Law & Order UK 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

6

Nicola Guest Stars in Law & Order : UK

This article deals with Nicola’s guest appearance on Law & Order : UK, which was aired first in Canada in November 2010, then in the US on 4 March 2011 before it is aired in the UK on 21 March 2011.

When we accessed Nicola’s actor’s page on the National Theatre website in September 2010, in search of more information relating to Season’s Greetings [Stage], we saw that Law & Order : UK was included as one of her TV credits. So we dug around further and was able to obtain confirmation from a very reliable source in mid September that indeed, Nicola has filmed a guest appearance on Law & Order : UK though it was unclear at that time when the relevant episode was going to be aired in the UK. At that time, Series 3 of Law & Order : UK had just started transmission in the UK and Nicola’s name was not amongst the guest stars announced when publicity for the show kicked into gear.

Towards the end of October 2010, we were given new information about Nicola’s episode by a group of dedicated fans of Law & Order : UK. Quite surprisingly, Nicola’s guest episode was going to be aired on Canadian TV in November 2010, months before it was going to be shown on UK TV. Apparently, this also happened in 2009 with a previous series of Law & Order : UK. Nicola’s guest episode is titled “ID”  and is based on the episode titled “Promises to Keep” from the US version of Law & Order (episode 304 which originally aired in the US on 10 February 1993).

Nicola’s guest episode was shown on CityTV in Canada on 4th November 2010. At about the same time, the following tweets were exchanged between ourselves and Emilia di Girolamo, the lead writer of Law & Order : UK (we also included a Tweet from Ben Daniels, one of the lead actors on the show) :

EmiliaDG
@BonkersButBrill FYI Nicola Walker appears in tonight’s episode of Law & Order UK, I.D. at 10pm on CityTV. #LOUK
4 Nov 2010

bendanielsss
@EmiliaDG @TVBrittanyF Totally one of my faces too. Nicola is on FIRE! Script’s pretty ace too 😉
4 Nov 2010

BonkersButBrill
@EmiliaDG Thanx for the heads up. Nicola is the most magnificent actress in the world, no question! Can’t wait to see this episode.
4 Nov 2010

EmiliaDG
@BonkersButBrill In which case you will LOVE it! She really is awesome
4 Nov 2010

BonkersButBrill
@EmiliaDG Just watched it. V powerful writing n brilliant acting from all. 4 some1 who said she can’t cry on cue, that tear looked real! 😀
6 Nov 2010

EmiliaDG
@BonkersButBrill It was real, she was incredible. So glad you enjoyed it.
6 Nov 2010

So there you have it folks, Nicola has apparently overcome her inability to cry on cue for the camera. There is now no limit to her range as an actress!!!

Update : 26 February 2011

Emilia di Girolamo tweeted today that Nicola’s guest episode, ‘ID’, will be the third (not first) episode to air on ITV when the show returns for a 4th series on 7 March 2011. So UK fans, mark your diaries for 21 March 2011!

Update : 27 February 2011

Law & Order : UK ‘ID’ will be shown in the US on 4 March 2011 on BBC America. US fans, mark your diaries!

Update 28 February 2011

There is a brilliant interview on the CultBoxTV website with Emilia di Girolamo about her experiences as a writer for Law & Order : UK. She also talks a little about Nicola’s guest episode, “ID”.

Six degrees

Bradley Walsh, who plays Detective Sergeant Ronnie Brooks, last appeared with Nicola in Torn [TV]. He played the husband to Nicola’s character, Joanna. The two shared many scenes together.

Ben Daniels, who plays Senior Crown Prosecutor James Steel, appeared in episode 408 of Spooks [TV] when he played Oleg Korsakov. He did not have any scenes with Nicola in that episode.

Harriet Walter, who plays Detective Inspector Natalie Chandler, appeared in episode 303 of Spooks [TV] when she appeared as Deep Throat. She did not have any scenes with Nicola in that episode.

Benjamin Wong, who guest starred in this episode as Barrister Eli Smart, appeared in episode 904 of Spooks [TV] when he played Kai. He did not have any scenes with Nicola in that episode.

Out of respect to UK fans who have not yet seen this episode, screencaps will not be posted until this episode has aired in the UK.

If you have already seen the episode and wish to leave a comment, please refrain from posting any spoilers about this episode 🙂

Availabliity on DVD

The Region 2 DVD box set of Law & Order : UK Series 4 will be out on 4 July 2011. Click on the link provided below to pre-order your copy.


There is no news yet, as to when the Region 1 DVD box set for this episode will be released. For the US market, the episodes from two seasons are combined for the purposes of putting out one box set. For example, Law & Order : UK Season One in the US market is actually an aggregate of all 13 episodes which formed Series 1 and 2 of the programme which was aired in the UK. We will update this portion of this Post as soon as we hear further in this respect.