‘Beyond Fleabag’: fresh female genius lights up this year’s Bafta TV nominations

With daring shows such as I May Destroy You and I Hate Suzie, there's much to celebrate. But ITV will rightly feel aggrieved as Quiz and Des miss out

The good news is that the 2021 British Academy television awards recognise - as these trophies have not always done - glittering fresh genius where it appears.

Two daringly written and visualised dramas with first-person titles that include an aggressive verb - the BBC's I May Destroy You and Sky Atlantic's I Hate Suzie - receive eight and five nominations respectively. Each is driven by an exceptional creative talent in, respectively, Michaela Coel and Billie Piper. Both series explore the psychology and experience of younger women in a graphic and tragi-comic detail going beyond even Fleabag, a pioneer in that direction.