The great and good of the small screen hit the Royal Festival Hall on Sunday night for the 2022 British Academy Film and Television Arts Awards, an annual ceremony to honour the best of British TV over the last year.
From Olivia Colman to Lorraine Kelley, Ant and Dec and even some Squid Games characters, the red carpet was a smorgasboard of colour and self-expression, as the stars donned their finest for the first IRL TV BAFTAs in two years.
Bridgerton’s Nicola Coughlan stole the show in a bubblegum pink voluminous taffeta Valentino Haute Couture gown from the brand’s Spring/Summer 2022 Anatomy of Couture collection accessorised with a Messika diamond ear cuff and double finger ring. After rocking a dramatic black and pink feathered Richard Quinn gown to the Met Gala last week, the Lady Whistledown actress is fast establishing herself as one of the UK’s red carpet queens.
Also in Valentino was It’s a Sin star Lydia West, who looked timelessly elegant in an A-line black off-the-shoulder gown. Co-stars Callum Scott Howells, who oozed Seventies glam in burgundy flares, a purple pussybow blouse and teal blazer, and Omari Douglas, who looked effortlessly chic in a white cropped leg suit and white cravat from the Valentino pre-fall ’22 collection, accessorised with a Boucheron pendant necklace and ring, also served strong looks.
Sheila Atim and Olly Alexander brought the drama in a black floor-length caped looks. Atim’s was a low-cut caped chiffon dress accessorised with Jessica McCormack earrings and a ring from Japanese brand Tasaki, and Alexander’s a black YSL button-front cape which he rocked with black jeans, lace-up black platform boots and bleached white eyebrows.
Leading the best dressed gents was Sex Education star Ncuti Gatwa, who cut a striking figure in a cutout-front black tasseled blazer from emerging label Orange Culture Nigeria. Gatwa, announced as the new (and first ever black) Dr Who earlier that day, completed the fashion-forward look with chunky black sandals.
Also in a floorlength black number was Jodie Comer, who took home the Leading Actress prize, and looked effortlessly elegant in a BOSS slit-front black tuxedo dress and black platforms.
Others didn’t play it so safe. Ru Paul’s Drag Race star Bimini Bon Boulash upped the ante in a Britney-esque Balenciaga utilitarian denim maxi skirt with matching denim cowboy hat, white tank, white opera gloves and chunky Swarovski choker; Olympian Tom Daley opted for a jazzy wide-leg white coord with blue and yellow paintbrush-style print; and Heartstopper’s Joe Locke opted for a bright fuchsia suit from French label Ami accessorised with Swarovski bling.
Also embracing colour was presenter Katie Piper in a retina-searing fuchsia feather-trimmed gown and Tess Daley, who looked beautifully summery in a one-shouldered green dress from London label De La Vali, accessorised with gold jewellery and gold strappy Saint Laurent sandals.
