BAFTA-EE-Logo

The 66th annual British Academy Film Awards are here! And there was much rejoicing.

We’re here at the Royal Opera House in London to bring you all the up to the minute news on who won, who looked really annoyed when they lost, and who knows what else will be in store for us tonight?

Lord Stephen of Fry is leading proceedings once again and I’ll be updating you fine people with the winners as they are announced.

The full list of awards and nominees can be found here, and as the awards are announced I’ll update the liveblog below with the nominees and the winners.

The ceremony is due to start at around 7pm and if you’re hungry for all the red carpeting then head over here to see the arrivals from around 5pm.

UPDATES will be added at the top…But not anymore as we’ve finished.

 

21.24 The final award tonight is the BAFTA Fellowship which goes to Alan Parker and Kevin Spacey is out on stage to present the award. It’s a fine end to a glorious night and a worthy recipient for the Fellowship. Thank you all for playing along with me on this, one of the best nights in British film. How about we do all this again next year?

21.22 This award got the biggest reaction here in the press room – this was definitely a surprise but an excellent choice. Grant Heslov and George Clooney are up on stage with Affleck. Good times. Really good awards show tonight. Lots of surprises and no clear winner which means the spotlight falls on many great works.

21.21 The award for the Best Film BAFTA goes to…Argo.

21.20 Samuel L. Jackson is doing great work introducing this award.

21.19 Ok, here’s the Best Film award.

?    Argo
?    Les Miserables
?    Life of Pi
?    Lincoln
?    Zero Dark Thirty

The easy money is on Spielberg’s history lesson, and with Daniel Day Lewis’s towering performance leading the film Lincoln may just walk away with it. Kathryn Bigelow’s riveting account of the hunt for the mastermind of September the 11th is in with a healthy shout too, and there are few who could deny Argo’s place here. Life of Pi and Les Mis complete the fairly staid lineup and unlike the Oscars there’s no chance of an upset here, no Beasts of the Southern Wild to thrill those on the hunt for a giant killer.

Will it be Lincoln’s night? Let’s see…

21.16 No surprises there but Day-Lewis gives a great speech about staying in character as himself. It’s surreal and very funny.

21.15 The winner of the Actor-based golden head tonight is… Daniel Day-Lewis.

21.14 Mrs Ferris Bueller is on stage to present the Best Leading Actor award. No time for commentary other than to say Blimey – good on BAFTA for throwing in a surprise for that last award.

?    Ben Affleck, Argo
?    Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
?    Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
?    Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables
?    Joaquin Phoenix, The Master

The Daniel Day-Lewis award for Best Actor seems like an massive inevitability with only Joaquin Phoenix shouldering up to him in the spotlight. Affleck and Jackman gave good performances but felt a small part of a vast whole. Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence were fantastic in Silver Linings Playbook but neither could match the majesty of Day-Lewis, nor of Phoenix.

21.11 Winning our hearts and this award tonight is…Emmanuelle Riva.

21.11 Jeremy Renner is on stage to present the award for the Best Leading Actress.

?    Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
?    Marion Cotillard, Rust and Bone
?    Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
?    Helen Mirren, Hitchcock
?    Emmanuelle Riva, Amour

There’s a fine lineup here, with Emmanuelle Riva’s nomination being the most interesting (particularly in the light of Jean-Louis Trintignant’s absence from the Best Actor list) and there’s genuinely no outright favourite. Chastain’s tight emotional control may win her the accolade tonight as she gave one of the finest of her many recent performances for Bigelow’s film. Helen Mirren and Jennifer Lawrence may throw us an upset here but for my money Marion Cotillard may walk away with the award.

You see? There is NO clear winner.

21.09 Fantastic result for Affleck and a sign that the BAFTAs and Oscars are not joined at the hip. Really nice speech too.

21.07 The BAFTA goes to…Ben Affleck.

21.05 We’re into the home straight now with Sir Ian McKellen on stage to present the Best director award. Here’s who is up for it.

