The 36 participants, 24 in the UK and 12 in the US, were selected by a global jury which included names like broadcaster and former barrister Afua Hirsch, Irish actress Niamh Algar, comedian and Jerk star Tim Renkow, with Ade Rawcliffe as the breakthrough jury chair. West, whose other credits include Years and Years, praised Bafta Breakthrough, saying: “I think it’s so important and what Bafta do so well, and what I’m so grateful for is being a woman of colour to be able to have this platform and have this stage where my voice can be heard, and I can represent a lot of other women and black women out there through my work.” Not to be reproduced or redistributed for any use or in any medium not set out above. This picture may be used solely for Channel 4 programme publicity purposes in connection with the current broadcast of the programme(s) featured in the national and local press and listings. Channel 4 images must not be altered or manipulated in any way. WARNING: This picture must only be used to accompany PA Feature SHOWBIZ TV Its A Sin. Picture credit should read: PA Photo/Channel 4. Pictured: (L-R) Omari Douglas as Roscoe Babatunde, Nathaniel Curtis as Ash Mukherjee, Olly Alexander as Ritchie Tozer, Callum Scott Howells as Colin Morris-Jones, Lydia West as Jill Baxter. I would say that it is a real breakthrough part for me in terms of my personal growth, too, and finding my voice and finding what causes I want to support and believe in, and what I want to do, what stories I want to tell in the future and in my career.”Īs part of the Bafta Breakthrough programme, recipients receive global networking opportunities, access to career coaching and skills development support, as well as 121 industry meetings and roundtable sessions. “I know these jobs don’t come around very often, so I just feel extremely honoured. “But you never expect it until it happens, and then when it happens I just feel so lucky and to be part of something that was both very, very entertaining, very fun, and very bright and colourful, but also so historical and grounded in education, and to change public health through our performances, and through the creation of this television programme, is something that you just only hope for. You make these things and you let them go, and you hope and pray that people watch and respond and resonate with the material. Speaking about It’s A Sin, which aired in January, West told PA News Agency: “I think none of us expected it to do as well as it did. Lydia West is among the 36 participants for Bafta Breakthrough (Kirsty O’Connor/PA)

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