Richard Madden and Jodie Whittaker snubbed in TV Bafta nominations

Doctor Who actress Jodie Whittaker and Bodyguard star Richard Madden have been snubbed for this year’s TV Baftas.

Whittaker made her debut as the first female Doctor last year, attracting a record audience for her first episode.

Madden thrilled viewers in his role as the Home Secretary’s police protection officer in Jed Mercurio’s TV drama Bodyguard and has since been tipped as the next James Bond.

The Bodyguard finale, on BBC One, was the most-watched episode of any drama since records began.

But the British star has not made the cut for best actor, while Keeley Hawes, whose politician alter-ego was assassinated halfway through the series, is up for best actress.

Instead, the best actor category sees Hugh Grant nominated for his first TV Bafta for A Very English Scandal, the BBC One drama about the downfall of politician Jeremy Thorpe.

Fellow Hollywood star Benedict Cumberbatch is also up for the award for Sky Atlantic drama Patrick Melrose, while Chance Perdomo (Killed By My Debt) and Lucian Msamati (Kiri) are also on the list.

Whittaker is not on the list for best actress despite making TV history as the first female Time Lord.

The nominees are Killing Eve stars Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer, Hawes for Bodyguard and Ruth Wilson for Mrs Wilson.

Doctor Who’s single nomination is for Must-See Moment, a separate category and the only one to be voted for by viewers, for the civil rights-themed episode, featuring Rosa Parks.

Netflix, the streaming service with deep pockets, does not get much of a look-in.

Charlie Brooker’s interactive Black Mirror episode Bandersnatch is up for single drama and has technical nominations for the likes of editing (fiction), and special, visual and graphic effects.

Fellow Netflix show, makeover programme Queer Eye, is in the running for Must-See Moment.

Last year the streaming giant won a major Bafta, for Vanessa Kirby’s performance as Princess Margaret in The Crown.

Vanity Fair, the lavish ITV drama which turned into an expensive flop, has one technical nomination – make-up and hair design.

I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here!, in which Holly Willoughby filled in for Ant McPartlin, is in the running for reality and constructed factual.

But she does not get a separate nomination for entertainment performance, while Ant and Dec do for Saturday Night Takeaway.

Bafta chairwoman Dame Pippa Harris told the Press Association it was “difficult with the performance categories because you can only have four nominees”.

And she said of leading actor: “When you look at those four performances, it’s very difficult to say ‘Well, which one you would pull out in order to put Richard Madden in there?’”

She praised Cumberbatch for his “extraordinary performance, and Grant for “one of the very best performances of the year”.

Msamati was “magnetic on screen” and Perdomo delivered a “heartbreaking performance,” she said.