The hit dance show first broadcast on May 15 2004 and celebrated its 20th anniversary last year
Strictly Come Dancing has suffered a major blow as it missed out on a major award nomination after 20 years.
The hit dance show first broadcast on May 15 2004, and featured Tess Daly and Sir Bruce Forsyth as presenters. and the late Len Goodman, Craig Revel Horwood, Arlene Phillips, and Bruno Tonioli making up the judging panel.
Famous faces who starred in the programme's debut season two decades ago included David Dickinson, Lesley Garrett, Verona Joseph, Natasha Kaplinsky, Martin Offiah, Erin Boag, Christopher Parker, Claire Sweeney and Jason Wood.
Meanwhile, the BBC One dance contest's pro dancers at the time were Camilla Dallerup, Anton Du Beke, Paul Killick, Brendan Cole, Erin Boag, Hanna Karttunen, John Byrnes and Kylie Jones.
It was then a big year for the BBC One dance contest last year as it celebrated it's 20th anniversary and the series also made history as Chris McCausland became the first-ever blind contestant and winner.
But now, it's been revealed that Strictly hasn't been nominated for Bafta TV award in the entertainment programme category for the first time since 2005, after taking home the gong in 2016, 2017, 2020 and just last year in 2024
Strictly does, however, get a mention in the P&O Cruises' memorable moment category as 2024 winner Chris and his dance partner Dianne Buswell have been included in the category for their moving routine to Liverpool anthem, You'll Never Walk Alone, which saw Chris momentarily perform alone.
Netflix’s dark comedy series Baby Reindeer leads the way at this year’s Bafta TV awards with eight nominations. ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office, which helped focus attention on the subpostmasters who were wrongly prosecuted during the Horizon IT scandal, has six nominations and is also nominated in the P&O Cruises’ memorable moment category.
Disney+ drama Rivals, which is adapted from a novel by Dame Jilly Cooper, has six nominations and a memorable moment nod, while Apple TV+ series Slow Horses, starring Oscar winner Gary Oldman, also has six nods.
The nominations for Baby Reindeer include a leading actor nod for Scottish comedian and writer Richard Gadd, the show’s creator, as well as a supporting actress nomination for Jessica Gunning, who has already won a prestigious Screen Actors Guild (SAG) award, as well as a Emmy and Golden Globe for her role in the series.
The Netflix hit, said to be inspired by the real-life experiences of Gadd, sees his character Donny being stalked by a woman called Martha, played by Gunning, after he serves her a free cup of tea in the pub where he works.
The nominations, which are across both the TV and craft categories, also see BBC programme Life and Death in Gaza (Storyville) and FX’s limited original series Say Nothing, which streamed on Disney+, and is described as a “gripping story of murder and memory in Northern Ireland during The Troubles”, nominated in four categories.
BBC programme The Traitors has a nomination for Claudia Winkleman in the entertainment performance category and has also been nominated in the reality category, alongside Love is Blind, Dragons’ Den and The Jury: Murder Trial.
TV presenter Graham Norton is nominated in the category for The Graham Norton Show, Joe Lycett for Late Night Lycett, Romesh Ranganathan and Rob Beckett for Rob and Romesh Vs, and Stacey Solomon for BBC’s Sort Your Life Out.
Popular BBC show Gavin and Stacey, which returned on Christmas Day for a final episode, has a nomination for Ruth Jones in the female performance in a comedy category, and it is also among the shows up for the memorable moment award.
The award is voted on by the public and aims to celebrate the most impactful parts of the year’s television.
The Bafta Television Craft Awards, hosted by Stacey Dooley, will take place on Sunday April 27, with the Bafta Television Awards with P&O Cruises hosted by Alan Cumming, taking place on May 11 and broadcast on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
