BAFTA TV Awards 2021 LIVE: All the news, reactions and highlights

The very best of British TV gathered together to celebrate what's been another challenging 12 months for the industry, but one which has no doubt provided plenty of enjoyment to all.

Michaela Coel was the big winner of the night, scooping two awards for I May Destroy You.

Normal People, Sex Education and Small Axe also picked up the accolades, and it was a great night for Casualty, who triumphed over three of the Big Four soaps to win the Soap and Continuing Drama award.

RadioTimes.com was here for all the action, and you can follow our live blog below, featuring all the winners and highlights from the glitzy ceremony.

And if you want to know who won, be sure to check out the full list of Virgin Media BAFTA TV 2021 winners.

Read on for our live blog of the Virgin Media BAFTA TV Awards 2021, as it happened:

9:07pm: That's that then! Were you happy with the winners? Tweet us @RadioTimes and let us know what you thought of the 2021 BAFTAs. And thanks for joining us for our live blog!

9pm: Paul Mescal also spoke in the winners' room, saying he found his BAFTA win "overwhelming".

8:55pm: And over in the winners' room, Michaela Coel said there "definitely" won't be another season of I May Destroy You, before stating it's "inconsiderate" to film without intimacy coordinators.

8:53pm: As the BBC wraps up tonight's ceremony, you can read the full list of BAFTA TV Awards 2021 winners to see all the accolades that didn't make tonight's main ceremony.

8:51pm: Michaela dedicated her award to Ita O'Brien, I May Destroy You's Intimacy Coordinator.

8:48pm: And the final winner is... of course, the wonderful Michaela Coel for her performance in I May Destroy You.

8:46pm: Finally, we have the award for Leading Actress, presented by David Morrissey!

8:45pm: And the winner is... a very emotional Paul Mescal for Normal People! Will his co-star Daisy Edgar-Jones win the Leading Actress accolade?

8:42pm: On to the penultimate award of the evening, Leading Actor, presented by the wonderful Cush Jumbo.

8:39pm: Who'd have thought we'd be celebrating Zoom at the BAFTAs? Here we are anyway! (Yes, we're still completely howling at "I'm not a cat" man, no judgement.)

8:37pm: Next up, Drama Series, presented by Ben Miller. The highly coveted award goes to... Save Me Too.

Lennie James is on hand to receive the award, telling viewers: "I was really not expecting that at all, actually, I was getting ready to applaud someone else!"

8:34pm: The BAFTA for Single Drama goes to... BBC's Windrush drama, Sitting In Limbo.

8:32pm: We're on to the final few awards, starting with Single Drama, presented by Catherine Zeta-Jones.

8:31pm: And the award goes to... The Big Narstie Show! And it's safe to say the team behind the Channel 4 comedy are *very* excited.

8:29pm: The stars of It's a Sin, Lydia West and Olly Alexander are up next to present the Comedy Entertainment award. We expect to see It's a Sin heavily nominated in next year's awards...

8:28pm: The ever-fabulous Catherine O'Hara is on hand for the next award for Live Events, which goes to... Springwatch 2020!

Speaking of the award, presenter Chris Packham said: "On behalf of the whole Springwatch team, thank you, thank you so much! This means a lot to a lot of people, and to a lot of wildlife."

8:23pm: And now it's time to reflect on those shining stars we have sadly lost over the last 12 months. Pianist Alexis Ffrench will perform Bluebird alongside the tribute.

8:22pm: The charming Bob Mortimer and Paul Whitehouse present the next award, for Factual Series, which goes to... Once Upon a Time in Iraq.

8:19pm: Ashley described the accolade as "so much more than an award" before thanking the people who complained to OFCOM saying: "You showed the truth, you showed why this performance was necessary."

8:17pm: And now time for the only public-voted award of the night, Virgin Media's Must-See Moment.

The winner of the award is... Britain's Got Talent for Diversity's powerful Black Lives Matter performance. Ashley and Jordan Banjo are on hand to collect the award.

8:10pm: And the winner of Soap and Continuing Drama is... Casualty, who fend off EastEnders, Coronation Street and Hollyoaks to take the coveted accolade.

The moment is especially poignant as Casualty's win comes just days after their sister show Holby City was cancelled.

8:07pm: The quite frankly wonderful Bill Bailey and Oti Mabuse have entered the stage, performing a small section from their Strictly dance to Rapper's Delight. And it was, FAB-U-LOUS, as Craig Revel Horwood would say.

8:05pm: The award for Mini-Series goes to... I May Destroy You, penned by Michaela Coel who is on hand to collect the award.

8:02pm: A moment of appreciation for the show-stopping outfits from Bridgerton's Golda Rosheuvel and Nicola Coughlan.

8:01pm: Over in the winners' room, Aimee Lou Wood has been speaking about Sex Education season three, hinting that her character's sexual assault storyline will continue to impact the storylines in the upcoming episodes.

