Martin Freeman getting interviewed by backstage presenter Vick Hope at the 2022 Virgin Media British Academy Television Awards
Interviewer (Vick): Yeah!
Vick: Thanks. I mean, we‘ve got to the point where the shoes have come off.
Vick: Why is TV important to you? Why is it that it’s so special to celebrate tonight?
Martin: Well, television is the way that most of us view storytelling before we ever get to a cinema. It’s the most accessible way of getting to hear and see people’s stories. So that, yeah, that’s why it’s important. Yeah.
Vick: It feels more potent and more poignant than ever over the last year knowing that a lot of this programming has been made in very difficult conditions and at a time when we really, really needed to escape.
Martin: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I agree. I mean we do… it’s been a bit of escape and a bit of um looking in the mirror, I suppose. A bit of a mixture of both those things but yeah it’s just fun. I think it should be fun apart from anything else. It should be entertaining and it should give people, as you say, a bit of an escape, but also a place to think and a place to, you know, suss things out. Yeah.
Vick: What have been your fun moments of TV? What have been your highlights of the last year that you enjoyed?
Martin: Um, well I have loved Succession! I mean, I was really thrilled that Matthew Macfadyen won tonight. I mean again, you know, they’re all good stuff. But you know he was, I thought, he was incredible. I love that show. I love Call My Agent. I loved Call My Agent a lot, caught up on that. Umm.
Too many too mention. I mean, there are just too many. There are so many.
Vick: It’s alright. I’m actually not going to ask you to name every single one.
Martin: Every single program that won! *laughs*
Vick: Yea, I was gonna stand here and be like: ‘And then?‘
Vick: And next up, Martin?
Martin: My 47th favorite… uh, was Match oft he Day.
Martin: Oh, Steph’s Packed Lunch. I mean this is a real test now.
Vick: And you know what: I am going to stop you there because I’ve just heard that the food’s coming out.
Martin: You’re doing us both a favor, thank you.
Vick: You can thank me later. Enjoy the rest of your night!
Martin: Enjoy your feet!
Vick: Thank you.
