Ashley Storrie has told how her proud mum Janey Godley broke down in tears over the news that her TV series dealing with autism has been nominated for four BAFTAs.
Comedian and actress Storrie, who is autistic, had just heard that her show Dinosaur had been nominated for a record number of BAFTA Scotland awards ahead of next month’s ceremony.
Storrie, 38, FaceTimed her mum, who is receiving end of life care after her battle with ovarian cancer which was first diagnosed in 2021, with the news.
She then posted an emotional Instagram photo of Godley being overcome with emotion.
She wrote: “She’s probably going to kill me for how unflattering this is, but I managed to take a screen shot the moment I told mum I’d been nominated for a @baftascotland award. She was the first person I spoke to.”
In another post, she added: “We’re nominated for FOUR #dinosaur well done Niamh, well done Matilda, well done team!!!!”
Storrie is nominated in the Best Television Actress category alongside Elaine C. Smith and Doon Mackichan, both for Two Doors Down, and Nicola Walker for Annika.
Her Instagram followers showered her with congratulations.
One commented: “Congratulations Ashley, you deserve that nomination.”
Another wrote: “Congratulations! Your mum must be so proud x.”
A third said: “Well done Ashley, your Mum has a natural reaction so lovely.”
Earlier this week, Godley told of her pride at Ashley’s achievements.
She said: “Ashley is a comedian herself now, and also a writer and an actress. Her sitcom, Dinosaur, is amazing. She did a stand-up show in New Zealand once, Billy Connolly in the audience, head back, howling. He told me he thought she was a natural and she is.”
Despite undergoing chemotherapy, Godley recently announced that treatment options had been exhausted and she would be entering a hospice.
The 63-year-old comedian is now in palliative care.
She was forced to halt plans for a UK tour on the advice of doctors after her illness became worse.
Making the announcement on social media, she said: “The chemo ran out of options and I couldn’t take any more of it.”
She added: “The cancer has spread, so it looks like this will be getting to near the end of it, and it’s really difficult to speak about this and say it to people.”
Dinosaur features Ashley as Nina, a Glasgow palaeontologist whose life is comfortingly routine-anchored until her best friend and sister Evie upends everything with a surprise wedding engagement.
She incorporated her own autistic experiences into the series and has told how she was determined to represent autism accurately.
She said: “I definitely feel like there is a burden of representation, and I think that falls upon anybody who has the opportunity to represent a community that has been under-serviced and under-represented, because when we finally get a chance to be represented, everybody wants to be represented in that one thing and that’s really hard to do, especially with autism where it’s a spectrum.
“And that it’s like a circle of needs and we all have different. I saw a nice TikTok where a lady said it was like a fingerprint where everybody is different and everybody’s autism is different. So to compartmentalise that I just tell myself that even if not everybody identifies with it, somebody will identify with it.
“And for that person who’s maybe not felt seen in the past, that’s worth it for the people who watch it and say, no, that’s wrong. That’s not how my autism is. And I think we all have to have a little bit of grace and a little bit of compassion for creators who are just trying their best.”
Baby Reindeer star Richard Gadd is also up for two BAFTA Scotland awards for his show Baby Reindeer.
Gadd, 35, has been given the nod in the Actor and Writer TV categories.
The awards honour creative excellence in broadcasting and production across film and television in Scotland.
The winners of the BAFTA Scotland Awards will be revealed at a star-studded ceremony in Glasgow on Sunday, November 17, hosted by Edith Bowman and live-streamed on BAFTA’s Youtube.
An edited highlights programme will also broadcast on BBC Scotland and BBC iPlayer on Wednesday, November 20.
The top nominated films and programmes are Dinosaur, which has received four nominations and Out of Darkness, which receives three nominations while Baby Reindeer, Girl, Is There Anybody Out There? and Two Doors Down each receive two nominations.
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