Stephen Graham’s chilling Netflix drama Adolescence sweeps Bafta TV Awards
The acclaimed one-shot series about teenage violence emerged as the dominant winner at the Bafta TV Awards, with major acting victories and political controversy also shaping the ceremony.
Stephen Graham’s acclaimed Netflix drama Adolescence dominated the Bafta TV Awards after sweeping major acting and drama prizes, cementing the series as one of the year’s defining television successes following widespread debate around its depiction of male violence, toxic online culture and alienated teenage boys.
The four-part drama, filmed entirely in continuous single takes, won best limited drama during Sunday night’s ceremony, while Stephen, 52, finally secured his first Bafta acting victory after seven previous nominations.
Stephen, who co-created the series and starred in the show, took home the leading actor prize for his portrayal of a father confronting the aftermath of a brutal crime involving his teenage son.
His series has become a major cultural talking point since premiering on Netflix, with critics praising its technical ambition and performances from newcomer Owen Cooper, whose role as 13-year-old Jamie Miller transformed him into one of Britain’s breakout young actors.
The success also continues Stephen’s extraordinary television run following acclaimed performances in This Is England, Boiling Point, Line of Duty and Time.
Accepting his award, Stephen reflected on the television dramas that inspired him during childhood.
He said: “For any other young kid, no matter where you’re from, anything is possible.”
Stephen added: “We’re not saving lives, but we have the opportunity to tell the human condition. And we have the obligation to tell beautiful stories.”
Owen also received recognition for his performance, winning the supporting actor category for his role as Jamie.
During his acceptance speech, Owen quoted John Lennon and referenced The Beatles.
He said: “In the words of John Lennon, you won’t get anything unless you have the vision to imagine it.”
Owen added: “I think you only need three things to succeed in life: one, an obsession, two, a dream, and three, the Beatles.”
Christine Tremarco also won supporting actress for the series.
Elsewhere during the ceremony, the documentary Gaza: Doctors Under Attack won the current affairs category after becoming embroiled in controversy surrounding the BBC’s decision not to broadcast the film over impartiality concerns. The documentary was later picked up by Channel 4.
Journalist Ramita Navai criticised the BBC while accepting the award.
She said: “These are the findings of our investigation that the BBC paid for, but refused to show.”
Ramita added: “But we refuse to be silenced and censored.”
Executive producer Ben De Pear also addressed the broadcaster directly during the speech.
He said: “Given you dropped the film, will you drop us from the Bafta screening?”
The awards also recognised Netflix documentary Grenfell: Uncovered, which won best single documentary for its examination of the Grenfell Tower disaster and subsequent public inquiry.
Other winners included Code of Silence for best drama series and Narges Rashidi, who won leading actress for Prisoner 951, based on the imprisonment of British-Iranian detainee Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe in Iran.
Channel 4 additionally received recognition for its reporting on the Iran conflict, while historian Simon Schama won for his BBC Two documentary The Road to Auschwitz.
The factual series category went to Channel 4’s See No Evil, which examined the Church of England abuse scandal surrounding serial abuser John Smyth and contributed to renewed scrutiny surrounding safeguarding failures within the institution.
The BBC also enjoyed success through comedy spin-off Amandaland, starring Lucy Punch, which won best scripted comedy following the popularity of its parent series Motherland.
Meanwhile, The Celebrity Traitors won best reality programme only days after the BBC announced the celebrity line-up for the second series of the hit spin-off, with comedian Alan Carr being recognised in the public-voted memorable moment category after breaking down in tears during the series.
Bafta TV awards 2026: the full list of nominees and winners
Actor in a Comedy
• Jim Howick, Here We Go
• Jon Pointing, Big Boys
• Lenny Rush, Am I Being Unreasonable?