?    Ben Affleck, Argo
?    Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty
?    Michael Haneke, Amour
?    Ang Lee, Life of Pi
?    Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained

Spielberg’s absence here is a curious one, however it allows Oscar-snubbed Affleck the chance to take home a gold face. Bigelow’s film is fine one and was a true step up from The Hurt Locker, Haneke’s tender and tragic film may be a polar opposite to Tarantino’s visceral wise-cracking bloodfest but both are up with a good chance. This is the category which is very hard to call particularly given the spread of awards tonight.

Shot in the dark? Affleck to take home the statue.

21.00 Looking good tonight is…Les Miserables.

20.58 Oi! Best production design time. Go wild and crazy for these cats.

?    Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer: Anna Karenina
?    Eve Stewart, Anna Lynch-Robinson: Les Miserables
?    David Gropman, Anna Pinnock: Life of Pi
?    Rick Carter, Jim Erickson: Lincoln
?    Dennis Gassner, Anna Pinnock: Skyfall

As is often the case the period pieces crowd the arena though Skyfall’s chances are heightened given the challenge to redefine what to expect from a Bond film. Anna Karenina’s theatricality may turn a few heads but the majesty of Les Mis is likely to win the day.

Frankly the wait to find out has gone on too long. Come on BAFTA people.

20.56 That’s an impressive win. Great that the category had many worthy winners.

20.56 It’s a fine lineup – the winner is…Searching for Sugarman.

20.54 Henry Cavill jumps on stage along with Martin Freeman to present the Best documentary award. Those in contention are…

?    The Imposter: Bart Layton, Dimitri Doganis
?    Marley: Kevin Macdonald, Steve Bing, Charles Steel
?    McCullin: David Morris, Jacqui Morris
?    Searching for Sugar Man: Malik Bendjelloul, Simon Chinn
?    West of Memphis: Amy Berg

This is another very strong category and it’s great to see Marley up there with the best of them. The Best of them, in this case, appears to be The Imposter. Rarely has the buzz about a documentary reached such levels and this is a film you need to watch. A BAFTA win should guarantee that many more people do.

Eyes down, fingers crossed for The Imposter…

20.49 – She is pretty great in everything she’s done – Glorious 39 is one of those you might have missed. Killer Joe is another – she runs that film.

20.48 The public chose… Juno Temple.

20.45 Right then – the awards handing-out continues. Bit of a breath-taking pace. The EE Rising Star award is next.

?    Elizabeth Olsen
?    Andrea Riseborough
?    Suraj Sharma
?    Juno Temple
?    Alicia Vikander

The public award always brings up the question of how far in the ascendant does a star have to be for it to still be considered rising. Tom Hardy won two years ago and he’s done pretty well for himself. Kristen Stewart won the year before thanks to her relentless fanbase doing their best to celebrate her work and before that Noel Clarke saunted to the stage to pick up the award with a cocksure nod that he’d be back on the stage before long. Adam Deacon won last year.

I’d love to see Elizabeth Olsen win for Martha Marcy May Marlene alone but she, like Andrea Riseborough and Juno Temple, are consistently excellent and seem to be picking all the right movies.

Eyes down, here’s the winner which is YOUR FAULT public.

20.42 Award winner time – Amour.

20.41 C’est la temp pour Best Film not in the English Language

?    Amour: Michael Haneke, Margaret Ménégoz
?    Headhunters: Morten Tyldum, Marianne Gray, Asle Vatn
?    The Hunt: Thomas Vinterberg, Sisse Graum Jørgensen, Morten Kaufmann
?    Rust and Bone: Jacques Audiard, Pascal Caucheteux
?    Untouchable: Eric Toledano, Olivier Nakache, Nicolas Duval Adassovsky, Yann Zenou, Laurent Zeitoun

As you can imagine it’s a pretty great lineup here. Untouchable was gloriously received in its native country but didn’t make the splash the others managed across the channel. Amour looks like an obvious choice but Jacques Audiard’s film was a favourite of many who saw it. I was a big fan of Vinterburg’s The Hunt, not least for a staggeringly heartfelt performance from Mads Mikkelsen as a man in the heart of the rapidly collapsing world.

