Here’s what our panel said about the nominees…
 

Leading Actress
 

Glenda Jackson – Elizabeth Is Missing
 

Rylan Clark-Neal: It’s a real heartfelt piece actually, the fact that she’s suffering with dementia and she’s looking for her friend Elizabeth, and I think a lot of people at home would resonate with that character.
 

Jodie Comer – Killing Eve
 

Emily Atack: I mean, it’s a masterclass. It’s the dream role to play. She’s sexy, glamourous, she’s a psycho. You find yourself going, “Why have I got a crush on a murderous psychopath?”
 

Samantha Morton – I Am Kirsty
 

Caitlin Moran: Another characteristically hard-hitting role from Samantha Morton. In I Am Kirsty, she played a single mother struggling to pay the bills, who debates whether or not she should take up sex work in order to pay those bills.
 

Suranne Jones – Gentleman Jack
 

RCN: Then you’ve got Suranne Jones for Gentleman Jack. I mean, Gentleman Jack was a fantastic piece of telly, but I just adore Suranne Jones.

CM: Suranne Jones read huge parts of the diaries that had been missing for almost a century and you can see this information feeding into her role.
 

Leading Actor
 

Callum Turner – The Capture
 

RCN: It almost reminded me a little bit of Orwell and 1984, the Big Brother sort of concept, where CCTV plays a massive part in all of this. Big Brother is always watching you, but not everything is always as it seems.
 

Jared Harris – Chernobyl
 

CM: He turned out one of the greatest roles of this year. He’s a man who has watched a nuclear power station explode and now needs to solve the mystery slash crime of: how has it happened and how can you stop everyone in the world dying?
 

Stephen Graham – The Virtues
 

CM: When you’ve got a powerhouse actor with the kind of talent and range that Stephen Graham has got, all you want to do is see him put together with a Shane Meadows script and watch the sparks fly, and The Virtues was no exception.

EA: It’s the fifth time he’s partnered up with Shane Meadows and it’s just another masterpiece.
 

Takehiro Hira – Giri/Haji
 

CM: Takehiro Hira from Giri/Haji was only in his second ever English-speaking role and his first ever British production. After the reception that he got in this, I would imagine we’ll be seeing him on our screens a lot more.

View the full list of nominees here. 

When is the 2020 Virgin Media British Academy Television Awards on TV?

The 2020 Virgin Media BAFTAs airs on BBC One HD (CH 101/108) at 7pm on Friday 31 July. It is also available for 30 days in Apps & Games > BBC iPlayer.