• Mawaan Rizwan Juice
• Oliver Savell, Changing Ends
• Steve Coogan, How Are You? It's Alan (Partridge) - WINNER
Actress in a Comedy
• Diane Morgan, Mandy
• Jennifer Saunders, Amandaland
• Katherine Parkinson, Here We Go - WINNER
• Lucy Punch, Amandaland
• Philippa Dunne, Amandaland
• Rosie Jones, Pushers
Children’s: Non-Scripted
• A Real Bug's Life
• Boosnoo! Production Team
• Deadly 60 Saving Sharks
• World.war.me (Sky Kids Investigates) - WINNER
Children’s: Scripted
• Crongton - WINNER
• Horrible Science
• Shaun the Sheep
• The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball
Current Affairs
• Breaking Ranks: Inside Israel’s War (Exposure)
• The Covid Contracts: Follow the Money
• Gaza: Doctors Under Attack - WINNER
• Undercover in the Police (Panorama)
Daytime
• The Chase
• Lorraine
• Richard Osman’s House of Games
• Scam Interceptors - WINNER
Drama Series
• A Thousand Blows
• Blue Lights
• Code of Silence - WINNER
• This City Is Ours
Entertainment
• The Graham Norton Show
• Last One Laughing UK - WINNER
• Michael McIntyre’s Big Show
• Would I Lie to You
Entertainment Performance
• Amanda Holden and Alan Carr, Amanda Alan’s Spanish Job
• Bob Mortimer, Last One Laughing - WINNER
• Claudia Winkleman, The Celebrity Traitors
• Lee Mack, The 1% Club
• Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan, Rob Romesh Vs…
• Romesh Ranganathan, Romesh: Can’t Knock the Hustle
Factual Entertainment
• The Assembly
• Go Back to Where You Came From - WINNER
• Knife Edge: Chasing Michelin Stars
• Race Across the World
Factual Series
• Bibaa Nicole: Murder in the Park
• Educating Yorkshire
• See No Evil - WINNER
• The Undercover Police Scandal: Love and Lies Exposed
International
• The Bear
• The Diplomat
• Pluribus
• Severance
• The Studio - WINNER
• The White Lotus
Leading Actor
• Colin Firth, Lockerbie: A Search for Truth
• Ellis Howard, What It Feels Like for a Girl
• James Nelson-Joyce, This City Is Ours
• Matt Smith, The Death of Bunny Munro
• Stephen Graham, Adolescence - WINNER
• Taron Egerton, Smoke
Leading Actress
• Aimee Lou Wood, Film Club
• Erin Doherty, A Thousand Blows
• Jodie Whittaker, Toxic Town
• Narges Rashidi, Prisoner 951 - WINNER
• Sheridan Smith, I Fought the Law
• Siân Brooke, Blue Lights
Limited Drama
• Adolescence - WINNER
• I Fought the Law
• Trespasses
• What It Feels Like for a Girl
Live Event Coverage
• Holocaust Memorial Day 2025
• Last Night of the Proms: Finale
• Ve Day 80: a Celebration to Remember - WINNER
News Coverage
• BBC Newsnight: Grooming Survivors Speak
• Channel 4 News: Israel-Iran: The Twelve-Day War - WINNER
• Sky News: Gaza: Fight for Survival
Reality
• The Celebrity Traitors - WINNER
• The Jury: Murder Trial
• Squid Game: The Challenge
• Virgin Island
Scripted Comedy
• Amandaland - WINNER
• Big Boys
• How Are You? It's Alan (Partridge)
• Things You Should Have Done
Short Form
• Donkey
• Hustle and Run - WINNER
• Rocket Fuel
• Zoners
Single Documentary
• Grenfell: Uncovered - WINNER
• Louis Theroux: The Settlers
• One Day in Southport
• Unforgotten: the Bradford City Fire
Soap
• Casualty
• Coronation Street
• EastEnders - WINNER
Specialist Factual
• Belsen: What They Found
• Simon Schama: The Road to Auschwitz - WINNER
• Surviving Black Hawk Down
• Vietnam: the War That Changed America
Sports Coverage
• The 2025 Ryder Cup Production Team
• The FA Cup Final - Richard Hughes, Sarah Williams, Nicola Kirk, Stephen Lyle, Andrew Clement, Andy Underhill
• UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 Production Team - WINNER
• Wimbledon 2025 Production Team
Supporting Actor
• Ashley Walters, Adolescence
• Fehinti Balogun, Down Cemetery Road
• Joshua McGuire, The Gold
• Owen Cooper, Adolescence - WINNER
• Paddy Considine, Mobland
• Rafael Mathé, The Death of Bunny Munro
Supporting Actress
• Aimee Lou Wood, The White Lotus
• Christine Tremarco, Adolescence - WINNER
• Chyna McQueen, Get Millie Black
• Emilia Jones, Task
• Erin Doherty, Adolescence
• Rose Ayling-Ellis, Reunion
P O Cruises Memorable Moment Award (Voted for by the Public)
• Adolescence - Jamie snaps at the psychologist
• Big Boys - I didn’t make It, did I?
• Blue Lights - The police are warned of an ambush to silence a key witness
• The Celebrity Traitors - Alan Carr wins The Celebrity Traitors - WINNER
• Last One Laughing - Bob Mortimer and Richard Ayoade’s speed date
• What It Feels Like for a Girl - Byron leaves for Brighton to start uni, where she introduces herself as Paris
