Dame Maggie Smith, known for her roles in Harry Potter and Downton Abbey, has died at the age of 89, her sons have said.
The actress died in hospital, her children Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens said.
In a statement, they said: “An intensely private person, she was with friends and family at the end. She leaves two sons and five loving grandchildren who are devastated by the loss of their extraordinary mother and grandmother.
“We would like to take this opportunity to thank the wonderful staff at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital for their care and unstinting kindness during her final days.
“We thank you for all your kind messages and support and ask that you respect our privacy at this time.”
Born in Essex in 1934, Dame Maggie became an internationally recognised actress – one of the most versatile, accomplished and meticulous actresses of her generation.
Her first significant accolade came after playing the fanatical teacher in The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie in 1969, which won her a best actress Oscar and BAFTA.
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Her second Oscar came for her role in California Suite in 1978 which won her a best supporting actress trophy, as well as a Golden Globe.
Image: Maggie Smith as Violet Crawley in the Downton Abbey movie (2019). Pic: Focus Features/Kobal/Shutterstock
More recently she won a new generation of fans as Violet Crawley, the Dowager Countess of Grantham, in Downton Abbey and playing Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter movies.
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Although she was a tour de force in leading roles on the West End stage, she was equally happy – even during the years of her mega-stardom – to accept supporting roles, particularly in films.
Image: Dame Maggie played Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter films. Pic: Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc/Alamy
Image: The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie (1969). Pic: 20th Century Fox/Kobal/Shutterstock
The Downton Abbey TV series won her a series of awards – three Emmys, a Golden Globe, and four Screen Actors Guild Awards.
TV presenter Gyles Brandreth has led the tributes, describing her as “wise, witty, waspish, wonderful” and “one of a kind in every way”.
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Sir Keir Starmer posted on X that Dame Maggie was a “true national treasure whose work will be cherished for generations to come” while former prime minister Rishi Sunak described her as “an icon of the stage and screen”.
Meanwhile a message posted by BAFTA said: “Dame Maggie was a legend of British stage and screen, winning five BAFTAs as well as a BAFTA Special Award and BAFTA Fellowship during her highly acclaimed career.”
She took Maggie as her stage name because another Margaret Smith was active in the theatre. She was 18 when she first appeared on stage, in Twelfth Night.
Laurence Olivier spotted her talent, invited her to be part of his original National Theatre company and cast her as his co-star in a 1965 film adaptation of Othello.
Image: She played Mother Superior alongside Whoopi Goldberg in Sister Act (1992). Pic: Touchstone/Kobal/Shutterstock
Image: Judi Dench and Maggie Smith in A Room With A View (1986). Pic: Everett/Shutterstock
Image: She starred alongside Richard Gere in The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2015) Pic: Moviestore/Shutterstock
Some of her best-known movies included: Young Cassidy in 1966, Death On The Nile in 1979, Quartet in 1982, The Secret Garden in 1994, Tea With Mussolini in 2000, Gosford Park in 2002, and The Lady In The Van in 2016.
She married fellow actor Robert Stephens in 1967. They had two sons and divorced in 1975. The same year she married the writer Beverley Cross, who died in 1998. She was made a Dame in 1990.
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Nominations for this year’s BAFTA TV Awards have been revealed – with Baby Reindeer leading the field with eight.
Mr Bates vs The Post Office, Rivals and Slow Horses follow with six nominations each.
Image: Mr Bates vs the Post Office. Pic: ITV/Shutterstock
Baby Reindeer, which follows the life of a struggling comedian who is stalked by a woman, is shortlisted for best limited drama.
Star and creator Richard Gadd is up for the BAFTAsfor best actor and for writing, while his co-stars Jessica Gunning and Nava Mau are both in the running for the supporting actress prize.
Mr Bates vs The Post Office, based on the true story behind the Horizon scandal, is also up for best limited drama, while stars Toby Jones and Monica Dolan are nominated in the leading actor and actress categories.
David Tennant and Katherine Parkinson, two of the stars of comedy drama Rivals, based on the Jilly Cooper novel, are up for best leading actor and best supporting actress.
