Entertainment

It could be a bumper BAFTA year for Irish TV

THE nominations for this years British Academy Television Awards (BAFTA) have been announced, with Irish talent recognised across the board.

BBC One's critically acclaimed drama The Missing, saw James Nesbitt nominated for best actor. Nesbitt played the father of a missing child who dedicates himself to solving the mystery of the abduction in the harrowing drama.

Another well known Northern Irish face, Stephen Rea, is up for best Supporting Actor. Famous for his iconic lead performance as Fergus in 1992 film The Crying Game, Rea is nominated for his role as the ageing MI5 agent Sir Hugh Hayden-Hoyle in BBC2's The Honourable Woman.

Graham Norton has once again been nominated for Best Entertainment Performance for his Friday night talk show, The Graham Norton Show. The show won the award in 2011 and 1012.

Fellow comedian, Brendan O'Carroll is up for Best Male Comedy Performance for his character Agnes Brown in the record-breaking sitcom Mrs Brown's boys.

Irish creative talent has also been endorsed off the screen. Dublin born director Aisling Walsh has been nominated for A Poet in New York, her one off drama that looks at Welsh poet Dylan Thomas' ill-fated trip to New York.

Nick Murphy's Prey is also up for an award, the 2014 TV thriller has been nominated in the Best Mini-Series category. The show is the first mainstream British TV show shot using only natural light.

Nominated in the Specialist Factual category, Channel 4 documentary, Our Gay Wedding the Musical, is up for an award, produced by Strictly Come Dancing producer Sean Murphy.

The hugely successful Game of Thrones series which has been nominated for the Radio Times Reader’s Choice Award, has also benefited from Irish connections. Since being chosen as the prime filming location for the HBO series, many episodes have featured the Northern Irish countryside to dramatic effect.

The House of Fraser British Academy Television Awards ceremony will be held at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London on Sunday 10 May, hosted by Graham Norton.