The nominees for the BAFTA TV Awards 2017 have been announced this morning and Shakespeare Live! has been nominated in the Live Event category where it finds itself up against The Centenary of the Battle of The Somme: Thiepval, Stand Up to Cancer and The Queen’s 90th Birthday Celebration.

The RSC’s star-studded gala took place in April last year and was hosted by David Tennant and Catherine Tate, and screened live from the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, the extravagant show marked 400 years since the death of the Bard and celebrated Shakespeare’s plays and their enduring influence on music, dance, opera, musical theatre and comedy.

RSC Artistic Director, Gregory Doran, assembled a once-in-a-lifetime cast, including Dame Judi Dench, Dame Helen Mirren, Sir Ian McKellen, Joseph Fiennes, Benedict Cumberbatch, Meera Syal, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Al Murray, Alison Moyet, Noma Dumezweni, Ian Bostridge, Rufus Wainwright, Tim Minchin, Paapa Essiedu, Pippa Nixon, Alexandra Gilbreath, Akala (Hip Hop Shakespeare), The Royal Ballet, English National Opera (ENO), The Orchestra of the Swan, and Birmingham Royal Ballet, to perform in a unique tribute to the genius and influence of the world’s greatest playwright and storyteller.

The winners of the BAFTAs will be announced at a ceremony at London’s Royal Festival Hall on Sunday 14th May. It will also be screened on BBC One the same evening.