BAFTA 2021 Film Awards viewing figures PLUMMET to a 13-year low as an average of just 2million tune in… with 500k switching OFF in the first 5 minutes alone
- Hosted by Dermot O’Leary and Edith Bowman, two million viewers marked the lowest average number to tune into the British awards show in 13 years
- This year’s ceremony took place in two parts, with only a peak of 700,000 viewers tuning in for the Saturday broadcast
- The BAFTA and EE British Academy Film Awards 2021 is the first of the Academy’s film ceremonies to be held virtually
- Viewers took to Twitter during Sunday’s broadcast to complain about the ‘condescending’ and ‘questionable’ virtual audience
The BAFTA 2021 Film Awards saw an average of 2million viewers tune in on Sunday night – the lowest figures for the awards in 13 years.
Hosted by Dermot O’Leary and Edith Bowman, 500,000 people abandoned the virtual ceremony on BBC One in the first five minutes, switching off entirely.
The final five minutes saw figures rise to 4.3million – although with BBC One airing Line Of Duty immediately after the BAFTAs, it’s likely fans of the show were settling in for that.
Plummet: The BAFTA 2021 Film Awards saw an average of 2million viewers tune in on Sunday night – the lowest figures for the awards in 13 years. It was hosted by Dermot O’Leary and Edith Bowman [pictured]
This year’s ceremony took place in two parts, with only a peak of 700,000 viewers tuning in for the Saturday broadcast.
The figures, collated by Deadline and Screen Daily, are down from a 3million average in 2020. MailOnline has approached the BBC for clarification on the final numbers.
The show was beaten by the likes of Tipping Point: Lucky Stars on ITV, followed by Midsomer Murders.
While Saturday’s BBC Two broadcast peaked at 700,000 viewers, it averaged at 400,000 according to overnight Barb figures.
Tuning out: 500,000 people abandoned the virtual ceremony on BBC One in the first five minutes, switching off entirely [Renee Zellweger presenting from LA is pictured]
Another apparent turn-off for viewers was the ‘fake audience and canned laughter’.
Viewers took to Twitter to brand the applause ‘awkward’ and said it ‘ruined the show’ – but it was in fact confirmed afterwards that the audience were a real virtual gathering of 1, 000 people tuning in via video link.
The BAFTA and EE British Academy Film Awards 2021 is the first of the Academy’s film ceremonies to be held virtually but those watching weren’t impressed due to the confusion over whether the audience was fake or real.
A representative for the Academy told MailOnline: ‘1,000 people were virtually watching on a secure audience link and their audio was filtered into the show.’
Oh dear: Viewers were left confused during the BAFTA 2021 Film Awards’ virtual ceremony, as they believed the show had a fake audience and canned laughter’
Some viewers of the ceremony – which was held at the Royal Albert Hall in London but without a live audience – branded the apparently fake applause and laughter in the studio as ‘condescending’ and ‘questionable’.
The ceremony saw winners appearing via Zoom to collect their awards and give acceptance speeches.
Although this helped keep the pace up – and provided some entertaining moments in the case of Youn Yuh-jung who called British people ‘snobbish’ while accepting her gong for Best Supporting Actress – many viewers were not loving the changes.
Several viewers shared their belief that the show was using ‘canned laughter’ on Twitter, with some even comparing it to something from ‘a 1970’s Two Ronnie’s Christmas special.’
Not impressed: The BAFTA and EE British Academy Film Awards 2021 is the first of the Academy’s film ceremonies to be held virtually but those watching weren’t impressed with the set up (pictured are hosts Edith Bowman and Dermot O’Leary)
One unimpressed viewer wrote on the social media platform: ‘The canned laughter is a bit much. The show would work way better with music instead’.
Another penned: ‘This fake applause is so awkward’, while another complained: ‘Not sure about fake audience noises on the BAFTAs’.
A fourth wrote: ‘Yeah, the canned reactions are mega-condescending. Just let the show be what it is. The tech awards mini-show yesterday was really well-pitched.’
Someone else agreed, writing: ‘The canned laughter is questionable’ while another simply said: ‘Can the canned laughter!’
While another unimpressed person said: ‘Changed channels … BAFTAs is on … it seems that instead of a live audience, someone thought that canned applause & laughter from a 1970’s Two Ronnie’s Christmas special would be a good idea … weird’
Opinions: Several viewers shared their belief that the show was using ‘canned laughter’ on Twitter, with some even comparing it to something from ‘a 1970’s Two Ronnie’s Christmas special
Some even claimed that the star-studded night was ‘boring’ – although did put it down to the new Covid rules and restrictions that have been bought in.
