Meera Syal to be awarded BAFTA Fellowship at this year's ceremony
Syal will be presented with the award during the ceremony on Sunday 14th May.
Ahead of this year's BAFTA Television Awards, it has been announced that this year's BAFTA Fellowship will go to actor, screenwriter and novelist Meera Syal.
The award, which is the highest accolade bestowed by BAFTA, will go to Syal for her "outstanding and exceptional contribution to film, games or television".
Syal is perhaps best-known for her roles in the series Goodness Gracious Me and The Kumars at No. 42, while she has also appeared in Doctor Who, Broadchurch, The Split, Back to Life, The Devil's Hour, The Sandman and many more shows. Her film roles have included appearances in Doctor Strange, Paddington 2 and Yesterday.
Syal said: "I am thrilled and honoured to be the recipient of the BAFTA Fellowship. I am particularly delighted that this year’s award is twinned with opportunities to mentor and support participants in BAFTA’s learning programme – where I hope to engage with many talented practitioners and continue working to make BAFTA a truly representative and celebratory place for all our creatives."
She added: "I am grateful for the chance to pay forward the opportunities and experiences I have been lucky enough to have over my career."
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The Fellowship will be presented to Syal during the awards ceremony on Sunday 14th May at the Royal Festival Hall, and she will subsequently work with BAFTA over the coming year to inspire and nurture aspiring creatives through its learning, inclusion and talent programmes.
Syal joins previous recipients of the Fellowship including Sir Billy Connolly, Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders, Jon Snow, Sir Bruce Forsyth, Joanna Lumley, Melvyn Bragg, Michael Palin, Sir Trevor MacDonald, Sir David Attenborough, Dame Julie Walters and Kate Adie.
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BAFTA noted that Syal’s cross-cultural stories and performances regularly unite the nation through humour and have played an instrumental force in showcasing the positive representation of British-Asian stories and talent on screen. She will soon be seen in the new season of The Wheel of Time and in Mrs Siddhu Investigates.
This year's BAFTA Television Awards will be hosted by Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan, with this year's nominations seeing the likes of This Is Going to Hurt, The Responder, Bad Sisters and The Crown leading the pack.
The BAFTA Television Awards with P&O Cruises airs on Sunday 14th May from 7pm on BBC One and iPlayer. Take a look at what else is on with our TV guide and Streaming Guide.
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Authors
James Hibbs is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering programmes across both streaming platforms and linear channels. He previously worked in PR, first for a B2B agency and subsequently for international TV production company Fremantle. He possesses a BA in English and Theatre Studies and an NCTJ Level 5 Diploma in Journalism.