Love to see The Hunt take it, expecting Haneke to take la visage d’or home tonight.

20.37 Huge applause for Tessa Ross and richly deserved. Give her IMDb page a look and imagine the landscape of British film without her. Go on – scare yourself.

20.31 The ROH goes more than a little wild for Danny Boyle who is presenting the Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema to Film4’s Film heroine Tessa Ross. This ‘shy genius’ have put films like Four Lions, Attack the Block and some of Danny Boyle’s films. Her ability to spot the films which may have been overlooked by many other studios has given us Billy Elliot, Slumdog Millionaire and In Bruges. There are many more films we have to be thankful for and her legacy will be the films from directors and writers she gave that all important helping hand to.

20.29 If anything this year’s BAFTA awards will be remember for spreading the love. It’s a blessing that one film isn’t rampaging over the awards.

20.27 Let’s all go crazy for…Silver Linings Playbook.

20.25 Best adapted screenplay time now. Nominees this year are…
?    Lucy Alibar and Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild
?    Tony Kushner, Lincoln
?    David Magee, Life of Pi
?    David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook
?    Chris Terrio, Argo

Chris Terrio’s work on turning the story of a recently declassified piece of CIA history into a fully fledged Hollywood thriller may have been made easy by the outlandish nature of the true story but it worked and he deserves a place here. Tony Kushner’s job with Lincoln would have been an adaptation based on a huge amount of research to bring the American President to life. Having previously worked with Spielberg on Munich the dramatisation of real life is becoming a speciality and, against the fantasy of Life of Pi and the majestic Beasts of the Southern Wild, it may hold the vote tonight.

Shall we see? Lets.

20.24 We’re looking at why Zero Dark Thirty is up for Best Picture – Stephen Fry makes a great joke about the film so obvious I’m surprised it hasn’t been made before. Top film Zero Dark Thirty too…

20.21 She’s clearly surprised and is breathless in accepting it.Have to say I’m surprised at this one. She’s now wishing Eddie Redmayne well. A bizarre subtext to tonight’s awards is centering itself about Redmayne’s whereabouts…

20.19 Grasping the award in merriment and terror is…Anne Hathaway.

20.17  Best supporting actress time – who’s your pick?

?    Amy Adams, The Master
?    Judi Dench, Skyfall
?    Sally Field, Lincoln
?    Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
?    Helen Hunt, The Sessions

If BAFTA are in any way led by their hearts then Judi Dench should be picking up a gold face in a few minutes time. Her place in the Skyfall story gave the story its heart and to be able to break out of a character so staid in a genre (and in this case – a particular series) took some fine work.

Amy Adams held her own up on the screen with two of the finest performances of the year and was also in The Muppets so pretty much everything she does is great. Great to see Sally Field and Helen Hunt in here too, though with John Hawkes not making the Acting lists it’s hard to see The Sessions winning tonight.

Check your watches… is it Dench O’clock? Time’s up…

 

20.16 There’s no clear winner tonight as the spread of awards continues apace. Nice to see it’s not an Artist-type whitewash again. Lots of great work being honoured.

20.13 Winning tonight is… Life of Pi.

20.12 After a slice of Pi we’re onto the next award. It’s for Best special visual effects don’t you know? Nominees time…

?    Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Peter Bebb, Andrew Lockley: The Dark Knight Rises
?    Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton, R. Christopher White: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
?    Richard Stammers, Charley Henley, Trevor Wood, Paul Butterworth: Prometheus
?    Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan De Boer: Life of Pi
?    Avengers Assemble

Hmm. I’d throw a small wager on the team from Prometheus taking this one home tonight. Though the work done on Life of Pi and The Dark Knight Rises served a fantastic purpose it didn’t astonish (though when the CG isn’t obvious is when the best work is done). The team from WETA had a better chance in previous years with ROTPOTA being a particularly fine example. The Avengers (no-one is calling it Marvel Avengers Assemble anymore, if they ever were…) was one enormous VFX set piece after another which was a huge task to accomplish but will it sway the voters? Will it?