One person tweeted: ‘Is the BAFTAs totally shut in this format? I know they dressy up as Covid secure c**p but really it’s so boring.’
Agreeing, another said: ‘God it’s depressing to watch things like #BAFTAs with no live audience. Not for much longer I hope.’
‘Awkward’: One unimpressed viewer took to Twitter to write: ‘The canned laughter is a bit much. The show would work way better with music instead’ – although the audience was real
While others said they were switching the channel without making it to the end to discover who was announced as the best actress and actor.
‘Losing the will watching this, such a boring show, congrats to all the winners but I’m off’, tweeted one unimpressed viewer.
And anther penned: ‘It’s only been 20 mins and baftas is already boring me to death.’
Despite this, some did enjoy the new set-up and particularly the fun, genuine Zoom reactions some stars managed to pull off.
One person said: ‘The slight delay on the reactions of the live audience throws things off a little but seeing the instant reactions of the winners on Zoom is fun #BAFTAs.’
Switching off: Several people said they gave up on the two-hour show and didn’t stick around to see who won the best actor and actress gongs at the end of the night
Winners: Anthony Hopkins won in the Leading Actor category (pictured left in The Father) while Frances McDormand was awarded Best Leading Actress (seen right in film Nomadland)
The 2021 BAFTAs saw Frances McDormand win the leading actress gong for her role in Nomadland while Anthony Hopkins was named as best actor for The Father.
Other winners included Daniel Kaluuya as supporting actor in Judas and the Black Messiah and Korean star Yuh-Jung Youn in the supporting actress category for film Minari.
The BAFTA and EE British Academy Film Awards 2021 is the first of the Academy’s film ceremonies to be held virtually.
The TV version of the awards show took place online during summer 2020, but last year’s film ceremony managed to go ahead a month before the Covid pandemic forced the UK into lockdown.
With the pandemic still raging, another change will take place this year: the BAFTAs will happen in two parts.
It’s not all bad: Some said Covid changes had made the show ‘boring’ but others enjoyed seeing the entertaining and genuine win reactions of celebs on Zoom
Both shows, recognising the very best in film of the past year, will be broadcast virtually from London’s Royal Albert Hall.
The first show celebrates the craft of film while the second main show will feature the mainstream awards.
Show one was hosted by Clara Amfo on Saturday night and saw eight of the 17 gongs awarded.
During the broadcast it was revealed that Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom won two awards: Costume Design and Make Up & Hair. Rocks won Casting while Sound of Metal won Sound. Mank picked up Production Design, and Tenet won Special Visual Effects.
Not happy: Many viewers took to Twitter on Sunday night to complain about the fake audience (pictured is Felicity Jones presenting the Cinematography category)
The Present won the British Short Film award, while the BAFTA for British Short Animation was won by The Owl and the Pussycat.
The award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema, announced last month, was presented to filmmaker Noel Clarke.
Show two was fronted by Dermot O’Leary and Edith Bowman from London’s Royal Albert Hall where the acting prizes will be given out. No audience will be present.
Both programmes are being broadcast in all major territories around the world and a total of 50 feature films received nominations this year.
Presenters will appear during the ceremony from both London and Los Angeles, but all nominees will accept their prizes virtually in front of a virtual audience watching from home.
Presenter: BAFTA has announced their most diverse list of nominees in the awards’ 74-year history (host Dermot O’Leary is pictured)
Among the prizes announced on the second night will be the public-voted EE Rising Star Award and the Fellowship, BAFTA’s highest honour.
BAFTA has announced their most diverse list of nominees in the awards’ 74-year history.
In a first for BAFTA, four women have been nominated in the Director category. Three of the nominated directors are also nominated for Film Not in the English Language.
As part of BAFTA’s pledge to support fresh talent, four of the five nominated films in Outstanding Debut are also nominated across other categories, with first-time nominees accounting for four of the six nominated Directors and 21 of the 24 nominees in the performance categories.
British talent is rife in 2021, with the Outstanding British Film category increasing from six to 10 nominations, three of which are also nominated for Best Film.
Pandemic: The BAFTA and EE British Academy Film Awards 2021 is the first of the Academy’s film ceremonies to be held virtually (pictured Anna Kendrick presents the Best Adapted Screenplay category)
Of the difficult times the awards and creative industries have had during the past 12 months – which saw a total shut-down of TV and film production across the world – BAFTA’s Chief Executive Amanda Berry said: ‘The last year has seen the Covid-19 pandemic impact everyone, and the film industry is no exception.
‘I would like to thank all those who have supported us and enabled BAFTA to continue to celebrate the very best work in film, from our members who embraced the changes we made to the voting process to the distributors for ensuring that many more films were available for online viewing.
