Joanna Lumley leaves BAFTAs audience in hysterics

This year Stephen Fry announced he was stepping down after hosting the BAFTAs for 12 years, from 2001 to 2006 and again from 2012 to 2017. 

Joanna Lumley, 71, took over hosting duties from Stephen Fry on Sunday night, stepping into his shoes as presenter for the BAFTAs 2018.

And the Absolutely Fabulous star’s appearance went down a storm, with her opening skit leaving the audience in hysterics and viewers taking to Twitter to praise her performance. 

 

National treasure: Joanna Lumley, 71, took over hosting duties from Stephen Fry on Sunday night, stepping into his shoes as presenter for the BAFTAs 2018

Joanna Lumley immediately had the audience eating from the palm of her hand as she took part in a pre-show skit, leaving the celeb-packed audience in hysterics.

In the routine, Lumley was seen in her living room, making calls to people to tell them she was going to be hosting this year’s awards.

As she chatted on the phone, she was inter-cut with snippets from a variety of the nominated movies, featuring scenes with seemingly angry actors on the phone.

The likes of Hugh Grant, Timothée Chalamet, Woody Harrelson and Gary Oldman appeared in clips from their various films [Paddington 2, Call Me By Your Name, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and Darkest Hour respectively]. 

A natural! The Absolutely Fabulous star's appearance went down a storm, with her opening skit leaving the audience in hysterics and viewers taking to Twitter to praise her performance

A natural! The Absolutely Fabulous star’s appearance went down a storm, with her opening skit leaving the audience in hysterics and viewers taking to Twitter to praise her performance

One snippet saw Joanna call who she thought was Woody, asking him to join her at the BAFTAs. 

But to her shock she was greeted by him, seemingly calling her an ‘a**hole’ and telling her he was in the middle of a film- a snippet from his film. 

The clip evoked much laughter from the audience, before viewers flocked to Twitter to praise her performance. 

‘Joanna Lumley smashed it tonight; class, humour, humility. Long reign lumley hosting the #BAFTAs’, one viewer wrote.

Lady of the evening: 'Here we go,' Lumley said before stepping onto the stage to rapturous applause

Lady of the evening: ‘Here we go,’ Lumley said before stepping onto the stage to rapturous applause

Joanna Lumley immediately had the audience eating from the palm of her hand as she took part in a pre-show skit, leaving the celeb-packed audience in hysterics 

Joanna Lumley immediately had the audience eating from the palm of her hand as she took part in a pre-show skit, leaving the celeb-packed audience in hysterics 

The winners of the EE British Academy Film Awards 2018

WINNER: BEST FILM

THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI, Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin, Martin McDonagh 

Winner: Best Film: (L to R) Peter Czernin, Martin McDonagh and Graham Broadbent,  for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Winner: Best Film: (L to R) Peter Czernin, Martin McDonagh and Graham Broadbent, for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

CALL ME YOUR NAME

DARKEST HOUR

DUNKIRK

THE SHAPE OF WATER   

WINNER: OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM 

THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Martin McDonagh, Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin 

Winner: Outstanding British Film: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Winner: Outstanding British Film: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

DARKEST HOUR Joe Wright, Tim Bevan, Lisa Bruce, Eric Fellner, Anthony McCarten, Douglas Urbanski

THE DEATH OF STALIN Armando Iannucci, Kevin Loader, Laurent Zeitoun, Yann Zenou, Ian Martin, David Schneider

GOD’S OWN COUNTRY Francis Lee, Manon Ardisson, Jack Tarling

LADY MACBETH William Oldroyd, Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly, Alice Birch

PADDINGTON 2 Paul King, David Heyman, Simon Farnaby  

WINNER: LEADING ACTRESS 

Frances McDormand, THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI

Winner: Leading Actress: Frances McDormand (right) came top

ANNETTE BENING Film Stars Don’t Die In Liverpool 

MARGOT ROBBIE I, Tonya

SALLY HAWKINS The Shape Of Water

SAOIRSE RONAN Lady Bird  

WINNER: LEADING ACTOR:

