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Bolton's Sophie Willan had the famous faces gathered for this year's The Bafta TV Awards in stitches of laughter as she accepted an award - and refrained from swearing. Alma's Not Normal, starring and created by the actress, won best scripted comedy for the second season. Sophie said: "I'm not allowed to swear and all I want to do is beep beep.
"This is so exciting, thank you very much. "I just want to say they are flopping brilliant (looking at cast and crew) "I have got this amazing cast. "Thank you everyone.
" Sophie was up for two awards this evening for her Alma’s Not Normal, with the second for female performance in a comedy, which went to Ruth Jones of Gavin and Stacey's The sitcom is inspired by her experiences growing up in the town. It features familiar sights and businesses, including Tapaz on Bradshawgate. Sophie has often been spotted filming around Bolton , where she still lives, and is patron of charity Back-up North West.
READ MORE: BBC's Alma's Not Normal features Tapaz Restaurant in Bolton Sophie Willan and Alma's Not Normal win at RTS Programme Awards 2025 Sophie Willan names Olympus chippy Bolton as her last supper BBC News anchor and Bolton Clive Myrie has won the daytime Bafta gong for his Caribbean Adventure programme on BBC Two. “It’s a tough industry, no doubt, it’s really tough,” Myrie said. “I just want to put a plea out to the big (networks), be kind to our indies (independent TV production companies).
” Baby Reindeer has snapped up an early Bafta win, with Jessica Gunning earning the best supporting actress prize for playing a stalker in the hit Netflix series. Elsewhere, the Bafta for limited drama was awarded to ITV’s Mr Bates Vs The Post Office, which has renewed public attention on the subpostmasters who fought to clear their names in the wake of the Horizon scandal. This starred Bolton's Amy Nuttall.
(Image: ITVX) The best supporting actor prize went to Ariyon Bakare for the BBC LGBT+ drama Mr Loverman, based on the Bernardine Evaristo novel of the same name. In the comedy performance categories former EastEnders star Danny Dyer won for Sky’s Mr Bigstuff, with Welsh actress Ruth Jones winning for her role playing Vanessa Shanessa “Nessa” Jenkins in the Gavin And Stacey finale. Yorkshire-born Gunning beat her fellow Baby Reindeer star, trans actress Nava Mau, who played Donny’s girlfriend Teri.
Collecting the limited drama prize, Mr Bates producer Patrick Spence said that they would never have been able to make the show without ITV and the journalists who had covered the scandal. He said that people such as Sir Alan Bates “demanded action with such rage” and that the airing of the drama proved the public “cannot abide liars and bullies”. Mr Spence also said that “maybe it is a warning” to others in power, adding: “Our show didn’t change the law, the people of this nation did that.
” More than 900 subpostmasters were prosecuted between 1999 and 2015 after faulty Horizon accounting software made it look as though money was missing from their accounts. Jones, co-creator of BBC series Gavin And Stacey, became emotional as she thanked her writing partner and friend James Corden as she picked up the female performance in a comedy gong. She said: “The person I would like to thank most is my dear, dear, talented, lovely, kind, funny friend, James Corden with whom I have shared this astonishing journey for the past 17 years, and without whom, Nessa Shanessa Jenkins would simply not exist.
I love you, James. I love writing with you. Long may it continue.
Thank you so much.” The ceremony was opened by host and Scottish actor Alan Cumming, who referenced his presenting role on The Traitors US in a sketch with footage of him shown in the Scottish Highlands castle where the hit reality series takes place. On stage, Cumming also joked about his acting career, Facebook, and brought out a fake children’s book about long speeches and who winners are supposed to thank.
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