7:59pm: The awards are coming thick and fast, with Reality and Constructed Factual up next.

And the winner is... Channel 4's The School That Tried to End Racism.

7:55pm: On to Female Performance in a Comedy Programme, presented by Rob Beckett and Tom Allen.

And the winner is... Sex Education's Aimee Lou Wood, who could be heard yelling "what the hell?" as she won! Aimee beat her co-star, Emma Mackey to the accolade.

7:52pm: Jon Snow is next up to present the award for Specialist Factual, which goes to... The Surgeon's Cut!

7:48pm: Over in the winners' press conference, Reece Shearsmith revealed Inside No. 9 considered a "lockdown" episode.

"We did think about doing something that would’ve been contained, or maybe on Zoom, people in lockdown, but then we thought maybe that’s the last thing you want to do," he said.

7:46pm: Rose Matafeo is on hand to present the award for Male Performance in a Comedy Programme which goes to... Charlie Cooper!

Charlie sadly isn't on hand to collect the award, but his dad, Paul Cooper, is!

7:42pm: The winner of the first ever Daytime BAFTA goes to... Channel 4's The Great House Giveaway!

7:40pm: And it's time for a brand new award, Daytime! Line of Duty's Tommy Jessop is on hand to announce the winner.

7:36pm: And the winner for Supporting Actor goes to... Malachi Kirby for his stand-out role in Steve McQueen's Small Axe.

7:33pm: Yes, we may be talking about Adrian Dunbar a lot in this live blog, but for good reason! On the red carpet tonight, the Line of Duty star hinted the H plot might not be wrapped up entirely just yet...

Please give us more Line of Duty, BBC!

7:29pm: Next up, we have the BAFTA for Features which goes to... Long Lost Family: Born Without Trace!

Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell are on Zoom to collect the award and thanked all the foundling contributors who trusted their show to tell their emotional stories.

7:26pm: And the winner of Entertainment Programme is... Life & Rhymes! The Sky Arts show beat shiny floor juggernauts Strictly Come Dancing, Saturday Night Takeaway and runaway hit of 2020, The Masked Singer.

7:24pm: Stacey Dooley and Vick Hope are on hand to deliver the next award and Stacey admitted she was a little starstruck by Adrian Dunbar. Same, honestly.

7:23pm: And in other news of the night, Bill Bailey has confirmed he's writing a song for Eurovision 2022. We're behind you, Bill!

7:21pm: Sanjeev Bhaskar is on hand to deliver the Supporting Actress award, which goes to... Rakie Ayola from BBC One film, Anthony.

7:16pm: The BAFTA for Scripted Comedy goes to... Inside No. 9! Reece Shearsmith is on hand to collect the award, saying the series will "keep going" - phew!

7:14pm: Ever the joker, we spotted you mouthing "I can't believe it", Bradley Walsh!

7:12pm: And the winner of Best Entertainment Performance is... Romesh Ranganathan!

7:10pm: Mother of God! It's Adrian Dunbar to present Best Entertainment Performance... He's only after one thing and one thing only: the winner.

7:04pm: Olly Alexander isn't nominated this year for his fantastic turn as the lead on It's A Sin because the Channel 4 show just missed the cut-off for the 2021 BAFTAs, but that doesn't mean he won't be nominated next year... we suspect he certainly will be.

And if you want to read some more about eligibility, here are the BAFTA rules explained.

7:01pm: Here we go! The celebs have taken their seats and we're about to find out the big winners of the evening. There's just time for a performance from Olly Alexander with his hit single Starstruck. We're bopping away to this one, for sure!

6:59pm: The action is about to get started on the BBC - make sure you tune in to BBC One now!

6:51pm: If you're watching tonight's ceremony at home, tweet us your reactions to the winners @RadioTimes!

6:48pm: Tom Allen was also joined by Oti Mabuse on the red carpet, and she was asked if Strictly 2021 would be her last series... don't worry, Oti confirmed she'll be sticking around a little longer!

6:44pm: Michaela Coel, (nominated for I May Destroy You), spoke to Tom Allen on the red carpet, and talked about blending drama with comedy in her remarkable and hard-hitting series.

6:37pm: The red carpet took place a little earlier on today, which gives us time to look back on some of the stunning outfits!

Oti Mabuse donned a sleek white gown for the big celebration:

And Bimini Bon Boulash opted for emerald glamour as they walked the carpet.

6:30pm: Welcome! We're gearing up for the biggest night in TV here at RadioTimes.com with the very best in British TV about to be celebrated after a very tough year.

Tonight, the ceremony starts at 7pm - and if you need to refresh your memory on any of the finer details, check out our dedicated page for the Virgin Media BAFTA TV Awards 2021.

Check out what else is on with our TV Guide.