Up against Gadd, Jones and Tennant in the leading actor category are Gary Oldman (Slow Horses), Lennie James (Mr Loverman) and Martin Freeman (The Responder).
Anna Maxwell Martin (Until I Kill You), Billie Piper (Scoop), Lola Petticrew (Say Nothing), Marisa Abela (Industry) and Sharon D Clarke (Mr Loverman) join Dolan on the leading actress shortlist.
In the comedy performance categories, Ruth Jones is among the nominees for the long-awaited Gavin & Stacey: The Finale, but there is no nod for co-star James Corden.
Image: Gavin & Stacey: The Finale. Pic: Tom Jackson/PA
For almost half of the nominees in the performance categories – 21 of 44 – this is their first BAFTA TV Awards nomination, including for Gadd and Gunning, as well as stars including Danny Dyer (Mr Bigstuff), Lolly Adefope (The Franchise) and Nicola Coughlan (Big Mood).
Blue Lights, Sherwood, Supacell and Wolf Hall: The Mirror And The Light are all shortlisted for best drama, while Alma’s Not Normal, Brassic, G’Wed and Ludwig are in the running for best scripted comedy.
One Day and Lost Boys And Fairies complete the limited series category.
Image: Michelle Keegan and Joe Gilgun in Brassic. Pic: Sky UK
The BAFTA TV Awards also celebrate the best TV moment of the year, with nominees this year including scenes from Gavin & Stacey: The Finale, Bridgerton, Mr Bates Vs The Post Office, Rivals, Strictly Come Dancing and The Traitors.
More than 130 programmes have received nominations in total.
BAFTA chief executive Jane Millichip said 2024 had been “a standout year”, and added: “The power of television to drive national conversation, to tap into the stories of public interest, and to inspire societal change, is second to none.”
The BAFTA TV Awards ceremony will be hosted by actor Alan Cumming on Sunday 11 May.
Scroll down for the full list of nominees for the main BAFTA TV Awards, which take place on Sunday 11 May. The BAFTA TV Craft Awards, which recognise technical work, take place separately on Sunday April 27.
CHILDREN’S: NON-SCRIPTED BooSnoo! Production Team – Visionality, Mackinnon & Saunders / Sky Kids Disability And Me (FYI Investigates) – Matt Peacock, Marshall Corwin – Fresh Start Media / Sky Kids Operation Ouch! Production Team – Maverick TV / CBBC Reu & Harper’s Wonder World – Andy Mundy-Castle, Emine Yalchin – Doc Hearts / Channel 5
CHILDREN’S: SCRIPTED CBeebies As You Like It At Shakespeare’s Globe – Production Team –BBC Studios Kids & Family / CBeebies Horrible Histories – Production Team – Lion Television / CBBC Ready Eddie Go! – James Murphy, Joseph Morpurgo, Justin Lowings – Hocus Pocus Studio / Sky Kids Tweedy & Fluff – Corrinne Averiss, Chris Randall, Martin Tapley – Second Home Studios, Stitchy Feet / Channel 5
CURRENT AFFAIRS Life And Death In Gaza (Storyville) – Natasha Cox, Lara El Gibaly, Haya Al Badarneh, Sarah Keeling, Simon Cox, Mustafa Khalili – BBC World Service, BBC Eye / BBC Two Maternity: Broken Trust (Exposure) – Laura Warner, Becky Southworth, Tom Keeling, Emma Lysaght, Lewis Albrow, Martin Kayser-Landwehr – Pulse Films / ITV1 State Of Rage – Marcel Mettelsiefen, Ahisha Ghafoor, Stephen Ellis, Ismail Hussam Banighorra, Aviya Shar-Yashuv, Mayte Carrasco – Duskwater Films / Channel 4 Ukraine’s War: The Other Side (Exposure) – Sean Langan, Leslie Knott, Matt Scholes – Sean Langan, Tiger Nest Films / ITV1
