Tonight at the 2020 British Academy Television Awards Sky original drama Chernobyl became the most awarded British TV series in a single year ever. The drama about the 1986 nuclear meltdown added gongs for Mini-Series and Leading Actor for Jared Harris to its seven wins at the British Academy Television Craft Awards on July 17th - making it the most awarded British TV show ever in a single year.
Chernobyl has been breaking records for Sky since it debuted in May last year, becoming its most watched drama ever and quickly topping the highest rated shows on entertainment website IMDb, ahead of long-running fan favourites such as Game of Thrones and The Wire. To date the show, which was produced by Sister, The Mighty Mint and Word Games has picked-up over 60 awards including two Golden Globes and 10 Primetime Emmys.
Commenting on the wins, Zai Bennett, Managing Director of Content, Sky UK and Ireland, said: We're incredibly proud that the terrifying true story of Chernobyl is BAFTAs most awarded series in a single year ever. As well as highlighting the truly brilliant work of everyone involved in Chernobyl, this recognition reflects the success of our increased investment in original production and fuels Sky's ambition to make more ground-breaking original TV for our viewers.
It was a big night for the broadcaster, after receiving a record 25 nominations across all categories Sky also picked-up the award for News Coverage for Sky News' reporting on the Hong Kong protests.
Sky's total wins across the BAFTA Television and Television Craft awards for 2020 was 12 - a record for the broadcaster, topping the seven wins received last year across both awards, including four for Patrick Melrose.
CHERNOBYL'S RECORD NUMBER OF BAFTA WINS
MINI-SERIES
CHERNOBYL Production Team - Sky Atlantic/HBO - Sister, The Mighty Mint, Word Games
LEADING ACTOR
JARED HARRIS Chernobyl - Sky Atlantic/HBO - Sister, The Mighty Mint, Word Games
DIRECTOR: FICTION
JOHAN RENCK Chernobyl - Sky Atlantic/HBO, Sister, The Mighty Mint, Word Games
EDITING: FICTION
JINX GODFREY, SIMON SMITH Chernobyl - Sky Atlantic/HBO, Sister, The Mighty Mint, Word Games
COSTUME DESIGN
ODILE DICKS-MIREAUX Chernobyl - Sky Atlantic/HBO, Sister, The Mighty Mint, Word Games
ORIGINAL MUSIC
HILDUR GUDNADOTTIR Chernobyl - Sky Atlantic/HBO, Sister, The Mighty Mint, Word Games
PHOTOGRAPHY & LIGHTING: FICTION
JAKOB IHRE Chernobyl - Sky Atlantic/HBO, Sister, The Mighty Mint, Word Games
PRODUCTION DESIGN
LUKE HULL, CLAIRE LEVINSON-GENDLER Chernobyl - Sky Atlantic/HBO, Sister, The Mighty Mint, Word Games
SOUND: FICTION
SOUND TEAM Chernobyl - Sky Atlantic/HBO, Sister, The Mighty Mint, Word Games
FURTHER SKY BAFTA WINS
NEWS COVERAGE
HONG KONG PROTESTS Production Team - Sky News
SOUND: FACTUAL
BATTLE OF THE BRASS BANDS - Sky Arts/ Twofour
WRITER: DRAMA
JESSE ARMSTRONG Succession - HBO Entertainment in association with Project Zeus, Hyperobject Industries and Gary Sanchez Productions, HBO/Sky Atlantic
Sky continues to invest in the cultural economy of the UK and Ireland with the very best original content, spanning drama, comedy, factual and entertainment. Forthcoming highlights for this year include drama series I Hate Suzie, starring Billie Piper, The Third Day starring Jude Law and Naomie Harris and comedy Two Weeks to Live starring Maisie Williams and Sian Clifford.
Following the success of Sky originals like Chernobyl, Sky intends to double its investment in original content by 2024. As well as developing a new TV and movie studio, Sky Studios Elstree, which is expected to lead to the creation of over 2,000 new jobs and generate an additional £3 billion of production investment in UK creative sector in the first five years alone.
All episodes of Chernobyl are available to watch on demand for all Sky customers and on streaming service NOW TV. The final episode of Sky and HBO's co-production Chernobyl, has been watched to date by an audience of 4.12m, the biggest ever audience for a Sky original drama.
About Sky
With 24 million customers across seven countries, Sky is Europe's leading media and entertainment company and is proud to be part of the Comcast group. Our 31,000 employees help connect our customers with the very best of Sports, News, the arts and to our own local, original content. Following the success of Sky originals like Chernobyl, Patrick Melrose, Das Boot and Gomorrah we launched Sky Studios and now plan to more than double our investment in original drama and comedy over the next five years.
Our technology allows customers to watch what they want, when they want, how they want, and as we connect millions of families to content they love, it is our responsibility to do it safely - that's why we offer services like Sky Broadband Buddy and the Sky Kids app. And our online streaming service, NOW TV, brings viewers all the enjoyment of Sky with the flexibility of a contract-free service.
We also believe that a company of our scale has a responsibility that goes beyond our business, and into the community. Our Sky Ocean Rescue campaign has reached millions across Europe, we're on track to be free of single-use plastic by 2020, we're investing £25million over five years in ocean-saving tech and we're a proud employer - recognised by The Times and Stonewall for our approach to inclusivity.
