It was girl power all the way, with Derry Girls' star Siobhan McSweeney, and creator Lisa McGee winning accolades, with Bad Sisters' Sharon Horgan and Anne Marie Duff also scooping up awards on the night.
Lisa McGee earned a Bafta as Derry Girls won the award for Best Scripted Comedy, while Siobhan McSweeney who played the eye-rolling and sarcastic principal Sister Michael in the show, won for Best Female Performance in a Comedy Programme.
Accepting the first award of the night, McSweeney said, "So I’ve been warned not to do a political statement, so as my mother laid dying in Cork, one of the very last things she said to me was would I not consider retraining as a teacher".
"If she could see me now, getting a Bafta for playing a teacher. Joke’s on you", she continued.
McSweeney also paid tribute to the people of Derry, "To the people in Derry, thank you taking me into your hearts and your living rooms".
"I am daily impressed with how you encompass the spirit of compromise and resilience despite the indignities, ignorance and stupidity of your so-called leaders (in) Dublin, Stormont and Westminster", she added. "In the words of my beloved Sister Michael, 'it's time they started to wise up’".
McSweeney also thanked Lisa McGee "for not listening to me when I said I could play all the girls parts" and she also thanked Channel 4, adding "you have my devotion".
Elsewhere, Sharon Horgan also picked up a Bafta, as Bad Sisters won the award for Best Drama Series.
Horgan used her acceptance speech to state that she stands in "solidarity" with the US writers strike. Admitting that it was a "really difficult shoot", Horgan was full of praise for the show's "brilliant" cast.
"It all begins and ends with the writers so we are in solidarity with our WGA brothers and sisters", Horgan added.
Co star Anne Marie Duff won the accolade for Best Supporting Actress. She exclaimed that she was "completely shocked", and thanked the production team and cast.
"If someone is in their life who is bullying them who is telling them that who they are is wrong, that what they are isn't enough . . . I am telling you now you are everything", she added.
