Bafta TV awards: Michaela Coel's 'I May Destroy You' scores string of wins

British TV series I May Destroy You and its director Michaela Coel won a slew of awards at the annual Bafta TV Awards on Sunday for its depiction of a young black writer piecing her life back together after suffering a sexual assault. The 12-episode series broadcast last summer on the BBC and HBO tells the story of Arabella, whose sexual assault occurs while she is celebrating at a London bar with friends. On Sunday it was garlanded with the best mini-series and editing awards, with Coel herself taking best leading actress, director and drama writer. Coel paid particular tribute to Ita O'Brien, the show's "intimacy director". She said O'Brien was crucial to "making the space safe for creating physical, emotional, and professional boundaries so that we can make work about exploitation, loss of respect, about abuse of power, without being exploited or abused in the process". The intimacy director role is "essential for every production company that wants to make work exploring themes of consent", Coel said. Held partly online with a scattering of live audience, the ceremony left acclaimed Netflix series The Crown empty-handed. The fictionalised account of the modern British royal family, which swept the board at the Golden Globes earlier this year, had been nominated for four categories, including Helena Bonham Carter for best supporting actress as Princess Margaret. Other big winners on the night included Irish actor Paul Mescal, who took home the best leading actor award for his role in popular BBC drama Normal People . Charlie Brooker’s Antiviral Wipe Rob & Romesh Vs The Big Narstie Show – WINNER The Ranganation America’s War On Abortion (Exposure) – WINNER Italy's Frontline: A Doctor's Diary (BBC) The Battle for Hong Kong (Dispatches) The Cyprus Papers Undercover (Al Jazeera Investigations) Jimmy McGovern’s Moving On Richard Osman’s House of Games The Chase The Great House Giveaway – WINNER Gangs of London I Hate Suzie Save Me Too – WINNER The Crown Adam Hills Bradley Walsh Claudia Winkleman David Mitchell Graham Norton Romesh Ranganathan – WINNER Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway Life & Rhymes – WINNER Strictly Come Dancing The Masked Singer Crime & Punishment Hospital Losing It: Our Mental Health Emergency Once Upon a Time in Iraq – WINNER Big Zuu’s Big Eats Long Lost Family: Born Without Trace – WINNER Mortimer and Whitehouse: Gone Fishing The Repair Shop Aimee Lou Wood – Sex Education – WINNER Daisy Haggard – Breeders Daisy May Cooper – This Country Emma Mackey – Sex Education Gbemisola Ikumelo – Famalam Mae Martin – Feel Good Little America Lovecraft Country Unorthodox Welcome to Chechnya: The Gay Purge ( Storyville ) – WINNER John Boyega – Small Axe Josh O'Connor – The Crown Paapa Essiedu – I May Destroy You Paul Mescal – Normal People – WINNER Shaun Parkes – Small Axe Waleed Zuaiter – Baghdad Central Billie Piper – I Hate Suzie Daisy Edgar-Jones – Normal People Hayley Squires – Adult Material Jodie Comer – Killing Eve Letitia Wright – Small Axe Michaela Coel – I May Destroy You – WINNER Life Drawing Live! Springwatch 2020 – WINNER The Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance The Third Day: Autumn Charlie Cooper – This Country – WINNER Guz Khan – Man Like Mobeen Joseph Gilgun – Brassic Ncuti Gatwa – Sex Education Paul Ritter – Friday Night Dinner Reece Shearsmith – Inside No.9 Adult Material I May Destroy You – WINNER Normal People Small Axe BBC News at Ten : Prime Minister Admitted to Intensive Care Channel 4 News : Deterring Democracy Newsnight : Covid Care Crisis Sky News : Inside Idlib – WINNER MasterChef: The Professionals Race Across the World The School That Tried to End Racism – WINNER The Write Offs Ghosts Inside No. 9 – WINNER Man Like Mobeen This Country CripTales Disabled Not Defeated: The Rock Band with Learning Disabilities The Main Part They Saw the Sun First – WINNER American Murder: The Family Next Door Anton Ferdinand: Football, Racism & Me Locked In: Breaking The Silence ( Storyville ) – WINNER Surviving Covid Anthony BBW ( On The Edge ) Sitting in Limbo – WINNER The Windermere Children Casualty – WINNER Coronation Street EastEnders Hollyoaks Extinction: The Facts Putin: A Russian Spy Story The Rise of the Murdoch Dynasty The Surgeon’s Cut – WINNER Bahrain Grand Prix England V France: The Final of Autumn Nations Cup England V West Indies Test Cricket – WINNER London Marathon 2020 Kunal Nayyar – Criminal: UK Malachi Kirby – Small Axe – WINNER Michael Sheen – Quiz Micheal Ward – Small Axe Rupert Everett – Adult Material Tobias Menzies – The Crown Helena Bonham Carter – The Crown Leila Farzad – I Hate Suzie Rakie Ayola – Anthony – WINNER Siena Kelly – Adult Material Sophie Okonedo – Criminal: UK Weruche Opia – I May Destroy You

Bafta TV awards: Michaela Coel's 'I May Destroy You' scores string of wins

The British director also won best leading actress and drama writer