Highest Bafta honour for Sir Billy Connolly

Emma Baehr, executive director of awards and content at Bafta, said: “We’re honoured to be awarding Sir Billy Connolly with the 2022 Bafta Fellowship Award.

“He has made a remarkable contribution to our industry from his first appearance on Parkinson in 1975, through to becoming a national treasure on stage and screen, adored by fans around the world.

“Bafta is looking forward to celebrating this award with Sir Billy in due course and thanking him again for his phenomenal career in television.”

Receiving the fellowship this year means Sir Billy is being recognised by Bafta for the third successive decade, the organisation said.

His most recent projects include TV shows such as 2018’s Billy Connolly: Made In Scotland, Billy Connolly’s Great American Trail in 2019 and Gold’s Billy Connolly Does… which aired this year.

Last year he released an autobiography titled Windswept & Interesting.

Channel Four series It’s A Sin, written and created by Queer As Folk and Doctor Who screenwriter Russell T Davies, leads the Bafta television award nominations this year with 11 across the craft and television awards categories.

The Virgin Media Bafta TV Awards will be hosted by Richard Ayoade on 8 May on BBC One from 18:00.