Comic duo Ant and Dec were double winners at the television Bafta awards.

Their ITV show Saturday Night Takeaway, beat off competition from Strictly Come Dancing, The Voice and Dynamo: Magician Impossible for the best entertainment programme. They also won best entertainment performance.

Picking up their first gong, Ant told the audience: “What a great start to the show – for us. We’re delighted with it, thrilled. We love making this show.”

Becca Walker, Emma Nightingale, Anthony McPartlin, Declan Donnelly
Becca Walker, Emma Nightingale, Anthony McPartlin, Declan Donnelly and Richard Cowles with the Best Entertainment Programme Award for Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway (Ian West/PA Wire)

Sherlock, the detective show starring Benedict Cumberbatch, scooped one of the top awards of the night – the only gong voted for by the public.

But the Hollywood actor was not at the ceremony to collect the award, and instead was said to be looking after his new wife who is heavily pregnant.

Comedian Jessica Hynes used her win for Best Female Performance in a Comedy Programme to make a stand against ongoing austerity cuts.

Jessica Hynes
Jessica Hynes with the Female Performance in a Comedy Programme Award for W1A (Ian West/PA Wire)

The actress who won her award for playing Siobhan Sharpe in W1A told the audience to rapturous applause: “I’m from a single parent family. I’m really worried about the cuts that are coming in state education and to people in low income families. Because I don’t feel low income means low talent, low imagination or low intelligence.”

Foreign reporter Alex Crawford was part of the Sky News Live at Five team which picked up the gong for best News Coverage, for their “brave” reports on the Ebola epidemic.

New mother-in-law Judy Murray took to the stage in a glamorous sheer panel dress to present the award for Sport and Live Event which went to the BBC for their coverage of the First World War remembrance celebrations last year.

Grand Designs presenter Kevin McCloud thanked the “millions and millions of loyal fans” who have followed the Channel 4 programme “for the past 20 years” as he collected the award for Best Feature.

Kevin McCloud
Kevin McCloud with the BAFTA for Best Feature Programme for Grand Designs, at the House of Fraser British Academy of Television Awards (Ian West/PA Wire)

The first actor of the night to pick up a coveted gong was Stephen Rea for his role as Sir Hugh Hayden-Hoyle in the BBC Two’s The Honourable Woman. He beat rivals Ken Stott from The Missing, Adeel Akhtar from Channel 4′s Utopia and James Norton from Happy Valley for Best Supporting Actor.

“There are so many incredible actors in the Honourable Woman. I feel I’m receiving this on their behalf.”

An emotional and clearly shocked Gemma Jones was close to tears as she picked up Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Mary Baldwin in Marvellous .

The bio-pic told the true story of Neil Baldwin, who refused to accept the limitations of his learning disability.

It was her first nomination for the veteran actress since 1997. She told the audience: “I’d like to thank the real Neil who so generously allowed us to intrude on his extraordinary life.”