Last year’s BAFTA ceremony was a star-studded affair, with Richard E. Grant on hosting duties, an (unintentionally) viral rap from Ariana DeBose and the Prince and Princess of Wales in the audience.
This year’s awards, set to take place on Feb. 18 and produced by Penny Lane Entertainment, promise to be equally entertaining, with former Doctor Who David Tennant as host and Sophie Ellis-Bextor performing her much talked about “Saltburn” hit “Murder on the Dancefloor.”
While it’s unlikely the Princess of Wales will be present this year (she’s recovering from a serious operation) and her husband Prince William is still TBC, there’ll also be plenty of glam on the red carpet thanks to confirmed attendees including Margot Robbie, Robert Downey Jr., Idris Elba, David Beckham and Cate Blanchett, among others.
Ahead of today’s final rehearsals, PvNew jumped on a call with BAFTAs awards director Emma Baehr and Penny Lane creative director Lee Connolly to talk about what audiences can expect on Sunday.
What can you tease about this year’s ceremony?
Baehr: We’re both pretty excited at this point, there’s lots to anticipate. Every year, it doesn’t actually feel real until I get into that auditorium at rehearsals, I see the set built and it just all comes alive at that moment.
Hannah Waddingham and Sophie Ellis-Bextor are both set to perform. Can we expect any other musical numbers?
Baehr: We have some other things coming through, which we’re not announcing just yet. So there are a few surprises still in store.
Could we see a tribute to Ariana DeBose’s now-infamous rap?
Baehr: How can we possibly recreate that? It’s such an amazing moment. We didn’t know it was getting viral, obviously. But what we do know is the show we’re putting together is high energy, it’s fun. We’ve got an amazing host, he’s very charming. You can’t recreate those [viral] moments, but you never know what’s going to happen.
Well, Barry Keoghan’s confirmed to attend. Is there any chance he’ll do a “Saltburn”-inspired dance number during Ellis-Bextor’s set?
Baehr: Barry’s coming as a nominee and a guest and he’s going to want to watch and enjoy I would imagine, and let somebody else take center stage.
Did you consider getting Grant to host again?
Baehr: Richard did amazing job. We loved working with him, but we’re bringing new things to the show.
Connolly: It’s really important to start afresh every single year. As a TV producer, having that ability to change things around and have a look at the little elements around the show that we can play with, like music performances and any sort of comedy moments, I think is really key. Because if you don’t do that, you’re just watching what you watched the year before, except different winners, right?
How did Tennant come to host?
Baehr: We reached out to him. He’s done a lot of presenting. It’s quite a skill set to get on that stage because you’re in front of all your peers, it’s quite nerve racking. You’re kind of the Master of Ceremonies and it’s live, so you’ve got to have such a broad range of skills. You’ve got to keep your audience entertained, you’ve got to keep the energy up. Three hours standing on a stage is a long time for anybody, so you’ve got to have that natural charm, a little bit of cheekiness, an ability to respond to what’s happening around you and read the room. It’s quite hard to choose someone. For us, David’s got that warmth, that charismatic part of him that we know he’s going to give that energy to the show, keep people with him. If you’re nominated, it’s nerve racking. And we want people to feel comfortable and in a safe space and not feel like they’re going to be picked on or anything like that.
Beckham is also set to present an award. He’s not from the film world, although he is a British icon. How did he come to be involved?
Baehr: We want to keep people entertained, we want to keep people surprised and so we always have a range of people coming to present. And with David, he’s the iconic British [star].
Connolly: And also, I think what people forget is that we all love film. David loves film, I mean, properly loves it, he’s a huge fan. And because he’s such a public figure, why wouldn’t we marry those two things together?
The political climate is very febrile at the moment, particularly at awards ceremonies, whether its people protesting outside or making political speeches inside. (At last year’s BAFTA television awards, comedy winner Siobhan McSweeney’s speech about Northern Ireland was cut from the BBC’s broadcast.) How are you managing the politics of it all?
Baehr: We don’t tell winners what to say, but we won’t obviously tolerate any form of racism, harassment or discrimination. The BBC will edit the ceremony for time and in line with their editorial guidelines. We do post all our speeches on our BAFTA YouTube channel. And in terms of protests, if people are protesting peacefully, they have a right to do so and free speech. But the safety of our guests, that has to be our priority.
Awards shows don’t often make for the best telecasts. How do you approach that challenge?
Baehr: I think pacing of the show is really important. We always think about all audiences: what’s happening in the room, what’s happening on the broadcast, what’s happening on our socials. It is three hours in the room and we have to make sure that it’s only two hours on the broadcast.
Connolly: One of the biggest challenges for us is to make sure that it works in the room because that’s incredibly important, but how do you get across to the viewer at home so they don’t feel excluded? It’s something that you can’t really put your finger on, because it’s something that you learn over years and years of trial and error. It’s just silly things like you make sure that David, as the host, is addressing down the lens so you at home feel like he’s talking to you. And that’s a really simple thing, but so many people get it wrong.
Having said all that, last year’s ratings were pretty phenomenal, with an average of 3.8 million (the highest since 2019). Are you looking to set a new personal best?
Baehr: With awards shows, we’ve bucked the trend, really, in terms of the ratings going up. It’s all about storytelling. We want to encourage people to watch films and debate. I think what was great from our point of view at BAFTA is two-thirds of the viewers who watched [it] felt more encouraged to see more films. And that’s what we want to do. We need to make sure that everything we’re doing has audiences in mind, and I think with David at the helm we’re on our way to do that.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
