More than five million see Baftas

The excitement surrounding The King’s Speech helped pull in the largest TV audience for the Baftas in seven years, according to figures.
By The Newsroom
Published 15th Feb 2011, 11:03 BST

Sunday night’s ceremony, which saw the movie about stuttering monarch King George VI’s battle to control his stutter sweep the board, drew an average of 5.3 million viewers – the biggest for the film awards since 2004.

A 22.3 per cent share of the audience saw The King’s Speech win a succession of prizes, including acting gongs for its stars Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter and Geoffrey Rush, on BBC1.

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A BBC spokesman said the show was watched by a peak of 5.8 million, adding: “We are delighted that so many viewers tuned into a fantastic night of film on BBC1.”

In 2004, The Return Of The King, the final instalment in the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, was the big winner, taking several awards including best film – scooped this year by The King’s Speech.

There was a hitch in Sunday’s ceremony when actress Rosamund Pike appeared flustered as she presented an award for best original screenplay. The BBC spokesman blamed the hiccup on last-minute changes to the script.