‘Film has always held an essential place in our culture but I think we can all agree that it has been even more important during this time.
‘I very much look forward to celebrating the incredible talent of all our nominees.’
In the past year, BAFTA undertook a wide-ranging Review, signalling the beginning of a significant cultural shift within the organisation.
The changes introduced for the Film Awards are the first phase in an ongoing process of levelling the playing field for all entered films.
Entertainment: Dermot and Edith wowed on the red carpet before they entered the studio for presenting duties
BAFTA 2021 WINNERS
LEADING ACTRESS
BUKKY BAKRAY Rocks
RADHA BLANK The Forty-Year-Old Version
VANESSA KIRBY Pieces of a Woman
FRANCES McDORMAND Nomadland – WINNER
WUNMI MOSAKU His House
ALFRE WOODARD Clemency
LEADING ACTOR
RIZ AHMED Sound of Metal
CHADWICK BOSEMAN Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
ADARSH GOURAV The White Tiger
ANTHONY HOPKINS The Father – WINNER
MADS MIKKELSEN Another Round
TAHAR RAHIM The Mauritanian
BEST FILM
THE FATHER Philippe Carcassonne, Jean-Louis Livi, David Parfitt
THE MAURITANIAN TBC
NOMADLAND Mollye Asher, Dan Janvey, Frances McDormand, Peter Spears, Chloé Zhao – WINNER
PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN Ben Browning, Emerald Fennell, Ashley Fox, Josey McNamara
THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7 Stuart Besser, Marc Platt
OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER
HIS HOUSE Remi Weekes (Writer/Director) – WINNER
LIMBO Ben Sharrock (Writer/Director), Irune Gurtubai (Producer) [also produced by Angus Lamont]
MOFFIE Jack Sidey (Writer/Producer) [also written by Oliver Hermanus and produced by Eric Abraham]
ROCKS Theresa Ikoko, Claire Wilson (Writers)
SAINT MAUD Rose Glass (Writer/Director), Oliver Kassman (Producer) [also produced by Andrea Cornwell]
FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
ANOTHER ROUND Thomas Vinterberg, Sisse Graum Jørgensen – WINNER
DEAR COMRADES! Andrei Konchalovsky, Alisher Usmanov
LES MISÉRABLES Ladj Ly
MINARI Lee Isaac Chung, Christina Oh
QUO VADIS, AIDA? Jasmila Žbanić, Damir Ibrahimovich
DIRECTOR
ANOTHER ROUND Thomas Vinterberg
BABYTEETH Shannon Murphy
MINARI Lee Isaac Chung
NOMADLAND Chloé Zhao – WINNER
QUO VADIS, AIDA? Jasmila Žbanić
ROCKS Sarah Gavron
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
THE DIG Moira Buffini
THE FATHER Christopher Hampton, Florian Zeller – WINNER
THE MAURITANIAN Rory Haines, Sohrab Noshirvani, M.B. Traven
NOMADLAND Chloé Zhao
THE WHITE TIGER Ramin Bahrani
CASTING
CALM WITH HORSES Shaheen Baig
JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH Alexa L. Fogel
MINARI Julia Kim
PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN Lindsay Graham Ahanonu, Mary Vernieu
ROCKS Lucy Pardee – WINNER
EDITING
THE FATHER Yorgos Lamprinos
NOMADLAND Chloé Zhao
PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN Frédéric Thoraval
SOUND OF METAL Mikkel E.G. Nielsen – WINNER
THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7 Alan Baumgarten
COSTUME DESIGN
AMMONITE Michael O’Connor
THE DIG Alice Babidge
EMMA. Alexandra Byrne
MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM Ann Roth – WINNER
MANK Trish Summerville
BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION
THE FIRE NEXT TIME Renaldho Pelle, Yanling Wang, Kerry Jade Kolbe
THE OWL AND THE PUSSYCAT Mole Hill, Laura Duncalf – WINNER
THE SONG OF A LOST BOY Daniel Quirke, Jamie MacDonald, Brid Arnstein
BRITISH SHORT FILM
EYELASH Jesse Lewis Reece, Ike Newman
LIZARD Akinola Davies, Rachel Dargavel, Wale Davies
LUCKY BREAK John Addis, Rami Sarras Pantoja
MISS CURVY Ghada Eldemellawy
THE PRESENT Farah Nabulsi – WINNER
SOUND
GREYHOUND Beau Borders, Christian P. Minkler, Warren Shaw and David Wyman
NEWS OF THE WORLD Michael Fentum, William Miller, Mike Prestwood Smith, John Pritchett, Oliver Tarney
