BAFTA shares full Siobhan McSweeney speech after BBC cut political statements
McSweeney's full BAFTA acceptance speech was edited for the BBC broadcast and on iPlayer.
All eyes were on last night's BAFTA TV Awards to see who would take home some of the year's most coveted awards for their on-screen performances.
While the category of Female Performance in a Comedy was jam-packed full of stellar talent, Siobhán McSweeney won the BAFTA for her performance in Channel 4's hit comedy Derry Girls.
As usual, the ceremony itself took place a short time before it aired on the BBC and some speeches were edited to fit the time constraints of the broadcast.
McSweeney's acceptance speech was one of them – with the full, unedited version now available to watch on the BAFTA YouTube channel.
Certain moments of her speech didn't make the cut on the BBC, including comments condemning the government.
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In the full speech, she began by saying: "So I've been warned to not do a political statement or be really, really boring or sad and stuff so I'm going to start with the funny bit."
She then goes on to thank her co-stars, her team and others including the people of Derry, saying: "To the people of Derry – thank you for taking me into your hearts and your living rooms." In the BBC version, that statement marks the end of her speech and she goes on to say "Thank you so much".
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But in the longer BAFTA upload of the speech, she directs more of her speech to the people of Derry, saying: "I am, daily, impressed with how you encompassed the spirit of compromise and resilience, despite the indignities, ignorance and stupidity of your so-called leaders in Dublin, Stormont and Westminster.
"In the words of my beloved Sister Michael, 'It’s time they started to wise up.'"
Her speech was met with a loud round of applause from those in the audience but the difference between the uncut speech and the broadcast edit was only brought to light by Twitter user OhHeyJacob, who tweeted out both versions of the speech, writing: "What actually happened VS what the BBC aired. Tell me again how the BBC is unbiased? Why have they cut that out?"
A spokesperson for the BBC told RadioTimes.com: "As in previous years, due to the nature of the show it is broadcast with a short delay, and while we always aim to keep the core sentiment of acceptance speeches, edits have to be made due to time constraints."
RadioTimes.com has contacted BAFTA asking for comment.
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On the night, BAFTA hosts Rob Beckett and Romesh Rangathan made a number of cheeky remarks about the BBC throughout the show.
Beckett said: “As we all know this year, there have been one or two issues with the subject of the BBC and balance."
He continued: “It’s not easy for comedians to host an award show on the BBC. We need to be funny. We need to be professional and also offer balanced views.
Later on in the evening's ceremony, Beckett joked: “A few months back we were left hoping that The Traitors would be making a swift return to BBC One. Well that’s what some of the papers called the Match Of The Day presenters anyway."
Ranganathan then joked: “Are we edgy? I think we might be edgy!” Their comments come after Gary Lineker's brief suspension as presenter of Match Of The Day in March after criticising the government’s asylum policy. He later returned after BBC colleagues boycotted the broadcaster’s football coverage.
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