Entering the night with 12 nominations The Favourite took home seven awards, including best actress for Olivia Colman and outstanding British film, but it was beaten to best film by Alfonso Cuaron's Roma.

Cuaron won a record four personal BAFTAs for a single film from a record six personal nominations, including best director and cinematography.

Roma also won the BAFTA for film not in the English language.

Australians Fiona Crombie and Tony McNamara won awards for their work on the The Favourite.

Crombie won in the production design category while McNamara won in the original screenplay category at the awards ceremony in London on Sunday night.

The ceremony, which took place at the Royal Albert Hall, was hosted for the second consecutive year by Joanna Lumley who mocked the Oscars' with her opening joke.

"Thank goodness BAFTA actually has a host," said Lumley. "But I suspect that may have something do to with the fact I'm not on Twitter."

Congratulating Bradley Cooper on his record-equalling five-nominations in different disciplines for A Star is Born, Lumley said it "probably means he needs to learn how to delegate."

Cuaron was also nominated for five disciplines plus a received a sixth nomination for film not in the English language.

Cooper scored one win as A Star is Born took home best original music.

The first award of the night went to The Favourite as it picked up outstanding British film. "This film took 20 years to make, I contributed to the last 10," said director Yorgos Lanthimos. The film then quickly scored its second win in the production design category.

Olivia Colman won best actress for her role as Queen Anne in the film.

The actress thanked her co-stars Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone, calling them "the coolest honour guard anyone could have." Colman said they were all leads and it was "weird" only one of them could be nominated for lead. "This is for all three of us," said Colman. "It's got my name on it but we can scratch in some other names."

Weisz won best supporting actress for The Favourite beating out co-star Stone.

First-time nominee Rami Malek won the best actor award. The actor thanked Freddie Mercury, who he called "the greatest outsider of them" for being "unwavering, unflinching and uncompromising in every way."

Mahershala Ali won best supporting actor for Peter Farrelly's Green Book.

Picking up the original screenplay award for The Favourite, writer Deborah Davis, who wrote the first draft of the screenplay 20 years ago, thanked BAFTA for "celebrating our female-dominated movie about women in power."

Costume designer Sandy Powell picked up her third BAFTA from 15 nominations for The Favourite, beating her own work on Mary Poppins Returns, which was also nominated.

Mark Coulier was less lucky in the make-up and hair category having been nominated twice for both Bohemian Rhapsody and Stan & Ollie, but losing out to Nadia Stacey, also for The Favourite.

British-Guyanese actress Letitia Wright won the EE Rising Star Award, the only award voted for by the public.

Black Panther picked up this year's BAFTA for special visual effects.

Spike Lee won his first BAFTA with a win for BlacKkKlansman in the adapted screenplay category. Lee thanked the film's real-life subject Ron Stallworth for infiltrating the Ku Klux Klan.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse took home the BAFTA for best animated film.

Free-climbing documentary Free Solo won the award for best documentary.

Bohemian Rhapsody scored its first win of the night in the sound category. Production sound mixer John Casali thanked Queen's Brian May and Roger Taylor, who were in the audience, for their support and "all the awesome music."

Hank Corwin took home his first BAFTA for his editing on Adam McKay's Vice.

As previously announced, BAFTA- and Oscar-winning editor Thelma Schoonmaker was honoured with a BAFTA Fellowship, the body's highest accolade, for her outstanding and exceptional contribution to the industry.

Also previously announced, the special BAFTA award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema was presented to producers Elizabeth Karlsen and Stephen Woolley of Number 9 Films (Carol, The Crying Game).

Australian Associated Press