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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
HAVE HEART Will Anderson
MAMOON Ben Steer
WINNER: DOCUMENTARY
I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO, Raoul Peck
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
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
LOVING VINCENT
MY LIFE AS A COURGETTE
WINNER: Costume Design
PHANTOM THREAD, Mark Bridges
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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 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