Bafta Film Awards 2019 recap – the biggest and best moments
From Joanna Lumley's groan-worthy opening monologue and some dancing astronauts to Olivia Colman smashing the speech game once again, there were plenty of highlights
Awards ceremonies are always ripe for drama, hilarious unplanned moments and heartfelt speeches - and at the 2019 film Baftas, we were there to follow every step of the way.
In a year where The Favourite and Roma swept the board we collected the funniest, most embarrassing and generally most notable moments from the night as and when they happened, and you can see them all below now.
Thankfully, there wasn't anything QUITE as bad as the great La La Land/Moonlight Oscars mix-up...
- When are the 2019 Bafta Film Awards? How can I watch on TV?
- Bafta Film Awards 2019: Who are the nominees?
Follow all RadioTimes.com's Bafta Film Awards coverage here
Olivia Colman, Queen of our hearts
British actor and bona fide National Treasure Olivia Colman continued her march on Oscar glory tonight when she won the Best Leading Actress Bafta, and her hilarious, anxious speech was the real highlight of the entire evening.
"We’re having an amazing night aren’t we? We’re gonna get so pissed later!" Colman laughed, after The Favourite had already picked up an impressive number of awards.
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"Thank you so much [for this]. It’s really big! I don't know what to say. No, I do know what to say, I’ve actually written something down!
"I’m very shaky sorry, I can’t read it either."
Eventually giving up on the paper, she continued: "Yorgos Lanthimos – I can’t think of the words to thank you for letting me do this, my most favourite time ever.
"Oh God what else was I meant to say? Done THAT bit, I’ve done THAT bit…
"As far as I’m concerned all three of us are the same and should be the lead," she concluded, paying tribute to co-stars Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone.
"This is for all three of us – it’s got my name on it but we can scratch some other names."
Frankly, she HAS to win the Oscar now - we need that speech.
Bafta, meet Brexit
Yes, the Bafta acceptance speeches got a little political this year, with many of those picking up awards making note of Britain’s upcoming exit from the European Union.
While some just made cryptic references to us living through “divisive” times, others were more clear – and none were more so than actor Eddie Marsan, who commented that Britain was “reinventing its history to justify Brexit” when he went onstage to present the award for costume design.
We’ll be interested to see whether that makes the TV broadcast…
Bryan Singer – the ghost at the feast
Bryan Singer made headlines this week after BAFTA rescinded his nomination within Bohemian Rhapsody’s wider Outstanding British Film nomination, following accusations of sexual assault and abuse from the director (who was also fired from the Queen biopic’s production during the shoot.
And when star Rami Malek picked up his Best Actor award for playing Freddie Mercury he notably avoided mentioning Singer at all, specifically mentioning almost every other person involved in the movie’s production (including Dexter Fletcher, who took over directing duties for the final weeks) instead.
“I would not be here without each and every one of you,” he noted, adding “this is truly extraordinary.
“Thank you to Bafta for this gorgeous gift. I still cannot believe that I’m included with this group of actors.”
The Wright stuff
After winning the public vote for the EE Rising Star award, Black Panther star Letitia Wright gave an emotional speech to a rapt audience, explaining that just a few years ago she was considering packing in acting altogether.
“A few years ago I saw myself in a deep state of depression and I wanted to quit acting,” she said, statuette in hand.
However, an email from Bafta asking her to be one of their breakthrough Brits “let me try again,” eventually leading her to her success today.
“So this wasn’t an overnight thing, this wasn’t a click of a finger success. I’m still a work in progress,” she continued, paying tribute to her fellow nominees Barry Keoghan, Lakeith Stanfield, Jessie Buckley and Cynthia Erivo.
“I want to encourage you, anyone that’s going through a hard time….God made you, and you’re important.
“Just let your light shine. God bless you all.”
The only thing more likely to bring a tear to your eye? Watching her co-stars Andy Serkis and Danai Gurira singing and dancing in joy at her win when they went up to present another award later.
“That’s my baby sis!” Gurira said.
Cate Blanchett channels Thanos
Many fans couldn't help but notice a similarity between Cate Blanchett's red carpet look and a certain Mad Titan's taste for jewellery, and took to Twitter to see who wore the Infinity Stones better - Cate or Thanos?
Now, we can definitely say for sure that Cate Blanchett has SNAPPED, am I right?
No laughing matter
Unfortunately, following her great Oscars quip Lumley’s script was DOA, with the host attempting several gags that did NOT land with the celebrity audience.
“That’s another fine dress you got me into,” she said to Steve Coogan after suggesting he’d helped her get into her outfits earlier, to a wince from the Stan and Ollie star, and similar stabs at Christian Bale’s Dick Cheney Method acting (“he actually instigated an illegal war – now that’s commitment") and Spike Lee’s BlackkKlansman (“I’m surprised it did so well at the Klan film festival”) also fell pretty flat among the guests.
Still, we can’t blame Joanna as very few of the citation readers’ jokes ended up raising a titter, with the notable exception of Harry Potter and Star Trek star Jason Isaacs, whose quick routine about socially awkward animators finding “15 minutes of pleasure” in their bedrooms had the room chuckling.
Oscar shade
In her opening remarks, Lumley couldn't resist poking fun at the upcoming Oscars ceremony, which will be without a host for the first time in decades following the withdrawal of Kevin Hart, who came under fire for old homophobic remarks he'd made on Twitter.
"Thank goodness Bafta actually has a host," Lumley quipped after expressing her gratitude to be hosting for the second year in a row.
"Though I suspect that might have something to do with the fact that I’m not on Twitter..."
Joanna Lumley’s costume lunar-cy
The Baftas were opened this year with host Joanna Lumley putting on an impromptu fashion show, donning the costumes of Olivia Colman in the Favourite, John C. Reilly in Stan and Ollie, Emily Blunt in Mary Poppins Returns and even Ryan Gosling in First Man, with the latter astronaut look feeding directly into a brilliantly unusual space-themed opening dance number from Cirque du Soleil's Totem.
It wasn’t a completely random segway – this year’s Baftas are celebrating the 50-year anniversary of the Moon Landings (they must have put a lot of hope into First Man sweeping up some nominations when they were planning this a few months back) – and it was definitely an out-of-this-world opener.
