Ncuti Gatwa’s unveiling as the 15th Time Lord in Doctor Who, Logan Roy’s shocking death in Succession and David Beckham’s teasing of wife Victoria about her “working class” upbringing are among the stand-out scenes shortlisted for a TV Bafta.
Characters Catherine Cawood and Tommy Lee Royce’s final kitchen showdown in Happy Valley, blind musician Lucy’s performance in The Piano and the relationship between Bill and Frank in The Last Of Us are also in contention for the P&O Cruises memorable moment award.
Gatwa ‘bi-generated’ from David Tennant’s Doctor in an episode called The Giggle, emerging from the side of Tennant’s body in a half-buttoned shirt and an untied tie and underpants, without any trousers on.
Media tycoon Logan Roy’s death shocked fans of the dynastic drama Succession primarily because it happened off screen and so early in the final series.
While it had long been speculated the head of the Waystar-Royco empire would meet his end in the series, few people expected it to be in episode three, without any fanfare.
Instead his children were all gathered at the wedding of his son Connor Roy, when they got a call to say he had collapsed on his private plane and scrambled to find the words to say their goodbyes over the phone.
The Netflix documentary Beckham provided one of the viral television moments of the year when David interrupted Victoria talking about her childhood to instruct her to “be honest” and admit that her father drove a Rolls-Royce.
Another viral moment was the appearance of 13-year-old Lucy on The Piano, who stunned commuters in Leeds railway station as she played her rendition of Chopin’s Nocturne in B-flat minor.
Meanwhile, Happy Valley fans were left in shock over villainous Tommy Lee Royce’s epic showdown with Catherine Cawood in the tense final episode of Sally Wainwright’s police drama, which drew to an end the long-running conflict between Sarah Lancashire’s police officer and James Norton’s rapist.
Another much-discussed television moment was when Frank and Bill’s years-long relationship became the focus of the third episode of The Last Of Us.
Nick Offerman’s Bill and Murray Bartlett’s Frank are middle-aged gay men who manage not only to find each other after the apocalypse has ravaged the world, but also build a full and beautiful life together, finding purpose in each other and touching the hearts of the show’s viewers.
The nominees for the Bafta were chosen by an independent jury of national media experts convened by Hilary Rosen, chair of Bafta’s television committee.
Former Love Island star Amy Hart, who was on the jury, told the PA news agency: “It was such a good year for TV. I thought it would be quite cut and dry, in that when you looked at the long list, you would know the six but like, it took us a good couple of hours of deliberation, we actually overran.
“We all had to put five moments forward and you’re really advocating for your own moments so there was a lot of deliberation.”
The winner of the category will be voted for by the public and Hart said: “The (TV) Academy are amazing and obviously they’re very knowledgeable people.
“And I think those other categories like best actor, best actress, best TV show, they’re very cultured culture categories, and there’s a real purpose behind them.
“But there’s no point making TV if you don’t have viewers. And I think (the category) really gives something back to the viewers and lets us appreciate it.
“There’s a lot of TV shows that maybe the critics really pan that the people love and I think this really gives people that chance to have their say, on what is the biggest night of the TV calendar.
“It gives them their say on what they’ve really loved. It’s those real water cooler moments. It’s those moments that gone viral. It’s the ones you want to share with your friends.”
Voting is now open for the P&O Cruises memorable moment award.
The rest of the Bafta nominations will be announced on March 20 and the winners will be announced at the Bafta television awards at the Royal Festival Hall on May 12.