Let’s see…

20.09 Great win there for The Imposter, fantastic publicity for a documentary which hopefully may see another day in the nation’s cinemahouses.

20.05 The winners are… Bart Layton and Dimitri Doganis. But really we’re the winners.

20.04 Billy Connolly is killing this. You must watch the broadcast – it’s the best bit so far…

20.03 Next award people! Always a great category…Outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer.
?    Bart Layton (Director), Dimitri Doganis (Producer), The Imposter
?    David Morris (Director), Jacqui Morris (Director/Producer), McCullin
?    Dexter Fletcher (Director/Writer), Danny King (Writer), Wild Bill
?    James Bobin (Director), The Muppets
?    Tina Gharavi (Director/Writer), I Am Nasrine

Here’s the award we always look out for and it is often the strongest category on the bill. Last year Paddy Considine scored a victory with Tyrannosaur, the previous year Chris Morris won for Four Lions and the year before that it was Duncan Jones who gave a heartfelt acceptance speech (accepting of the award, but also of his place in the British film community it seemed). So there’s precedent. It’s slightly disappointing not to see the name of Sally El Hosaini here for her sterling film My Brother the Devil but with site-favourite Dexter Fletcher up against The Muppets we can’t complain. The sensible money is on Bart Layton but it’s another very strong lineup, and another very strong year for British film.

But hey, enough of my yakking. Here’s the winner…

20.02 Looking good for Tarantino, whom Waltz thanks quickly. His speeches are always heartfelt and the man’s a legend. He is great in Django Unchained. Hans Landa was a wonderful creation and his turn in Django was an excellent companion. Class speech, called Tarantino a ‘silver-penned devil’. Beautiful.

19.59 Name out of an envelope time – the winner is… Christoph Waltz.

19.58 Back to the awards, Best supporting actor is up now…

?    Alan Arkin, Argo
?    Javier Bardem, Skyfall
?    Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
?    Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln
?    Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained

This is one of the finest lineups of the whole ceremony. I could wax lyrical about each of the performances on this list but I think it’ll be a close race between Philip Seymour Hoffman and Christoph Waltz. Paul Thomas Anderson was able to wring a performance of such clarity and granduer from Hoffman in The Master and Tarantino’s great faith in Waltz paid off once again with his bounty hunter/dentist leaping from the screen with his sparkling ability with the director’s dialogue.

Hoffman to win? Let’s find out…

19.55 There’s a lull now while they play up one of the Best Film nominees. Argo is first and there’s a fine RPatz joke from Monsieur Fry. Never make it broadcast. THIS IS WHY YOU AIR IT LIVE BEEB!

19.54 That man has a way with words. Top darts. Good on him – Tarantino accepts modestly.

19.53 Great to see Tarantino receive the award from a star of the film Forrest Gump which beat out Pulp Fiction at the Oscars all those years ago.

19.52 The big gold face goes to… Django Unchained.

19.50 Sally Field makes a joke about an absent Eddie Redmayne puking his guts up. It’s very odd. She’s presenting the award for the Best original screenplay.

?    Paul Thomas Anderson, The Master
?    Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola, Moonrise Kingdom
?    Mark Boal, Zero Dark Thirty
?    Michael Haneke, Amour
?    Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained

I’d love to see Moonrise Kingdom win this award tonight. It’s interesting to see only one of the scripts up for nominations not written by the film’s director but Bigelow and Boal work so closely together that she may well have shared the nomination with him. The Master was a fantastic script, giving the world the chance to see Hoffman and Phoenix firing on all cylinders.