Gary Oldman, DARKEST HOUR

Winner: Leading Actor: Gary Oldman picked up a gong 

Winner: Leading Actor: Gary Oldman picked up a gong 

DANIEL DAY-LEWIS Daniel Day-Lewis Phantom Thread

DANIEL KALUUYA Get Out 

JAMIE BELL Film Stars Don’t Die In Liverpool

TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET Call Me By Your Name

WINNER: SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS

BLADE RUNNER 2049 Gerd Nefzer, John Nelson

Winner: Special Visual Effects went to Blade Runner 2049

Winner: Special Visual Effects went to Blade Runner 2049

DUNKIRK Scott Fisher, Andrew Jackson

THE SHAPE OF WATER Dennis Berardi, Trey Harrell, Kevin Scott

STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI Nominees TBC

WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES Nominees TBC

WINNER: OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER

I AM NOT A WITCH 

Winner: Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer - I Am Not A Witch

Winner: Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer – I Am Not A Witch

THE GHOUL

JAWBONE

KINGDOM OF US

LADY MACBETH

 WINNER: PRODUCTION DESIGN 

THE SHAPE OF WATER, Paul Austerberry, Jeff Melvin, Shane Vieau

Winner: Production Design - The Shape Of Water

Winner: Production Design – The Shape Of Water

 BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer

BLADE RUNNER 2049 Dennis Gassner, Alessandra Querzola

DARKEST HOUR Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer

DUNKIRK Nathan Crowley, Gary Fettis  

WINNER: ADAPTED SCREENPLAY 

CALL ME BY YOUR NAME, James Ivory  

Winner: Adapted Screenplay, Call Me By Your Name, James Ivory

Winner: Adapted Screenplay, Call Me By Your Name, James Ivory

THE DEATH OF STALIN Armando Iannucci, Ian Martin, David Schneider

FILM STARS DON’T DIE IN LIVERPOOL Matt Greenhalgh

MOLLY’S GAME Aaron Sorkin

PADDINGTON 2 Simon Farnaby, Paul King 

WINNER: FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

THE HANDMAIDEN, Park Chan-wook, Syd Lim 

Winner: Film Not In The English Language: The Handmaiden - Park Chan-wook, Syd Lim

Winner: Film Not In The English Language: The Handmaiden – Park Chan-wook, Syd Lim

ELLE

FIRST THEY KILLED MY FATHER

THE SALESMAN

LOVELESS

WINNER: BRITISH SHORT FILM

COWBOY DAVE, Colin O’Toole, Jonas Mortensen

Winner: British Short Film - Cowboy Dave, Colin O’Toole, Jonas Mortensen

Winner: British Short Film – Cowboy Dave, Colin O’Toole, Jonas Mortensen

AAMIR Vika Evdokimenko, Emma Stone, Oliver Shuster 

A DROWNING MAN Mahdi Fleifel, Signe Byrge Sørensen, Patrick Campbell

WORK Aneil Karia, Scott O’Donnell

WREN BOYS Harry Lighton, Sorcha Bacon, John Fitzpatrick

WINNER: BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION 

POLES APART, Paloma Baeza, Ser En Low 

Winner: British Short Animation: Poles Apart 

Winner: British Short Animation: Poles Apart 

HAVE HEART Will Anderson

MAMOON Ben Steer  

WINNER: DOCUMENTARY 

I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO, Raoul Peck 

Winner: Documentary: I Am Not Your Negro

Winner: Documentary: I Am Not Your Negro

CITY OF GHOSTS 

ICARUS

AN INCONVENIENT SEQUEL

JANE

WINNER: EDITING 

BABY DRIVER, Jonathan Amos, Paul Machliss 

Winner: Editing - Baby Driver, Jonathan Amos, (pictured) and Paul Machliss

Winner: Editing – Baby Driver, Jonathan Amos, (pictured) and Paul Machliss

BLADE RUNNER 2049 Joe Walker

DUNKIRK Lee Smith

THE SHAPE OF WATER Sidney Wolinsky

THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Jon Gregory

WINNER: ANIMATED FILM 

COCO, Lee Unkrich, Darla K. Anderson 

Winner: Animated Film: Coco

Winner: Animated Film: Coco

LOVING VINCENT

MY LIFE AS A COURGETTE

WINNER: Costume Design 

PHANTOM THREAD, Mark Bridges 

Winner: Costume Design: Phantom Thread 

Winner: Costume Design: Phantom Thread 

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Jacqueline Durran

DARKEST HOUR Jacqueline Durran

I, TONYA Jennifer Johnson

THE SHAPE OF WATER Luis Sequeira 

WINNER: MAKEUP & HAIR 

DARKEST HOUR David Malinowski, Ivana Primorac, Lucy Sibbick, Kazuhiro Tsuji

Winner: MakeUp and Hair: DARKEST HOUR David Malinowski, Ivana Primorac, Lucy Sibbick, Kazuhiro Tsuji