DAYTIME Clive Myrie’s Caribbean Adventure – Des Henderson, Emma Parkins, Ed Stobart, Jane Magowan, Denis Minihan – Alleycats TV / BBC Two Loose Women – Production Team –ITV Studios Daytime / ITV1 Morning Live – Production Team – BBC Studios / BBC One Richard Osman’s House Of Games – Tamara Gilder, Breid McLoone, John Smith, Anna Blakemore, Abby Brakewell, Tom Banks – Remarkable TV / BBC Two
DRAMA SERIES Blue Lights – Stephen Wright, Louise Gallagher, Declan Lawn, Adam Patterson, Jack Casey, Amanda Black – Two Cities Television, Gallagher Films / BBC One Sherwood – James Graham, Clio Barnard, Juliette Howell, Tessa Ross, Harriet Spencer, Kate Ogborn – House Productions / BBC One Supacell – Rapman, Mouktar Mohammed, Steve Searle, Joanna Crow – Netflix, New Wave Agency, It’s A Rap / Netflix Wolf Hall: The Mirror And The Light – Peter Kosminsky, Noëlette Buckley, Susanne Simpson, Peter Straughan, Lisa Osborne, Colin Callender – Playground Entertainment, Company Pictures / BBC One
ENTERTAINMENT The 1% Club – Dean Nabarro, Andy Auerbach, Richard van’t Riet, Clare Barton, Hennie Clough – Magnum Media / ITV1 Michael McIntyre’s Big Show – Production Team – Hungry McBear / BBC One Taskmaster – Andy Devonshire, Andy Cartwright, James Taylor, Alex Horne, Jon Thoday – Avalon UK / Channel 4 Would I Lie To You? – Peter Holmes, Rachel Ablett, Barbara Wiltshire, Jake Graham, Zoe Waterman, Charlotte Bracey-Curant – Zeppotron / BBC One
Image: Claudia Winkleman hosts The Traitors. Pic: BBC/David Emery
ENTERTAINMENT PERFORMANCE Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly – Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway – Lifted Entertainment, Mitre Studios / ITV1 Claudia Winkleman – The Traitors – Studio Lambert / BBC One Graham Norton – The Graham Norton Show – So Television / BBC One Joe Lycett – Late Night Lycett – Rumpus Media, My Options Were Limited / Channel 4 Romesh Ranganathan and Rob Beckett – Rob & Romesh Vs – CPL Productions / Sky Max Stacey Solomon – Sort Your Life Out – Optomen / BBC One
FACTUAL ENTERTAINMENT In Vogue: The 90s – Liesel Evans, Jonathan Smith, Hugo MacGregor, Vikki Miller, Charlotte Permutt, Matthew Hill – RAW, Vogue Studios / Disney+ Race Across The World – Production Team – Studio Lambert / BBC One Rob And Rylan’s Grand Tour – Rob Rinder, Rylan Clark, Lana Salah, Simon Draper, Gwyn Jones, Joseph Fell – Rex, Zinc Media / BBC Two Sort Your Life Out – Production Team –Optomen / BBC One
FACTUAL SERIES American Nightmare – Bernadette Higgins, Fiona Stourton, Rebecca North, Alasdair Bayne, Anton Short, Felicity Morris – RAW / Netflix Freddie Flintoff’s Field Of Dreams On Tour – Andrew MacKenzie-Betty, Naomi Templeton, Annie Hughes, Anna Strickland, Peter Benn, Drew Hill – South Shore Productions / BBC One The Push: Murder On The Cliff – Anna Hall, Josephine Besbrode, Luke Rothery, Tom Whitaker, Kate Reid, Josh Carpenter – Candour Productions / Channel 4 To Catch A Copper – Hugo Pettitt, Ashley Francis-Roy, Bruce Fletcher, Peter Beard, Colette Hodges, Martin Thompson – Story Films / Channel 4
Image: Alison Steadman as Pam, Ruth Jones as Nessa, and Joanna Page as Stacey in Gavin & Stacey: The Finale. Pic: Toffee International Ltd/Tom Jackson/PA
FEMALE PERFORMANCE IN A COMEDY Anjana Vasan – We Are Lady Parts – Working Title Television / Channel 4 Kate O’Flynn – Everyone Else Burns – Jax Media, Imagine Entertainment, Universal International Studios / Channel Lolly Adefope – The Franchise – Neal Street Productions, Dundee Productions, HBO / Sky Comedy Nicola Coughlan – Big Mood – Dancing Ledge Productions / Channel 4 Ruth Jones – Gavin & Stacey: The Finale – Fulwell Entertainment, Tidy Productions, Baby Cow Productions / BBC One Sophie Willan – Alma’s Not Normal – Expectation / BBC Two
