Paul Ritter given posthumous Bafta Television Award nomination

Paul Ritter has received a posthumous nomination at the 2021 Bafta Television Awards just weeks after his death aged 54.

The Friday Night Dinner actor who sadly passed away on April 5 has been nominated for Best Male Performance in a Comedy Programme category, for his much loved role as amicable dad Martin Goodman.

Also nominated in the category are Charlie Cooper in This Country, Sex Education star Ncuti Gatwa, Inside No.9’s Reece Shearsmith, Guz Khan for Man Like Mobeen and Joseph Gilgun in Brassic.

This year’s front runners at the Bafta Television Awards are Small Axe, The Crown and I May Destroy You.

Read: Judy Parfitt: Call The Midwife not 'woke' enough to win a Bafta

The BBC series Small Axe, landed a staggering 15 nominations after receiving praise from critics for its anthology of tales focused around black British characters.

One of the show's 15 nods includes a leading actor nomination for John Boyega, who is up against The Crown’s Josh O’Connor, Normal People’s Paul Mescal, I May Destroy You’s Paapa Essiedu and his Small Axe co-star Shaun Parkes.

Also racking up a notable number of nominations were Normal People with seven nominations, six nominations for Sex Education, I Hate Suzie with five nominations and This Country and Strictly Coming Dancing with four nominations.

Earlier this month, a spokesman for the Ritter announced, 'with great sadness' that the 'exceptionally talented actor' had passed away, adding: "He was fiercely intelligent, kind and very funny. We will miss him greatly.:

Ritter’s on-screen son Simon Bird paid tribute to his late co-star and shared a touching message via his Friday Night Dinner sibling Tom Rosenthal's Twitter account, writing that he will 'always aspire to be like' Ritter and that he was the 'platonic ideal of a green room companion' in his generosity with praise, snacks and reading materials.

He continued: "Not even going to touch the acting. That goes without saying. He was the best in the business.

"He was such a peaceful presence but throbbing with intelligence and – let's not beat around the bush – entirely capable of a hilariously indiscreet and filthy broadside when in the mood."

Read more: Friday Night Dinner star Simon Bird pens moving tribute to screen dad Paul Ritter

Ritter's role in HBO drama Chernobyl saw him as one of the Ukrainian disaster's villains, deputy chief engineer Anatoly Dyatlov.

He also starred in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Quantum of Solace.