Being Human Archive

12

2011 BAFTA TV Nominations

For the last few months, we have been running a poll on this fansite :

Should Nicola Walker be nominated for a BAFTA* for her exemplary work in Spooks Series 9?

  • 92% of you said, Yes, absolutely!
  • 7% of you said, No, it was good work, but not good enough for a BAFTA yet.
  • 1% asked, What’s a BAFTA?

(A big THANK YOU to everyone who cast a vote in this Poll!)

The 2011 BAFTA Television Awards nominees were announced on 26 April 2011. Nicola was not named as one of the nominees. There could be several reasons for this :

  • No entry was submitted for consideration by or on behalf of Nicola for Spooks Series 9
  • An entry was submitted for consideration by or on behalf of Nicola but it did not make the shortlist in the relevant category announced today.

To be up for consideration for a BAFTA in the performance category, an entry must be submitted by the actor/actress in question, or someone on his/her behalf, such as a Director or the production company. Whilst it is possible for a BAFTA member to originate the nomination process, this is rarely done, except perhaps in the case of the Fellowship (i.e. Lifetime Achievement) Award. These nominations are not generated by fans. For Nicola, she would have been eligible for a nomination in either the Lead Actress or Supporting Actress categories for Spooks Series 9. Unlike the Emmy Awards in the US, the TV BAFTAs do not have a category which rewards excellence as a guest performer in either a Drama or Comedy series. So Nicola’s guest appearances in Luther and Being Human would not have been eligible for consideration. As for her guest appearance in Law & Order : UK, that episode was broadcast in the UK on 21 March 2011, i.e. after the deadline was closed on 28 February 2011, so even if there was a category for guest performances, it would not have been eligible for consideration.

Although the BAFTA rules say that there is no entry fee for the performance categories (there is a small fee payable for submitting entries in the production categories), performers and production companies must still incur considerable expense in mounting a BAFTA campaign, from the production of copies of the submitted episodes to the BAFTA voters for consideration, meeting and greeting the voters to solicit votes, to attending the actual ceremony, dressed to the nines.

Whilst it would have been nice if Nicola did receive a nomination for her work in Spooks Series 9, we have to remember that there are many, many talented British actors and actresses who have never been nominated, or have been nominated but didn’t win an award. As long as Nicola continues to be gainfully employed, us fans would be happy for the chance to watch her on screen or listen to her dulcet tones via audio programmes.

To understand more about the BAFTA nomination and voting process, you can download a copy of the Rules and Guidelines for the British Academy Television Awards HERE.

You can view a full list of the nominees HERE.

The winners will be announced at a gala event to be held on 22nd May 2011. This event is usually televised live on British TV on the day.

*BAFTA stands for British Academy of Film and Television Arts

2

Nicola Guest Stars in Being Human 305

Nicola has filmed a guest appearance for Series 3 of Being Human, which will be aired sometime in January on 20 February 2011 in the UK (see our latest update below). She plays a health inspector / social worker called Wendy.

We first became aware of her involvement with the show in August 2010 when the BBC released this promotion clip featuring Philip John, one of the Directors of Being Human. “[There is] a lot of comedy [in] this series,” he said. “We’ve got fantastic comic guest performers – Nicola Walker, who plays Wendy, [is] just staggering.”

Being Human is what American TV writers call a “dramedy”. i.e. part drama, party comedy. The first two series have been rating successes in the UK. The three leads, Aiden Turner, Russell Tovey and Lenora Crichlow are all very capable actors in their own right. Remake rights of this show have been sold to the US and we understand that a US version is currently being filmed.

Read what Nicola had to say about her guest appearance in the 2010 Ian Wylie interview.

After the gloom and doom in Series 9 of Spooks, we cannot wait to Nicola in a comedic role!

Cannot view the video?

For the benefit of fans who gets the dreaded “video not available in your area” notice when they try to play this video :

The only reference to Nicola comes at around the 0.59 mark when director Philip John said, “[There is] a lot of comedy [in] this series … We’ve got fantastic comic guest performers – Nicola Walker, who plays Wendy, [is] just staggering.” For the rest of the video, it was just Philip John talking about his experiences in directing 3 episodes of Series 3 of Being Human. Wonder if this means that Nicola’s guest starring role will appear in more than one episode? One can only hope.

