It’s a Sin receives an incredible 11 BAFTA nominations

The sensational hit mini-series It’s a Sin has been nominated for an overwhelming 11 BAFTAs including Leading Actor and Writer.

Entertainment . Written by Han Tiernan.

Still from It's A Sin: two lead characters performing a duet on stage
Image: Via YouTube @HBOMax

This year’s BAFTA nominations have been announced and It’s a Sin has swept the board with a jaw-dropping 11 nominations. 

Unsurprisingly Olly Alexander has been nominated in the Leading Actor category for his fantastic portrayal of Ritchie Tozer, the show’s protagonist, whilst Lydia West, who plays Ritchie’s best friend Jill Baxter, has been nominated for Leading Actress.

Alongside Olly and Lydia, three of the show’s actors, Callum Scott Howells, David Carlyle and Omari Douglas have been nominated in the Supporting Actor category.

While the category is hotly contested, last night’s win by Callum in the Actor category at the Royal Television Society (RTS) awards – seeing him outshine Olly – might herald the reign of this newcomer.

Hopefully the same can be said for Russell T Davies following his win at the RTS awards in the category of best writer in the drama. Having also been nominated for a best writer BAFTA, it could be an extremely well deserved double win for Russell and It’s a Sin.

Although Russell is no stranger to writing queer stories with hit shows such as Queer As Folk (1999), Cucumber (2015) and its spinoff series Banana (2015), before It’s a Sin, he hadn’t taken on subject matter from a queer historical context. 

In explaining why he shied away from writing a drama about AIDS for so long, he told the Guardian, “Imagine if I’d got this wrong, if it had been rubbish. Imagine if I’d let down all those people for whom this is a life-defining thing. 

“We all lived with their deaths for so long, and doing it justice was an enormous weight to bear. It took me a lot longer to write the first episode than anything else I’ve ever written. I normally write it in about a month. This took about six months.”

But as the BAFTA awards roll call can attest to, Russell most definitely didn’t get it wrong and has done ample justice in remembering those who died from the disease. And fittingly one of the series’ most difficult scenes, Colin’s diagnosis, has been nominated for the award’s only public vote #MustSeeMoment. 

With all the recognition of the amazing performances and writing, it would seem an oversight not to acknowledge the show in the Scripted Casting category as well. Along with further nominations for best Fiction Director, Fiction Editing and Make Up & Hair Design, It’s a Sin looks set to clean up at this year’s BAFTAs.

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