23 November 2015
Newsdesk
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts has announced the winners for the 20th annual British Academy Children’s Awards. The ceremony was hosted by Doc Brown at Roundhouse, London, and presenters included Denise van Outen, Keith Chegwin, Floella Benjamin, Kimberley Wyatt, Michael Palin, Harry Hill and David Baddiel.
It was a fantastic night for production company Somethin’ Else, which won three BAFTAs at the ceremony. The company triumphed in the Independent Production Company of the Year category and the Interactive – Adapted category for The Dumping Ground: You’re the Boss, and received a second successive win for Poetry: Between the Lines in the Learning – Secondary category.
Katie Morag and Old Jack’s Boat also repeated last year’s successes, receiving their second consecutive wins in the Drama and Pre-School Live Action categories respectively. Double-act Sam & Mark – Sam Nixon & Mark Rhodes – celebrated winning in the Presenter category for the second time for Sam & Mark’s Big Christmas Wind-Up.
The Amazing World of Gumball collected its third BAFTA for Animation, the sixth for the show overall. Jessica Ransom was successful in the Performer category for her portrayal of Mary Queen of Scots in Horrible Histories, the seventh award presented to the series. The prestigious Channel of the Year category was won by CBBC for the third time.
The BAFTA for Factual went to I am Leo (My Life), an intimate documentary following the life of transgender 13 year-old boy, Leo Waddell, which was first broadcast as part of CBBC’s anti-bullying week.
Family favourite Paddington fought off stiff competition from Big Hero 6, Inside Out and Shaun the Sheep Movie to triumph in Feature Film. The Game category was won by Nintendo’s Splatoon. Disney’s Gravity Falls won the International category while Gigglebiz, starring the multi BAFTA-winning performer Justin Fletcher, collected the award for Comedy.
The Preschool – Animation category was won by classic remake Clangers, narrated by Michael Palin. This is the first BAFTA for the series which was originally created by the late Oliver Postgate and last year’s Special Award recipient, Peter Firmin.
Jocelyn Stevenson received this year’s Special Award for her outstanding contribution to children’s media. Her Award was presented by Duncan Kenworthy, and she received a special introduction from the inhabitants of Fraggle Rock.
Other winners on the night were: My Life, My Religion for Learning: Primary; Swashbuckle for Entertainment; Ooglies for Short Form; Virry for Interactive: Original; and Guy Burt, who won the Writer category for Harriet’s Army.
The results of the BAFTA Kids Vote were also announced at the ceremony by young reporters from Into Film and Cinemagic with help from official media partner Fun Kids Radio. Thousands of votes were cast by seven to 14 year-olds who had their say in a nationwide poll to choose their favourite film, television programme, and game. The winners in the three categories were: Minions (Feature Film), The Next Step (Television) and Minecraft (Game).
Earlier in the day, competition winners and the children of partner charities attended the BAFTA Kids Red Carpet Experience, which included a TV Presenting Masterclass with Ben Shires, Katie Thistleton and celebrity judge Connor Byrne from The Dumping Ground. The children also took part in a photoshoot with Naomi Wilkinson and Radzi Chinyanganya and met nominees and presenters arriving on the red carpet for the Awards.
