It’s official: everyone’s favourite Doctor Who and Rivals villain David Tennant will be hosting the BAFTAs 2025 for the second year running.
Luckily, the 53-year-old is looking forward to the honour, having enjoyed his time on stage hosting the glitzy evening last year which was watched by over 3.8million viewers at home. No pressure.
In 2025 he will be taking to the stage once again with a microphone and an opening speech on February 16 at the Royal Festival Hall.
While he may seem cool, calm and collected, the Broadchurch actor is slightly worried about ‘breaking’ the whole thing.
But luckily for David – unlike career presenters – if he does, it won’t affect his work as an actor.
‘I definitely have the advantage of this not being my day job,’ he told Metro ahead of the announcement.
‘It’s a lovely thing to be asked to do. It’s a huge privilege and it’s very giddy-making.
‘But I’ve sort of got a bit of a free pass because nobody expects me to be any good at it.’
Let’s face it, he will smash it.
‘I hope it will just be as fun as it was before,’ David said. ‘I mean, I quite enjoyed myself. It was a slightly mad thing to be asked to do and not something I ever aspired to or imagined would come my way.’
When questioned on who would do an even better job than him, David remained modest.
‘Pretty much anyone else,’ he joked. ‘You could start at A, and we could work through the entire alphabet.’
It turns out even the 13th most popular UK celebrity (behind Bruce Willisand above Michael Caine) is starstruck by a room full of famous folk.
‘When you’re standing looking out at all the most famous people in the world you just think: how did I end up doing this? So I think I just want to not break it again,’ he said.
Hosting the event is a real honour, with huge names having stood in his position before including Stephen Fry, Joanna Lumley, Graham Norton, and Richard E Grant.
In the UK the ceremony will be broadcast on BBC One and BBC iPlayer, Britbox in the US and Australia, with other international streams yet to be announced.
Jane Millichip, CEO at Bafta, said: ‘We couldn’t be happier that David Tennant is returning to host the EE Bafta Film Awards in 2025. He is an absolute pleasure to work with, and his performance this year was simply outstanding – warm, witty, whip-smart, and with a delightful touch of mischief.’
There will be 25 competitive categories decided by Bafta members, with round one of voting having opened on December 6.
Longlists will be announced on January 3 2025, followed by nominations on January 15.
Only one category – the EE Rising Star Award – is voted for by the public, and changes this year include the introduction of a children’s and family film category.
Bafta has also raised the minimum number of theatrical screenings to ensure British cinema audiences have ample opportunity to see the best film contenders.
This big announcement for David comes as it was confirmed the Disney+ bonkbuster adaptation of Dame Jilly Cooper’s book, Rivals, will be returning for another season.
David’s character Tony Baddingham was left sprawled on the floor in his office after being clopped over the head via a TV award (fitting) by Nafessa Williams’ character Cameron Cook.
Let’s hope the series baddie Tony will return, and if the TV series is staying true to the book it looks like we’re in luck…
The Bafta Film Awards will air on February 16, 2025 on BBC One.
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