INTERNATIONAL After The Party – Helen Bowden, Dianne Taylor, Robyn Malcolm, Peter Salmon, Liz DiFiore, Jason Stephens – Lingo Pictures, Luminous Beast / Channel 4 Colin From Accounts – Production Team – CBS Studios, Easy Tiger Productions / BBC Two Say Nothing – Nina Jacobson, Brad Simpson, Joshua Zetumer, Patrick Keefe, Monica Levinson, Michael Lennox – FX Productions, Color Force / Disney+ Shogun – Justin Marks, Rachel Kondo, Michaela Clavell, Jonathan van Tulleken, Eriko Miyagawa, Hiroyuki Sanada – FX Productions / Disney+ True Detective: Night Country – Production Team – Peligrosa, Neon Black, Anonymous Content, Parliament of Owls, Passenger, HBO / Sky Atlantic You Are Not Alone: Fighting The Wolfpack – Almudena Carracedo, Robert Bahar, Katie Bryer, Samuel R. Santana – Lucernam Films / Netflix
LEADING ACTOR David Tennant – Rivals– Happy Prince, ITV Studios / Disney+ Gary Oldman – Slow Horses – See-Saw Films / Apple TV+ Lennie James – Mr Loverman –Fable Pictures / BBC One Martin Freeman – The Responder– Dancing Ledge Productions / BBC One Richard Gadd – Baby Reindeer –Clerkenwell Films / Netflix Toby Jones – Mr Bates vs The Post Office – ITV Studios, Little Gem / ITV1
Image: Billie Piper as Newsnight producer Sam McAlister in Scoop. Pic: Netflix/PA
LEADING ACTRESS Anna Maxwell Martin – Until I Kill You – World Productions/ ITV1 Billie Piper – Scoop – The Lighthouse Film and Television, Voltage TV / Netflix Lola Petticrew – Say Nothing – FX Productions, Color Force / Disney+ Marisa Abela – Industry – Bad Wolf, HBO / BBC One Monica Dolan – Mr Bates vs The Post Office – ITV Studios, Little Gem / ITV1 Sharon D Clarke – Mr Loverman – Fable Pictures / BBC One
LIMITED DRAMA Baby Reindeer – Richard Gadd, Weronika Tofilska, Petra Fried, Matt Jarvis, Ed Macdonald, Matthew Mulot – Clerkenwell Films / Netflix Lost Boys And Fairies – Rebekah Wray-Rogers, Jessica Brown Meek, Libby Durdy, Daf James, James Kent, Adam Knopf – Duck Soup Films / BBC One Mr Bates vs The Post Office – Patrick Spence, James Strong, Gwyneth Hughes, Chris Clough, Natasha Bondy, Joe Williams – ITV Studios, Little Gem / ITV1 One Day – Nicole Taylor, Molly Manners, Roanna Benn, Jude Liknaitzky, David Nicholls, Nige Watson – Drama Republic, Universal International Studios, Focus Features / Netflix
LIVE EVENT COVERAGE D-Day 80: Tribute To The Fallen – Production Team –BBC Studios / BBC One Glastonbury 2024 – Production Team –BBC Studios Music Productions / BBC Two Last Night Of The Proms – Production Team –Livewire Pictures / BBC Two
MALE PERFORMANCE IN A COMEDY Bilal Hasna – Extraordinary – Sid Gentle Films / Disney+ Danny Dyer – Mr Bigstuff – Sky Studios, Water & Power Productions / Sky Comedy Dylan Thomas-Smith – G’Wed – Golden Path Productions / ITV2 Nabhaan Rizwan – Kaos – SISTER / Netflix Oliver Savell – Changing Ends – Baby Cow Productions / ITV1 Phil Dunning – Smoggie Queens – Hat Trick Productions / BBC Three
NEWS COVERAGE BBC Breakfast: Post Office Special – Production Team – BBC News / BBC One Channel 4 News: Inside Sednaya – The Fall Of Assad – Production Team – Channel 4 News / Channel 4 Channel 4 News: Undercover Inside Reform’s Campaign – Production Team – Channel 4 News / Channel 4
REALITY Dragon’s Den – Production Team –BBC Studios Factual Entertainment Productions / BBC One The Jury: Murder Trial – Production Team – ScreenDog Productions / Channel 4 Love Is Blind UK – Production Team –CPL Productions / Netflix The Traitors – Production Team – Studio Lambert / BBC One
