Joan Bakewell hails female solidarity and values of Me Too movement
The broadcaster is to be awarded the Bafta Television Fellowship at this year’s ceremony in May.
Baroness Joan Bakewell has said she thinks the late pioneering producer Verity Lambert would have supported the Me Too movement.
Baroness Bakewell said that Lambert – the BBC’s first female drama producer and the first producer of Doctor Who – and others who flew the flag for women in broadcasting in the 1960s, shared the same values as the widespread “act of solidarity”.
The broadcaster, who will be honoured with the Bafta Television Fellowship at the Bafta TV awards in May, also said it was “heartwarming” to receive the accolade in a year “when it seems a great many women are being nominated”.
Baroness Bakewell, 86, told Press Association: “In the Sixties I saw people like Verity Lambert coming through as executive producers and they would certainly have signed up to Me Too… because they shared the values.
“It’s an act of solidarity but we haven’t seen the reckoning yet – we still await the reckoning with all the people that have been named and shamed.”
Also being honoured at the Bafta ceremony is producer Nicola Shindler, who receives the Bafta television special award and script supervisor Emma Thomas who is being honoured with a Bafta television craft special award.
Shindler’s credits include shows like Queer As Folk, Last Tango in Halifax and Harlan Coben’s Safe, while Thomas has worked on Birds of a Feather, Benidorm, Luther and The Bill.
The Labour Peer, who has fronted factual programmes including Late Night Line-Up and Heart Of The Matter, also hailed the current state of British television.
She said: “I think the creative community is flourishing, there’s no doubt about it.
“The creative community, across the board really, but the British talent is fantastic, (it is) being given opportunities not just by the BBC, but of course ITV, Netflix and Amazon. All the big players now are interested in British talent so that’s really encouraging and the output is, not surprisingly, extremely good.”
Graham Norton will host this year’s Bafta TV awards ceremony, broadcast on BBC One.
The Virgin Media British Academy Television Awards will be held at the Royal Festival Hall on May 12.
