Funny Girl will see Arterton star as Barbara Parker, a young woman from Blackpool finding her comic voice in the male dominated world on the 1960s sitcom. Charting her transformation from Blackpool beauty queen to London comedy superstar, Funny Girl will follow Barbara in the height of the swinging 60s, having just been crowned Miss Blackpool as she follows the call of London’s bright lights.
Based on the Rumer Godden classic novel, the three-part adaptation of Black Narcissus is set in the 1930s and tackles forbidden desire, sexual repression, religion and jealousy.
Wunmi Mosaku, best known for her work in the award-winning The End of the F***ing World, comes in to audition for a role, but is turned away for being black.
“Look, it’s not that kind of film darling”, the panel says as she enters the audition suite. “They’re auditioning for that other film… Black Panther Returns… That’s in the next suite.”
“It was so awkward and so painful,” recalls writer and director Jessica Swale. “It does make you feel dirty setting that scene up, knowing that it is not that far away from what [Mosaku may] have faced in real life.”
The four-part series is a co-production between BBC One and Netflix – the largest such collaboration to date – and brings together a plethora of stars for the remake of Richard Adams’ bestselling story.
Following his role as a Stormtrooper in the most recent Star Wars film, John Boyega will join A-listers James McAvoy (X-Men), Sir Ben Kingsley (Shutter Island) and Gemma Arterton (Made in Dagenham).
The event recognises actors’ efforts on stage over the last year and this year includes many faces from the small screen. Here are some of the best known names from television featured among this year's nominees.