NOMADLAND Sergio Diaz, Zach Seivers, M. Wolf Snyder
SOUL Coya Elliott, Ren Klyce, David Parker
SOUND OF METAL – Jaime Baksht, Nicolas Becker, Phillip Bladh, Carlos Cortés, Michelle Couttolenc – WINNER
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
NIAMH ALGAR Calm With Horses
KOSAR ALI Rocks
MARIA BAKALOVA Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
DOMINIQUE FISHBACK Judas and the Black Messiah
ASHLEY MADEKWE County Lines
YUH-JUNG YOUN Minari – WINNER
SUPPORTING ACTOR
DANIEL KALUUYA Judas and the Black Messiah – WINNER
BARRY KEOGHAN Calm With Horses
ALAN KIM Minari
LESLIE ODOM JR. One Night in Miami…
CLARKE PETERS Da 5 Bloods
PAUL RACI Sound of Metal
OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
CALM WITH HORSES Nick Rowland, Daniel Emmerson, Joe Murtagh
THE DIG Simon Stone, Gabrielle Tana, Moira Buffini
THE FATHER Florian Zeller, Philippe Carcassone, Jean-Louis Livi, David Parfitt, Christopher Hampton
HIS HOUSE Remi Weekes, Martin Gentles, Edward Kings, Roy Lee
LIMBO Ben Sharrock, Irune Gurtubai, Angus Lamont
THE MAURITANIAN Kevin Macdonald, Rory Haines, Sohrab Noshirvani, M.B. Traven
MOGUL MOWGLI Bassam Tariq, Riz Ahmed, Thomas Benski, Bennett McGhee
PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN Emerald Fennell, Ben Browning, Ashley Fox, Josey McNamara – WINNER
ROCKS Sarah Gavron, Ameenah Ayub Allen, Faye Ward, Theresa Ikoko, Claire Wilson
SAINT MAUD Rose Glass, Andrea Cornwell, Oliver Kassman
DOCUMENTARY
COLLECTIVE Alexander Nanau
DAVID ATTENBOROUGH: A LIFE ON OUR PLANET Alastair Fothergill, Jonnie Hughes, Keith Scholey
THE DISSIDENT Bryan Fogel, Thor Halvorssen
MY OCTOPUS TEACHER Pippa Ehrlich, James Reed, Craig Foster – WINNER
THE SOCIAL DILEMMA Jeff Orlowski, Larissa Rhodes
ANIMATED FILM
ONWARD Dan Scanlon, Kori Rae
SOUL Pete Docter, Dana Murray – WINNER
WOLFWALKERS Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart, Paul Young
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
ANOTHER ROUND Tobias Lindholm, Thomas Vinterberg
MANK Jack Fincher
PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN Emerald Fennell
ROCKS Theresa Ikoko, Claire Wilson
THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7 Aaron Sorkin
ORIGINAL SCORE
MANK Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross
MINARI Emile Mosseri
NEWS OF THE WORLD James Newton Howard
PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN Anthony Willis
SOUL Jon Batiste, Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross – WINNER
CINEMATOGRAPHY
JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH Sean Bobbitt
MANK Erik Messerschmidt
THE MAURITANIAN Alwin H. Küchler
NEWS OF THE WORLD Dariusz Wolski
NOMADLAND Joshua James Richards – WINNER
PRODUCTION DESIGN
THE DIG Maria Djurkovic, Tatiana Macdonald
THE FATHER Peter Francis, Cathy Featherstone
MANK Donald Graham Burt, Jan Pascale – WINNER
NEWS OF THE WORLD David Crank, Elizabeth Keenan
REBECCA Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer
MAKE UP & HAIR
THE DIG Jenny Shircore
HILLBILLY ELEGY Patricia Dehaney, Eryn Krueger Mekash, Matthew Mungle
MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM Matiki Anoff, Larry M. Cherry, Sergio Lopez-Rivera, Mia Neal – WINNER
MANK Kimberley Spiteri, Gigi Williams
PINOCCHIO Mark Coulier
SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
GREYHOUND Pete Bebb, Nathan McGuinness, Sebastian von Overheidt
THE MIDNIGHT SKY Matt Kasmir, Chris Lawrence, David Watkins
MULAN Sean Faden, Steve Ingram, Anders Langlands, Seth Maury
THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN Santiago Colomo Martinez, Nick Davis, Greg Fisher
TENET – Scott Fisher, Andrew Jackson, Andrew Lockley – WINNER
OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO BRITISH CINEMA
Noel Clarke
BAFTA FELLOWSHIP
Ang Lee
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