There was something disturbingly satisfying about Killing Eve’s first season finale.

Having finally caught up with each other, after a season-long game of cat and mouse, exhausted M15 operative Eve Polastri and psychopathic killer Villanelle’s lay next to each other on the assassin’s bed. 

Did anyone expect Eve to be the one to lean in and plunge a knife into her ill-fated partner’s stomach?

The dynamic between the pair – who, for better or worse, are completely obsessed with each other – is the driving force of the show. 

And it’s little wonder that particular moment received its own Bafta TV nomination for “must-see moment”.

In fact Killing Eve dominated this year’s shortlist, accumulating 14 nominations between the main awards and the Bafta TV Craft Awards.

Stars Sandra Oh, who plays Polastri, and Jodie Comer, who plays Villanelle, are both up for Best Actress. 

The show itself is nominated for Best Drama, while Fiona Shaw and Kim Bodnia are both nominated for their supporting roles. 

Rising star Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who penned the screenplay for the first series, is nominated for Best Drama Writer.

Enjoying a string of nominations last year, Killing Eve has already picked up three awards in 2019, including Oh scooping Best Actress at the Golden Globes.

The latest spate of nominations comes as the trailer for Killing Eve series two leaked ahead of its release early next month.

The show’s second series premieres in the US on April 7 and is expected to be broadcast in the U K shortly after.

A 90-second clip showed a wounded, but determined-looking Villanelle making her way out of a hospital, hinting to the aftermath of her last encounter with Eve.

But Killing Eve’s numerous Bafta nominations were not without a little controversy. 

The Bafta bent the rules slightly to include the drama, which was originally commissioned by BBC America. 

The award rules state that, in order to be eligible for this year’s awards, a programme “must have had the worldwide premiere transmission in the UK” between January 1 and December 31, 2018, and that “a UK broadcaster must have the primary editorial control over the programme”.

BBC America is considered a separate entity to the BBC, and does not receive public funding from the licence fee. 

Bafta rules would suggest that Killing Eve should only be eligible for a nomination in the international series category, rather than the 14 it ultimately received.

Author Luke Jennings, who wrote the books Killing Eve was based on, said you “couldn’t have a more British show than Killing Eve”. 

He said: “This was a wholly British production and British in conception. They’ve decided we are eligible and I’m very happy to go with that.”

A Bafta spokeswoman said the drama was deemed eligible owing to the “significant creative contribution from key talent residing in the UK both in front of, and behind, the camera”.

It was also a good year for drama, with four shows scooping a collection of 36 nominations.

And the rest of the Bafta TV shortlist, if a little unsurprisingly, hinted towards a strong year of original programming from the BBC. 

Fending off competition from streaming giants like Netflix and Amazon, the likes of Bodyguard and political drama A Very English Scandal featured prominently on the list.

The latter, which charts the downfall of politician Jeremy Thorpe, scored 12 nominations in total.

Perhaps the most notable absence was Richard Madden who, despite his recent Golden Globe win, was missing from the Best Actor category for his role in Bodyguard – which received five nominations all in.

Instead Benedict Cumberbatch is in the running for best actor for his role in Patrick Melrose, the Sky Atlantic drama, which has six nominations.

Hugh Grant is nominated for A Very English Scandal, with Chance Perdomo (Killed By My Debt) and Lucian Msamati (Kiri) completing the list.

Bafta chairwoman Dame Pippa Harris said “difficult” decisions had been made.
Meanwhile, Madden’s co-star Keely Hawes was nominated for Best Actress for her performance in the show.

Bodyguard itself could be a strong contender for Best Drama, with Killing Eve being the critic’s choice to beat. 

Meanwhile weekend TV fodder like Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway and Britain’s Got Talent were nominated in entertainment categories, while  The X Factor was snubbed.

Music documentary Bros: After The Screaming Stops is also in the running for three gongs.

The full list of nominees is online at heraldscotland.com.