19.49 Thomas Newman thanking Monty Norman and John Barry. Nice – there was a fantastic moment of frisson when the Bond theme occurs in Skyfall.

19.48 – The award goes to….Skyfall.

19.46 Blimey.. keeping up? There’s no let up though. Now it’s the Best original music award.

?    Dario Marianelli, Anna Karenina
?    Alexandre Desplat, Argo
?    Mychael Danna, Life of Pi
?    John Williams, Lincoln
?    Thomas Newman, Skyfall

Good to see John Williams back again though the trend continues this year for the lack of a distinct theme to carry one of the nominees home. I’m a huge fan of Desplat’s recent work with his uncanny belief in the power of silence to add impact a film’s score. Last year it was an obvious choice for Ludovic Bource’s score to The Artist, this year there is no such obvious choice. Exciting!

Ssshh. Listen. The name is about to drop.

19.45 Ang Lee is there to accept the award and he’s jettisoned the part of the speech about how great he is to work with. Ang Leegend.

19.43 The winner is…Life of Pi.

19.42 Best cinematography is next… let’s see the people up for it.

?    Danny Cohen, Les Miserables
?    Roger Deakins, Skyfall
?    Janusz Kaminski, Lincoln
?    Seamus McGarvey, Anna Karenina
?    Claudio Miranda, Life of Pi

Though each of the nominees did great work there is really only one contender here. Skyfall’s photography was the best seen in the Bond series and possibly the best this year. The burning fields of Skyfall stay long in the memory and the film is a rich tapesty of composition and colour. There are many reasons to watch Bond 23, and a win here should convince you of another.

Deakins to win.

19.41 William Goldenberg looks emotional. Affleck gave him a huge hug which is nice. He did a class job too.

19.40 The winner is… Argo.

19.39 The next award is for Best editing

?    Stuart Baird, Skyfall
?    William Goldenberg, Argo
?    Fred Raskin, Django Unchained
?    Tim Squyres, Life of Pi
?    Dylan Tichenor, William Goldenberg, Zero Dark Thirty

The usual suspects line up here and each could easily walk away with it. The complex picture of Zero Dark Thirty was helped immesaurably by some tight editing and Argo’s moments of tension were heightened by Goldenberg’s work. Baird’s work on Skyfall is also very impressive, allowing the film to move quickly, the editing setting the pace for the ebb and flow of the story.

Who will win? Well, that’s what we’re here to find out. Do try and keep up 007…

19.38 – Well blow me down. A sound choice there. No, but stop me. Lots of love for the live sound process… looks like it may have swung it. Good for them.

19.37 Winner for sound is…Les Miserables.

19.36 Best sound

?    Mark Ulano, Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti, Wylie Stateman: Django Unchained
?    Tony Johnson, Christopher Boyes, Michael Hedges, Michael Semanick, Brent Burge, Chris Ward: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
?    Simon Hayes, Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson, Jonathan Allen, Lee Walpole, John Warhurst: Les Miserables
?    Drew Kunin, Eugene Gearty, Philip Stockton, Ron Bartlett, D. M. Hemphill: Life of Pi
?    Stuart Wilson, Scott Millan, Greg P. Russell, Per Hallberg, Karen Baker Landers: Skyfall

This is a hard one to call, not least because the nominees have very little to choose between them. The sound design of Skyfall was stunning with the impact of the action set pieces (the Tube and the Train in particular) being heightened considerably through some excellent work. I can’t begin to call this one so let’s throw our money at Skyfall shall we?

Will we be £5 down? Gold envelope time…

19.36 Sound and editing right now! Quick – get your choices in now! It’s not too late (it is).

19.34 Brenda Chapman is thanking the UK cast – there’s such an odd history to the film that it’s nice to see Chapman up on stage accepting the award.

19.33 Have to say I’m surprised at that. But it’s great to see Brenda Chapman looking just like Merida. Mark Andrews is talking VERY LOUD.