Update 14 December 2010

Being Human Series 3 will commence broadcast in the UK in January 2011. UK fans, please keep a look out for programme transmission dates.

Update 18 December 2010

Philip John directed episodes 303, 305 and 306 of Series 3 of Being Human. Nicola could appear in one or more of these three episodes.

Update 7 January 2011

The Being Human Series 3 Press Pack is out and you can access it HERE. Nicola will appear in episode 305, to be aired towards the end of February 2011.

In an interview which is available as part of the BBC Press Pack, Sinaed Keenan (who plays Nina in Being Human) has this to say about Nicola :

Nicola Walker – episode five playing Wendy the social worker, incredible – I think she should come back and social work elsewhere in the show.

I think we would all second that!

Update 12 January 2011

Being Human Series 3 will begin transmission on BBC3 on Sunday, 23 January 2011 at 9pm. At this rate and if Nicola is scheduled to appear in episode 5, we should all mark 20 FEBRUARY 2011 as the date to tune into the show, unless, of course, you’re also a fan of Being Human in which case start watching as from 23rd January 2011! 😀

Update 13 January 2011

Sinead Keenan, a cast regular in Being Human Series 3, had this to say when she gave an online tour of the new set. “This is episode 5, where things get hectic.” That would be Nicola’s guest episode. In the 2010 Ian Wylie Interview, these comments were made

[Nicola]  plays health visitor Wendy who stumbles into the house occupied by the comedy drama’s resident werewolf, vampire and ghost.

“She thinks she’s having a bad day. But because she doesn’t know anything about the people in the house, she doesn’t realise just how bad a day she could be having.”

Can. Not. Wait!

Watch the on-set tour via this YouTube video and get to know the set where Nicola will spend her episode in.

Wonder if Nicola cut her hair short for this role? She looked like she had a shorter hair cut when she was photographed for the Season’s Greetings promotional still, and that might have been around the time she filmed her guest episode for Being Human, after filming on Spooks Series 9 wrapped in August 2010.

Update 18 January 2011

In an interview with Digital Spy, Sinead Keenan continued to be very complimentary about Nicola’s guest appearance in episode 5 of Series 3 of Being Human and described her as “amazing”. You can read the interview HERE.

Update 19 January 2011

According to the official BBC blog for Being Human 3, Nicola’s guest episode is titled “The Longest Day”. It must be referring to the kind of day which her character, Wendy the social worker/house inspector, is having when she has to inspect “Honolulu Heights”, the new home for the three main characters.

Episode 305 is written by Sarah Phelps. She also wrote the 2007 version of Oliver Twist in which Nicola had a small guest role.

Update 23 January 2011

Ian Wylie interviewed the cast of Being Human for his blog, which you can read HERE. Here’s what Russell Tovey has to say about Nicola’s forthcoming guest appearance :

Nicola was amazing and very funny. She’s involved in the rediscovery of Herrick storyline as a social worker who ends up being assigned to Herrick’s case. So we all become linked and she’s unaware of the fact that we’re all supernatural beings.

For those not familiar with Being Human, Herrick is a recurring character who is a vampire.

Update 25 January 2011

From Twitter (original tweet from anglophenia which was retweeted by flip18)

Being Human 3 will be shown in the US on BBC America starting from 19 February 2011, which means Nicola’s guest appearance in episode 305 will be shown on 19 March 2011. US fans, mark your diairies!

Update 3 February 2011

The BBC has released a little more information about episode 305 of Being Human and you can read about it HERE. This article reveals a little more about how Herrick the vampire reappears in the lives of the three lead characters, but not much about the character played by Nicola.

Update 13 February 2011

Screencaps from the trailer for episode 305 of Being Human, to air at 9:00 pm on BBC Three on Sunday, 20 February 2011

Update 22 February 2011

Fans with access to the BBC iPlayer have until 27 February 2011 to watch Being Human 305. US fans, please remember to mark your diaries for 19 March 2011, which is the date when BBC America will air Being Human 305 in the US.

Check out our Being Human page for more info on this programme, and a look at the photo of Nicola as Wendy which has been released by the BBC. As the programme has now aired, we will close the Comments section here, but you can continue to leave comments on the Being Human page.

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