Kate Winslet wins Bafta Television Award for role opposite daughter Mia Threapleton

LONDON – British actors Kate Winslet and Ben Whishaw were among the winners at the Bafta Television Awards in London on Sunday night, with the actress calling for action against harmful content on social media in her acceptance speech.

Winslet, 47, played the mother of a teenager consumed by social media in I Am Ruth, a miniseries in which she starred alongside her daughter, Mia Threapleton.

Threapleton, 22, played Winslet’s daughter in the show, which also won the Best Single Drama award during the ceremony at London’s Royal Festival Hall.

“I Am Ruth was made... for families who feel that they are held hostage by the perils of the online world, for parents who wish they could still communicate with their teenagers, but who no longer can,” said Winslet, who starred in the blockbuster hit Titanic (1997).

“And for young people who have become addicted to social media and its darker sides: This does not need to be your life. To people in power and to people who can make change: please, criminalise harmful content. Please eradicate harmful content. We don’t want it. We want our children back,” added the star, who won the Best Actress Oscar for romantic drama The Reader (2008).

She also mentioned her daughter in her speech, saying: “If I could break it in half, I would give the other half to my daughter... we did this together, kiddo.”

Threapleton’s father is British film director Jim Threapleton, Winslet’s first husband from 1998 to 2001.

Whishaw, 42, won for his portrayal of a doctor working in an obstetrics ward at a London hospital in medical comedy-drama This Is Going To Hurt, which is based on former doctor Adam Kay’s memoir.

The Apple TV+ series Bad Sisters, which is set in Dublin, won Best Drama Series as well as Best Supporting Actress for Anne-Marie Duff. Best Supporting Actor went to Adeel Akhtar for crime drama Sherwood.

The final season of teen sitcom Derry Girls won for Scripted Comedy, while the true crime Netflix series Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, created by Ryan Murphy of Glee (2009 to 2015), was named Best International Programme.

BBC One’s coverage of the Party At The Palace celebrations marking Queen Elizabeth II’s 70 years on the throne last June won the Live Event section.

A sketch showing the late monarch having tea with Paddington Bear, voiced by Whishaw, won the Memorable Moment award, as voted for by the public. REUTERS