Winner: MakeUp and Hair: DARKEST HOUR David Malinowski, Ivana Primorac, Lucy Sibbick, Kazuhiro Tsuji

BLADE RUNNER 2049 Donald Mowat, Kerry Warn 

I, TONYA Deborah La Mia Denaver, Adruitha Lee

VICTORIA & ABDUL Daniel Phillips

WONDER Naomi Bakstad, Robert A. Pandini, Arjen Tuiten

WINNER: ORIGINAL MUSIC

THE SHAPE OF WATER Alexandre Desplat  

Winner: Original Music: The Shape Of Water 

Winner: Original Music: The Shape Of Water 

BLADE RUNNER 2049 Benjamin Wallfisch, Hans Zimmer

DARKEST HOUR Dario Marianelli

DUNKIRK Hans Zimmer

PHANTOM THREAD Jonny Greenwood 

WINNER: EE RISING STAR AWARD 

DANIEL KALUUYA 

Winner: EE Rising Star Award - Daniel Kaluuya 

Winner: EE Rising Star Award – Daniel Kaluuya 

FLORENCE PUGH

JOSH O’CONNOR

TESSA THOMPSON

TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET

WINNER:  SOUND

DUNKIRK Richard King, Gregg Landaker, Gary A. Rizzo, Mark Weingarten 

Winner: Sound: Dunkirk's Richard King, Gregg Landaker, Gary A. Rizzo, Mark Weingarten

Winner: Sound: Dunkirk’s Richard King, Gregg Landaker, Gary A. Rizzo, Mark Weingarten

BABY DRIVER Tim Cavagin, Mary H. Ellis, Julian Slater

BLADE RUNNER 2049 Ron Bartlett, Doug Hemphill, Mark Mangini, Mac Ruth

THE SHAPE OF WATER Christian Cooke, Glen Gauthier, Nathan Robitaille, Brad Zoern

STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick, Stuart Wilson, Matthew Wood   

WINNER: DIRECTOR 

Guillermo del Toro, THE SHAPE OF WATER 

Winner: Director: Guillermo del Toro - The Shape Of Water 

Winner: Director: Guillermo del Toro – The Shape Of Water 

BLADE RUNNER 2049 Denis Villeneuve

CALL ME BY YOUR NAME Luca Guadagnino

DUNKIRK Christopher Nolan 

THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Martin McDonagh 

WINNER: SUPPORTING ACTRESS

ALLISON JANNEY I, Tonya

Winner: Supporting Actress: Allison Janney for I, Tanya

Winner: Supporting Actress: Allison Janney for I, Tanya

KRISTEN SCOTT THOMAS Darkest Hour

LAURIE METCALF Lady Bird

LESLEY MANVILLE Phantom Thread

OCTAVIA SPENCER The Shape Of Water

WINNER: SUPPORTING ACTOR 

SAM ROCKWELL, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Winner: Supporting Actor: Sam Rockwell for Three Billboards 

Winner: Supporting Actor: Sam Rockwell for Three Billboards 

CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER All the Money in the World

HUGH GRANT Paddington 2 

WILLEM DEFOE Florida Project

WOODY HARRELSON 3 Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri 

WINNER: CINEMATOGRAPHY 

BLADE RUNNER 2049, Roger Deakins

Winner: Cinematography: Blade Runner 2049

Winner: Cinematography: Blade Runner 2049

DARKEST HOUR Bruno Delbonnel

DUNKIRK Hoyte van Hoytema

THE SHAPE OF WATER Dan Laustsen

THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Ben Davis

WINNER: ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Martin McDonagh 

Winner: Original Screenplay - Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Winner: Original Screenplay – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

GET OUT Jordan Peele

I, TONYA Steven Rogers

LADY BIRD Greta Gerwig

THE SHAPE OF WATER Guillermo del Toro, Vanessa Taylor 

______ 

Another added: ‘Fantastic choice of Joanna Lumley to present #EEBAFTAs this year, perfect replacement for Stephen Fry he did a great job’.

