Netflix Gets First BAFTA Win With ‘Breaking Bad’

The Sony TV drama — screened only online in the U.K. — wins the international award

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Netflix has broken the BAFTA barrier, winning the top international award for the drug drama “Breaking Bad” on Sunday in London.

The program, produced by Sony Pictures Television and starring Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul, was shown exclusively online in the U.K. A change in the rules this year allowed shows screened online to be eligible for honors from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts for the first time. Paul was on hand to collect the award Sunday.

Netflix made a similar breakthrough at the U.S. Academy of Television Arts and Science’s Emmys last summer, when David Fincher‘s directing award for its “House of Cards” made the streaming service the first non-TV award winner.

Also read: Kevin Reilly on ‘Broadchurch’ Remake, ‘Gracepoint’: ‘We Have a Different Ending’

The detective drama “Broadchurch” was the big BAFTA winner Sunday, claiming victories in three categories including best drama and best actress.

The ITV Network show follows detectives played by Olivia Colman and David Tennant, who has also starred as Dr Who in the British science fiction series of the same name, as they unravel a child murder in a small English coastal town.

Fox has commissioned a U.S. remake, named “Gracepoint,” which will also star Tennant.

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