The Kumars at No. 42 leads the way with three nominations, while Tomorrow La Scala!, Bloody Sunday, The Gathering Storm, Conspiracy, Shackleton, Have I Got News For You, The Office, Bremner, Bird and Fortune and Phoenix Nights have each received two nominations.

In the actor category, Kenneth Branagh has received two nominations, for his roles in Shackleton and Conspiracy, Albert Finney has been nominated for The Gathering Storm and James Nesbitt for Bloody Sunday.

In the actress category, Sheila Hancock has been nominated for Bedtime, Vanessa Redgrave for The Gathering Storm, Jessica Stevenson for Tomorrow La Scala! and Julie Walters for Murder. Bloody Sunday , Conspiracy and Tomorrow La Scala! have all also been nominated in the category single drama , as has Flesh & Blood .

In the other performance categories, John Bird & John Fortune (Bremner, Bird and Fortune), Steve Coogan (I’m Alan Partridge), Ricky Gervais (The Office) and Peter Kay (Phoenix Nights) have been nominated in the comedy performance category, and Sanjeev Bhaskar and Meera Syal (The Kumars At No. 42) and Angus Deayton and Paul Merton (Have I Got News For You) have been nominated for entertainment performance .

In the comedy programme or series category, the nominations are Alistair McGowan’s Big Impression , Bremner, Bird and Fortune , Smack The Pony and Look Around You . Friday Night With Jonathan Ross , I’m A Celebrity - Get Me Out of Here , The Kumars At No. 42 and Test The Nation have all been nominated in the category entertainment programme or series , and The Book Group , My Family , The Office and Phoenix Nights have been nominated in the category situation comedy .

In the other drama categories, Clocking Off , Cutting It , Spooks and Teachers have been nominated for drama series and Auf Wiedersehen Pet , Dr Zhivago , Murder and Shackleton have all been nominated in the category drama serial .

In the traditionally tough soap category, the nominations are Coronation Street , Doctors , EastEnders and Hollyoaks .

In the category Huw Wheldon Award for factual series or strand, the nominations are History of Britain , Life of Mammals , Revealed and The Trust . 9/11: The Tale of Two Towers , Feltham Sings , SAS Embassy Siege and Thalidomide – Life at 40 have all been nominated in the category flaherty documentary .

Other BAFTA nominations announced today were for features, sport, news coverage and current Affairs.

Also announced today was the shortlist for The Radio Times sponsored Lew Grade Audience Award. The top 5 programmes, as voted for by readers of Radio Times, are EastEnders , Coronation Street , Pop Idol , Foyle’s War and Auf Wiedersehen Pet . This is the only award given at the ceremony that is voted for by members of the public.

Best actress
Sheila Hancock: Bedtime (Hat Trick/BBC One)
Vanessa Redgrave: The Gathering Storm (HBO/Scott Free/BBC Two)
Jessica Stevenson: Tomorrow La Scala! (BBC Films/Film Council/BBC Two)
Julie Walters: Murder (Tiger Aspect /BBC Two)

Best entertainment performance
Sanjeev Bhaskar: The Kumars at No. 42 (Hat Trick/BBC Two)
Angus Deayton: Have I Got News For You (Hat Trick/BBC One)
Paul Merton: Have I Got News For You (Hat Trick/BBC One)
Meera Syal: The Kumars at No 42 (Hat Trick/BBC Two)

Best comedy performance
John Bird & John Fortune: Bremner, Bird and Fortune (Vera/ C4)
Steve Coogan: I'm Alan Partridge (TalkBack/BBC Two)
Ricky Gervais: The Office (BBC Two)
Peter Kay: Phoenix Nights (Ovation Entertainment/C4)

Best single drama
Bloody Sunday (Granada/ Hell's Kitchen/ ITV1)
Conspiracy (HBO/BBC Two)
Flesh & Blood (BBC Two)
Tomorrow La Scala! (Film Council/ BBC Two)

Best drama series
Clocking Off (Red/ BBC One)
Cutting It (BBC One)
Spooks (Kudos/ BBC One)
Teachers (Tiger Aspect/ C4)

Best drama serial
Auf Wiedersehen Pet (BBC One)
Dr Zhivago (Granada/ ITV1)
Murder (Tiger Aspect/ BBC Two)
Shackleton (Firstsight Films/ C4)

Best soap
Coronation Street (Granada/ITV1)
Doctors (BBC One)
EastEnders (BBC One)
Hollyoaks (Mersey Television/C4)

Huw Wheldon award for factual series or strand
History of Britain (BBC Two)
Life of Mammals (BBC One)
Revealed (Five)
The Trust (Hart Ryan Productions/C4)

Flaherty Documentary
9/11: The Tale of Two Towers (Michael Attwell Productions/Five)
Feltham Sings (Century Films/C4)
SAS Embassy Siege (BBC Two)
Thalidomide - Life at 40 (BBC Scotland/BBC2)

Best features
Faking It (RDF Media/C4)
Jamie's Kitchen (TalkBack/C4)
Lads Army (20/20 Television/ITV1)
What Not To Wear (BBC Two)

Best sport
Final Night of the Stadium Athletics at the Commonwealth Games (BBC One)
ITV World Cup 2002 (ISN/Carlton/ITV1)
World Rally Championship (Chrysalis/ C4)
World Cup: England v Argentina (BBC One)

Best news coverage
Collapse of the Paul Burrell trial - (BBC One/ BBC News 24)
The death of the Queen Mother (ITN/ITV1)
Jenin and Bethlehem - What Chance of Peace? (ITN/C4)
Soham - August 16/17 (Sky News)

Best current affairs
Corruption of Racing (Panorama - BBC One)
Licence To Murder (Panorama - BBC One)
Palestine Is Still The Issue - A Special Report by John Pilger (Carlton/ ITV1)
Young, Nazi & Proud (Steve Boulton Productions/C4)

Best entertainment programme or series
Friday Night With Jonathan Ross (Open Mike/ BBC One)
I'm A Celebrity - Get Me Out Of Here! (LWT/ITV1)
The Kumars at No. 42 (Hat Trick/ BBC Two)
Test The Nation (Talent Television/ BBC One)

Best situation comedy
The Book Group (Pirate Productions/C4)
My Family (DLT/ Rudeboy/ BBC One)
The Office (BBC Two)
Phoenix Nights (Ovation Entertainment/ C4)

Best comedy programme or series
Alistair McGowan's Big Impression (Vera/ BBC One)
Bremner, Bird and Fortune (Vera/ C4)
Look Around You (TalkBack/ BBC Two)
Smack The Pony (TalkBack/ C4)