Image: Michelle Keegan and Joe Gilgun in Brassic. Pic: Sky UK
SCRIPTED COMEDY Alma’s Not Normal – Sophie Willan, Andrew Chaplin, Gill Isles, Nerys Evans – Expectation / BBC Two Brassic – David Livingstone, Danny Brocklehurst, Ben Gregor, Joseph Gilgun, Jim Poyser – Calamity Films / Sky Max G’Wed Danny Kenny, Mario Stylianides, Akaash Meeda, Penny Davies – Golden Path Productions / ITV2 Ludwig – Mark Brotherhood, Robert McKillop, David Mitchell, Kenton Allen, Kathryn O’Connor, Georgie Fallon – Big Talk Studios, That Mitchell & Webb Company / BBC One
SHORT FORM Brown Brit – Jay Stephen, Ralph Briscoe – The Romantix / Channel 4 Peaked – John Addis, Ada Player, Bron Waugh –Boffola Pictures / Channel 4 Quiet Life – Production Team – Open Mike Productions / BBC Three Spud – Siobhán McSweeney, Pippa Brown, Leah Draws – Lookout Point TV / BBC Three
SINGLE DOCUMENTARY Hell Jumper – Paddy Wivell, Adriana Timco, Colin Barr, Rupert Houseman, Jane Nicholson, Clancie John-Pierre – Expectation/ BBC Two Tell Them You Love Me – Production Team – Mindhouse Productions / Sky Documentaries Ukraine: Enemy In The Woods – Jamie Roberts, Kate Spankie, Jonathan Smith, Claire Walker, Stanislav Strilets – Hoyo Films / BBC Two Undercover: Exposing The Far Right – Production Team – Marking Inc, Tigerlily Productions / Channel 4
SOAP Casualty – Production Team – BBC Studios / BBC One Coronation Street – Production Team – ITV Studios / ITV1 EastEnders – Production Team – BBC Studios / BBC On
SPECIALIST FACTUAL Atomic People – Benedict Sanderson, Megumi Inman, Morgan Matthews, Otto Burnham – Minnow Films / BBC Two Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story – Production Team – Silverback Films / National Geographic Children Of The Cult – Maroesja Perizonius, Alice McShane, Victoria Hollingsworth, David Modell, Ella Newton, Ben Ferguson – DM Productions / ITV1 Miners’ Strike 1984: The Battle For Britain –Tom Barrow, Christian Collerton, Zora Kuettner, Neil Crombie, Joe Evans, Miriam Walsh – Swan Films / Channel 4
SPORTS COVERAGE Euro 2024 – Production Team – BBC Sport / BBC One Paris 2024 Olympics – Production Team – BBC Sport / BBC One Wimbledon 2024 – Production Team – BBC Sport, Wimbledon Broadcast Services / BBC One
SUPPORTING ACTOR Ariyon Bakare – Mr Loverman – Fable Pictures / BBC One Christopher Chung – Slow Horses – See-Saw Films / Apple TV+ Damian Lewis – Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light – Playground Entertainment, Company Pictures / BBC One Jonathan Pryce – Slow Horses – See-Saw Films / Apple TV+ McKinley Belcher III – Eric –SISTER, Little Chick / Netflix Sonny Walker – The Gathering – World Productions / Channel 4
Image: Richard Gadd and Jessica Gunning in Baby Reindeer. Pic Netflix
SUPPORTING ACTRESS Jessica Gunning – Baby Reindeer – Clerkenwell Films / Netflix Katherine Parkinson – Rivals – Happy Prince, ITV Studios / Disney+ Maxine Peake – Say Nothing – FX Productions, Color Force / Disney+ Monica Dolan – Sherwood – House Productions / BBC One Nava Mau – Baby Reindeer – Clerkenwell Films / Netflix Sue Johnston – Truelove – Clerkenwell Films / Channel 4