19.33 The Winner is…Brave.

19.31 Right! On with the show…

Best Animated Film

?    Brave: Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman
?    Frankenweenie: Tim Burton
?    ParaNorman: Sam Fell, Chris Butler

For once the Pixar award may well go to someone other than Emeryville this year. Frankenweenie was a gloriously evocative trip of nostalgia and childish horror and is Burton’s best work for years. ParaNorman showed that there’s life in the undead yet. Is it enough to trounce Pixar’s hopes?

Pencils down. Here comes the result.

19.30 The BAFTA goes to… Les Miserables.

19.30 Now it’s Best make up and hair

?    Ivana Primorac, Anna Karenina
?    Julie Hewett, Martin Samuel, Howard Berger: Hitchcock
?    Peter Swords King, Richard Taylor, Rick Findlater: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
?    Lisa Westcott, Les Miserables
?    Lois Burwell, Kay Georgiou: Lincoln

The trusty triumvirate of Anna Karenina, Lincoln and Les Mis are up for consideration and each film gives the opportunity for some lavish work. Hitchcock’s nomination is surprising perhaps although as well as recreating the man himself there was some excellent attention to detail on each of the characters in the film. The Hobbit’s nomination here is perhaps a given. The hirsute inhabitants of Middle-Earth giving the artists nominated here a lot to play with.

Why don’t we see who won?

19.29 Jacqueline Durran’s long walk to the stage ends with a fine speech. Short and not a word out of place.

19.28 And the winner is… Anna Karenina.

19.28 Best costume design

?    Jacqueline Durran, Anna Karenina
?    Beatrix Aruna Pasztor, Great Expectations
?    Paco Delgado, Les Miserables
?    Joanna Johnston, Lincoln
?    Colleen Atwood, Snow White and the Huntsman

It’s great to see Colleen Atwood back for awards season. She has two BAFTAs and two Oscars to her name and without a doubt she is a leader in her field. Snow White and the Hunstman may not be up for many awards this year but Atwood’s work is a key feature in the story they told. Again Les Mis and Lincoln poke up their heads but it is good to see Great Expectations also up for nomination.

I can’t bear the tension. I have no idea how you’re maintaining such a steely sense of calm.

19.26 Re: the kilt Stephen Fry just made a very off colour joke which won’t see the light of broadcast… Make-up and Costume next.

19.24 There’s a man in a kilt on stage and that’s really rather nice to see.

19.24 And the winner is: The Making of Longbird.

19.24 Best short animation

?    Here to Fall: Kris Kelly, Evelyn McGrath
?    I’m Fine Thanks: Eamonn O’Neill
?    The Making of Longbird: Will Anderson, Ainslie Henderson

 

 

19.22 Lynne Ramsay isn’t here but Peter and Diarmid are and they talking about the new talent including the actor Tom Litten, their ‘swimmer’.

19.21 Best Short Film goes to Swimmer.

19.20 Rafe Spall and Helen McCrory are presenting the Best Short film and Best Short animation.

Best short film

?    The Curse: Fyzal Boulifa, Gavin Humphries
?    Good Night: Muriel d’Ansembourg, Eva Sigurdardottir
?    Swimmer: Lynne Ramsay, Peter Carlton, Diarmid Scrimshaw
?    Tumult: Johnny Barrington, Rhianna Andrews
?    The Voorman Problem: Mark Gill, Baldwin Li

In a fine move, positively dripping with BAFTA’s love for the filmmaking process, the films nominated for Best Short Film and Best Short animation will be going on the road and screened in cinemas all over the country as from April. It’s a fine, positive decision to showcase the films which often get overlooked, particularly tonight. So go and see them when they come round!

Which is my way of saying that I’ve not seen any of them. Sorry.

19.19 Lots of love for Skyfall in the audience tonight – this may be the only award it wins but that’s fine – it’s a fine film. One to revisit soon.

