBC drama Prisoner 951 at the BAFTA TV Awards on Sunday. The 46-year-old actress reflected on her childhood in Tehran during the Iran-Iraq war, which claimed 50,000 lives over eight years.
Rashidi's Emotional Speech
Rashidi stated: 'I was a seven-year-old who survived war, now I stand here incredibly lucky. But so many children in Iran, Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, may never get that opportunity, that chance.' She added: 'The stories we tell matter. It's time we humanise those who have been dehumanised.'
The actress played Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the Iranian-British mother of one who was imprisoned in Iran for six years before her release in 2022. She had been sentenced to five years for allegedly attempting to overthrow the regime.
Rashidi described the role as 'a very emotional role to play, big shoes to fill. Lots of responsibility and an absolute honour. It's an important story about justice and injustice and about love and family.'
Adolescence Dominates Awards
Stephen Graham's Netflix drama Adolescence dominated the ceremony, held at London's Royal Festival Hall and hosted by Greg Davies. Graham won Best Actor for portraying a father dealing with the aftermath of a brutal crime involving his teenage son. This marked his first BAFTA win after seven previous nominations for shows including Help, Time, and This Is England '90.
The four-part series received a record 11 nominations and won Best Supporting Actor (Owen Cooper), Best Supporting Actress (Christine Tremarco), and Limited Drama. Each episode is filmed in a single continuous shot and addresses online radicalisation and misogyny.
Other Winners
Owen Cooper, 16, became the youngest winner of the Best Supporting Actor BAFTA, continuing his award-winning streak after similar wins at the Golden Globes and Emmys. Christine Tremarco won Best Supporting Actress, beating co-star Erin Doherty.
Amandaland, starring Lucy Punch, won Scripted Comedy, while Katherine Parkinson won Actress in a Comedy for Here We Go. The Celebrity Traitors won Best Reality, and Alan Carr's emotional win was voted the memorable moment.
The documentary Gaza: Doctors Under Attack won Current Affairs after being dropped by the BBC over impartiality concerns and later picked up by Channel 4. Journalist Ramita Navai criticised the BBC during her acceptance speech.
Simon Schama won for his documentary The Road to Auschwitz, and See No Evil won Factual Series for its investigation into the Church of England abuse scandal.