And fans appeared happy with the choice of replacement for Stephen, writing: ‘Well this years #BAFTAs were great – @JoannaLumley done brilliantly @stephenfry will be proud @BAFTA’.

‘An oddly paced #BAFTAs but Joanna Lumley should 100% return next year,’ another wrote, while on fan added: ‘Absolutely loved #EEBAFTAs this evening Joanna Lumley did a fabulous job as always absolutely smashed it I knew she would. Well done sweetie darling x’.

'Joanna Lumley smashed it tonight; class, humour, humility. Long reign lumley hosting the #BAFTAs': Viewers flocked to Twitter to praise her performance

‘Joanna Lumley smashed it tonight; class, humour, humility. Long reign lumley hosting the #BAFTAs’: Viewers flocked to Twitter to praise her performance

Great chemistry! Joanna made Jennifer Lawrence blush when she called her 'one of the hottest actresses out there'

Great chemistry! Joanna made Jennifer Lawrence blush when she called her ‘one of the hottest actresses out there’

And one fan praised Joanna for not ‘stealing the limelight’, tweeting: ‘Have Joanna Lumley present the #BAFTAs hence forth! Very professional, no cringe worthy moments and no constant reference to one’s sexuality!! Let everyone else shine!’ 

Joanna Lumley launched the Baftas with a nod to the suffragettes, in an opening speech laced with her characteristic gags.

The Bafta host’s opening speech praised the ‘dogged determination’ of the suffragettes, and the ‘powerful Time’s Up movement, and with it, the determination to eradicate the abuse of women all over the world’.

She also pointed out that the ‘ravishing’ Royal Albert Hall, home to this year’s event, was ‘bursting at the seams with history’ as the very place which hosted ‘the first group of British women being given the vote’ 100 years ago. 

A performance from Cirque du Soleil followed after she opened the show with a nod to the Suffragettes 

A performance from Cirque du Soleil followed after she opened the show with a nod to the Suffragettes 

Joanna was even joined by Prince William on stage at the much anticipated awards

Joanna was even joined by Prince William on stage at the much anticipated awards

A performance from Cirque du Soleil followed afterwards, which saw backstage, applying her lipstick, looking at her reflection in the iconic bronze BAFTA statuettes that are handed out to the eventual winners.

‘Here we go,’ Lumley said before stepping onto the stage to rapturous applause.  

On being announced as the BAFTA presenter, Lumley said at the time: ‘Honestly how exciting is this? It’s just so unbelievably thrilling. I always looked at the BAFTA Awards with Stephen Fry there forever more, so who thought I’d turn into Stephen Fry? I said yes indecently quickly. Thank you, thank you, I’ll see you on the night.

Joanna Lumley, Frances McDormand and Sir Ridley posed together as he won an Academy Fellowship Award

Joanna Lumley, Frances McDormand and Sir Ridley posed together as he won an Academy Fellowship Award

Joanna was a natural in front of the cameras as she larked about with Bryan Cranston

Joanna was a natural in front of the cameras as she larked about with Bryan Cranston

And after stepping down from his coveted position, Fry said: ‘Every one of the 12 BAFTA film award ceremonies that I had the privilege of hosting has a place in my memory.

‘The mixture of glamour, glory, drama and – occasionally – embarrassment and hiccup holds a unique place in the British film calendar. 

‘Over the last two decades I have especially loved watching the emergence of new young film talent behind and in front of the camera. But after so long a time I felt it only right to stand down and let others take the Baftas on to new heights and greater glories.

‘I want to thank all the production staff, Amanda Berry and her wonderful Bafta colleagues, the BBC and all those who helped make every year so enjoyable.

‘I reserve especial gratitude and imagination for Ivor Baddiel and Phil Kerr, whose work on the scripts was so skillful it made people think I’d written every line myself.

‘What fun it will be to watch BAFTA 2018 without my heart hammering, mouth drying and knees trembling.’ 

Hugh Grant, seen with his 'pregnant' partner at the event, also appeared in the hilarious openeing skit

Hugh Grant, seen with his ‘pregnant’ partner at the event, also appeared in the hilarious openeing skit

 



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