With the news recently announced that Eddie Murphy will be hosting the Academy Awards next year, it seems only right that our host for the British Academy of Film and Television Awards would be announced too.

And the British Academy has now announced that the beloved Stephen Fry will returning to take the hosting duties next year, on Sunday 12th February, two weeks prior to the American awards.

Fry is no stranger to the awards ceremony, having had the job six times in the past, between 2001 and 2006:

“I had a marvellous time presenting the Film Awards for the first six years of the century. Hard as it may be for some characteristically sceptical Britons to believe, the BAFTAs have real kudos, reputation and cachet all over the world of film-making and I, old as I am, never cease to be shamelessly glamorised by the sight of so many legendary names who come every year as nominees and presenters.

“The adorable Jonathan Ross has done a magnificent job since I last hung up my bow-tie and boxed my patent leather pumps, and I am honoured and pleased to return to the lectern and host what I am sure will be an evening of squeals, surreally weird acceptance speeches and genuinely exciting surprises and pleasures.”

I don’t think I know anyone who has anything but nice things to say about Fry, and I’m really looking forward to his presence at the awards next year. Amanda Berry, BAFTA’s CEO, had this to say about the announcement:

“I am absolutely thrilled to welcome Stephen back to host the Orange British Academy Film Awards in 2012. Since he stepped down from hosting in 2006, Stephen has continued to build an enviable broadcast repertoire, making a string of BAFTA-nominated documentaries and entertainment programmes as well as lending his voice to BAFTA-winning video games, and we will be seeing him shortly in upcoming films ‘Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows’ and ‘The Hobbit’. He has also hosted the Academy’s Britannia Awards in Los Angeles, all the while wholeheartedly embracing the Twitter phenomenon and amassing over 3 million followers.

“Stephen’s love of cinema, his keen sense of fun and his characteristic panache will be a huge draw for the biggest film night of 2012.

“Jonathan’s five-year reign as master of ceremonies coincided with a period of growth for the Film Awards, including a move to the Royal Opera House and increasing international awareness of them. Jonathan’s contribution was an essential part of this, and we sincerely thank him for it.”

Sincerely good news in my books, as I’m sure it is in most people’s books. We can next look forward to seeing Fry in Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, which is due out just before Christmas this year on 16th December, and should be utterly fantastic. And then just less than two months later, we’ll have the pleasure of inviting him into homes for the evening to host the BAFTAs.