Kate Beckinsale criticises BAFTA over memorial segment
Kate Beckinsale has criticised BAFTA for apparently telling her they "could not guarantee" that her late stepfather would be included in the show's In Memoriam segment.
Director Roy Battersby, a prolific TV director who helmed episodes of Inspector Morse, Cracker and A Touch of Frost, passed away earlier this month, aged 87. Beckinsale paid tribute at the time, saying on Instagram: "Oh Roy I am so sorry I lost."
Taking to Instagram yesterday (January 18) – the same day the 2024 BAFTA Film Awards nominations were announced – the Aviator and Underworld star, most recently seen in last year's Fool's Paradise, shared a photo of herself alongside Battersby and her mother Judy Loe as he received the BAFTA Alan Clarke Award in 1996.
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After listing many of his achievements, Beckinsale wrote: "Today BAFTA told me they ‘could not guarantee’ he would be included in their 'in memoriam' tribute, to honour the industry members we have lost.
"So a man dead less than a week somehow has to audition in front of a committee after a decades long career (in which he has been awarded from said organisation the highest accolade they have) to decide IF his death is worth mentioning.
"If his work, his life, his craft, his mentoring, his heart and soul are worthy of a mention that he is gone. That has broken my heart all over again. I am paralysed, sick and sickened and I will honour him and his work every day of my life."
Beckinsale also said that her mother "has been gracefully and quietly dealing with stage four cancer for the past six years and just lost her husband", adding: "So thanks again, BAFTA for your horribly cold email."
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The actress also shared a screenshot of the apparent email in her Instagram Stories, which read (via People): "All names we gather during the course of the year are brought before BAFTA's Obituaries Committee, which meets to compile the Awards In Memoriam segment – Film, Television or Television Craft – but we are never able to make any guarantees of inclusion.
"Roy's BAFTA win falls within Television and as these Awards take place in May, the In Memoriam will be discussed in spring. All good wishes."
BAFTA has since responded in a statement to Digital Spy, saying: "We were very sorry to hear of Roy Battersby’s recent passing – he was a renowned and trailblazing director. Roy Battersby was awarded the Alan Clarke Award in 1996, a BAFTA Special Television Award.
"We confirm he will be honoured in our forthcoming BAFTA Television Awards in May, and on the In Memoriam Section on our website."
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