19.18 There’s a lot of talking about the history of the series – it does seem that Michael G. Wilson is very emotional about the whole thing. Good for him. Sam Mendes is now at the podium looking pleased as Punch.

19.17 Damn right too! Bond 23 was one of the best films of the year and a glorious rebirth of the man and the series.

19.15 And the winner is… Skyfall!

19.14 Ben Affleck and Bradley Cooper are being lovely about British film. Just as well really…

19.13 Outstanding British film

?    Anna Karenina
?    The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
?    Les Miserables
?    Seven Psychopaths
?    Skyfall

I’d love to see Skyfall take this one home. While it’s not completely clear from this lineup it has been a fantastic year for British film (as per usual check out the Outstanding Debut category for more evidence of this). It’s hard to see Seven Psychopaths walking away with the award tonight, likewise Joe Wright’s Anna Karenina which had a lot of fine performances but failed to capture the sweep and beauty of Tolstoy’s novel.

If Skyfall wins I’m hoping that the audience will break out in song and Adele will descend from the roof of the Royal Opera House.

Fingers crossed eh?

 

19.13 Awards time!

19.11 Fry is back on – he is blessing the television audience (who aren’t there yet).

19.08 I’d attempt to live blog this song but I’d just embarrass myself.

19.07 There should be an award soon… but first Paloma Faith is singing us to sweet surrender.

19.06 Life of Pee… Ang Lie. THIS is why the BAFTAs are worth watching. Not live of course… that would be too much.

19.04 He’s talking about his appearance in The Hobbit 9: Are we Nearly Home Yet? I’d watch that.

19.02 He is waxing lyrically about the year in film. The man is not wrong. He’s doing the usual call outs from the stage to the great and good in the audience and completely embarrassing Helena Bonham Carter. Class.

19.01 Stephen Fry is up on stage with a beard and looking dapper as can be. The man is a legend…

19.00 It begins!

18.53 Before we begin something I always like to do is take a moment to acknowledge that it’s been a great year with far more great films than are being honoured here. One of the key reasons we love doing what we do is that we get to shine spotlights and have our eye swayed to new and brilliant films from all round the world. It’s a wonderful life and we’re very grateful to all of you for reading. Give yourself a hearty pat on the back.

18.52 We’re (almost) off! John Willis, Chairman of BAFTA is talking in front of the assembled. There’s a joke about the weather.

18.46 There’s a rather splendid montage playing of 100 years of British Film – including NORMAN WISDOM. Those screaming fans should be happy. It’s an amazing line up with far too many clips to count. Let’s hope the Beeb show this as part of the broadcast…

18.44 Donning my serious hat for a moment the discussion here in the ROH media room is of what a strange and unpredictable lineup this year has. Obviously there are some certainties (Day-Lewis) but for the most part there will be a lot of raised eyebrows.

18.42 We’re nearly at the start of the 66th annual BAFTA film awards and the tension is palpable. Actually it’s a little sticky. Silly tension. What this means is that all of this nonsensical frippery will soon be done with and the actual bsuiness of awarding films will begin.

18.40 Helen Mirren. Pink Hair. Guaranteed Tabloid front pages right there.

18.29 Jessica Chastain looks like she has stepped out of L.A. Confidential. Youngster Will Poulter is here and extends a long arm to shake the hand of a shivering fan. He’s in Wild Bill which is up for Outstanding Debut from its director Dexter Fletcher. We kind of hope he wins because he’s really nice (and made a great film).

18.26 I think I just heard a huge group of fans calling for Norman Wisdom. It may have been George Clooney. In other news – Anne Hathaway arrives and waves. She’s a class act.

18.21 So many umbrellas now the carpet resembles a mash up of the Eden Project and Howl’s Moving Castle.

18.17 The red carpet dries to a trickle of people. There are rumours of a buffet in the pre-BAFTA party with Party Rings and Popcorn chicken so it makes sense that people want to get in early.

