Gervais celebrates two Baftas

The Office has scooped two awards at the Baftas.

It was named best sitcom, while creator Ricky Gervais won the best comedy performance award.

Meanwhile, ITV's Sketch Show, featuring Lee Mack, Jim Tavare, Ronni Ancona, Tim Vine and Karen Taylor, was named best comedy.

Chris Morris's Brass Eye special on paedophilia had been nominated in this category, but judges managed to skirt controversy, by not giving it to the newcomers.

Brass Eye had also been nominated in the innovation category, which it again failed to win. Instead the accolade went to Double Take, the one-off BBC2 comedy that used celebrity lookalikes to fake hidden camera footage.

Gervais told Ananova: To get the award is amazing, unbelivable, and a privilege,

"It's a success because it's so brilliantly written and acted - no, seriously, I think it is because everyone works in an office."

In other categories, Graham Norton won best entertainment performance, beating Ant and Dec, John Bird and John Fortune for Bremner and Paul Merton.

Louis Theroux won the Richard Dimbleby Award for best presenter and Cold Feet won best drama.

And Andrew Davies, writer of the Eighties comedy A Very Peculiar Practice, but now better-known for adapting classic novels for the screen, was awarded the Bafta fellowship.

Published: 21 Apr 2002