MEMORABLE MOMENT AWARD (voted for by the public) Bridgerton – “THE” carriage scene where Colin admits his true feelings for Penelope – Shondaland / Netflix Gavin & Stacey: The Finale – Smithy’s Wedding: Mick Stands Up – Fulwell Entertainment, Tidy Productions, Baby Cow Productions / BBC One Mr Bates vs The Post Office – Jo Hamilton phones the Horizon helpline – ITV Studios, Little Gem / ITV1 Rivals – Rupert Campbell-Black and Sarah Stratton are caught in a game of naked tennis – Happy Prince, ITV Studios / Disney+ Strictly Come Dancing – Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell Waltz to ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ – BBC Studios / BBC One Traitors – “Paul isn’t my son… but Ross is!” – Studio Lambert / BBC One
Ticketmaster may have misled music fans over Oasis concert ticket prices, a competition watchdog investigation has found.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has urged the online platform to change the way it labels its tickets and provide better pricing information to fans.
The CMA has been investigating the site following widespread complaints about the sale of Oasis gig tickets last year, which saw over 900,000 tickets purchased through the site.
Image: Over 900,000 tickets were purchased through the Ticketmaster site
Liam and Noel Gallagher announced the band would reunite for a tour in 2025, but fans suffered various problems when trying to get tickets, including some ending up paying as much as £355 for tickets originally advertised for £148 on Ticketmaster.
The controversy prompted the CMA to look at how ‘dynamic pricing’ – a form of surge pricing – may have been used, and whether the sale by Ticketmaster may have breached consumer protection law.
While the investigation is still ongoing, the CMA said it is “concerned” Ticketmaster may have breached consumer protection law.
It said the company labelled certain seated tickets as “platinum” and sold them for nearly two-and-a-half times the price of equivalent standard tickets, without explaining why they were more expensive.
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“This risked giving consumers the misleading impression that platinum tickets were better,” it said.
Image: Noel and Liam Gallagher pictured at Wembley in 2009 – the year the band broke up. Pic: PA
It also found Ticketmaster did not inform fans that there were two categories of standing tickets at different prices, and there was no evidence that it used dynamic pricing.
“Many fans were under the impression that Ticketmaster used an algorithmic pricing model during the Oasis sale, with ticket prices adjusted in real time according to changing conditions like high demand,” the watchdog said.
“The CMA has not found evidence that this was the case. Instead, Ticketmaster released a number of standing tickets at a lower price and, once they had sold out, then released the remaining standing tickets at a much higher price.”
Downing Street has said “everyone deserves a fair shot at getting tickets” for music and sport events.
Asked what message the prime minister had for fans affected by the Oasis sale, a Number 10 spokesman said: “In general terms, the chance to see your favourite musicians or sports teams live is something that all of us enjoy, and everyone deserves a fair shot at getting tickets.
“But for too long, fans have had to endure the misery of touts hoovering up tickets for resale at vastly inflated prices. We’ve also seen cases where a lack of transparency has meant customers have been caught unawares by last minute price rises for high demand events.”
The spokesman said there would be a full response to a consultation issued in due course.
At the time of the backlash, a spokesperson for Ticketmaster said: “Fans can resell their Oasis tickets at the full price they paid through Ticketmaster or Twickets.”