18.09 Clooney has hit the red carpet. As has Ben Affleck. Lots of carpet hitting going on. Screaming is very much on the menu at Chez BAFTA.

18.07 Elizabeth Olsen just confirmed she’s starting work on Godzilla soon.

18.04 Tim Burton has a broken arm, or at the very least a hurt one. That’ll be the result of Disney twisting his arm to make another Alice in Wonderland film.

18.02 With literally fifty-eight minutes to go the prospect of another Stephen Fry hosting gig is rather exciting. If only he’d go on as the ‘Oh, Christ I’ve left the iron on…’ woman.

17.55 David Morrissey gave Berberian Sound Studio a shout out as his favourite film of the year. The only time you’ll hear about that film tonight. For Shame!

17.53 Also it has apparently started to snow. Thank God for that – it’ll stop people talking about the rain.

17.52 The best that can be said about the carpet is that Henry Cavill is now on it. The man who would be Superman is here though sadly not in costume. That would be amazing. A-maz-ing.

17.46 Tom Hiddlestone is talking about the terror of being a potential winner of the Rising Star award last year. He compared it to the most terrifying job interview ever with all your potential employers watching. ‘What if I said something rubbish?’ Oh Tom, I think we both know that it’s unlikely…

17.39 Tom Hiddlestone is here. The rest of the nominees and all the fans are on bent knee. The security guards are immovable as ever.

17.37 Hugh Jackman is being interviewed and seems genuinely pleased to be here. I guess being up against Daniel Day-Lewis takes the edge of having to prepare a speech.

17.35 Dexter Fletcher and Ang Lee have turned up at roughly the same time – coincidence? Yes.

17.31 An eerie silence has descended here at the ROH. Is it a hushed awe for the arrival of Hugh Jackman? No.  The screaming continues but our feed has been cut. It’s a blessed relief I have to say.

17.29 Chatter of who will win the EE Rising Star award – for me it’s Elizabeth Olsen but Andrea Riseborough is quite rightly getting a lot of attention. Who’s the winner? We are for having all of this to enjoy.

17.26 Simon Pegg is being interviewed by Dermot O’Forgotten-Surname. The conversation revolved around clothes. He mentioned Star Trek and The World’s End – two films to look out for this year.

17.20 It’s at times like this that I want Baz Bamigboye to strut to the centre of the red carpet and with a mighty bellow of ‘HALT THY PRECIPITOUS NOISE!’ stop the rain. He can do that. It’s on his CV.

17:17 Now Mark Strong is living up to his name by giving a firm handshake to a fan. People continue to arrive. All of them will be lost in time, like tears in the rain.

17.14 Jeremy Irvine is here too, he’s being screamed at. Let’s get the Great Expectations for tonight’s awards pun out of the way shall we?

17.13 Hey! Simon Pegg is here. Someone else is having to be ushered away from the sodden paparazzi.

17.05 By the way – all that Googie Withers stuff was wrong – that was the Television awards. Now I feel like I’ve let you down.

17.04 Genuine screams for Martin Freeman. Despite the weather the fans have turned out in force. To scream mainly.

16.59 Arrivals at last! Sir Billage of Connolly is here looking majestic as Gandalf’s hipper brother. Martin Freeman is trailing him taking awkward pictures with fans.

16.50 Precipitation on the red carpet couldn’t be higher. The see-through umbrellas remind me of that bit in Finding Nemo with the jellyfish.

16.45 One of those previous BAFTA Facts was made up.

16.43 Back then the ceremony was as part of the Guild of Television Producers and Directors Awards. It was held at the Savoy Hotel in London. The main course was Pelted Salmon.

16.41: In the first awards in 1954  Googie Withers won. Google her if you need to. Google Googie.

16.33: Though these updates won’t kick into gear until things start to happen down on the carpet we’ll keep you entertained with a flurry of BAFTA facts. Stand by…

P.S. Mine’s an Earl Grey thanks for asking.

 

16.30: It’s still very early but thanks for joining us. Tea?