Torquay mummification programme wins BAFTA TV award
This Is South Devon
A documentary which used the corpse of a recently deceased Westcountry taxi driver to illustrate how ancient Egyptians mummified bodies, has won a BAFTA.
Channel 4's controversial programme Mummifying Alan: Egypt's Last Secret picked up the Specialist Factual award at the event on Sunday night.
Alan Billis, a taxi driver from Torquay, volunteered for the programme after seeing a newspaper advertisement. He died last year, aged 61, after a battle with lung cancer and his body was mummified using ancient techniques.
It is believed to be the first time in 3,000 years that these ancient mummifying techniques have been revived.
Speaking last year, Mr Billis' widow, Jan, said her husband took part because he wanted to give his grandchildren something extraordinary to remember him by.
In other categories, Jennifer Saunders, who has a home in Devon, won the award for Female Performance in a Comedy Programme for her return to Absolutely Fabulous.
Accepting her award she said: "That was a bit of a shock, thank you for still finding it funny."
The Choir: Military Wives, which followed Gareth Malone as he formed a choir with the partners of Westcountry servicemen, missed out on a BAFTA for Best Factual Series. The award went to BBC3's Our War which followed British troops on the ground in Afghanistan.
Three of the biggest awards at the event were won by the ITV1 drama, Appropriate Adult, about serial killer Fred West. The programme picked up the Leading Actor, Leading Actress and Supporting Actress for three of its stars.
The award for Supporting Actor went to Andrew Scott who played the villainous Moriarty in Sherlock.
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