Smith is up against Benedict Cumberbatch for Sherlock, Jim Broadbent for Any Human Heart and Daniel Rigby for BBC Four’s Eric And Ernie in the category.

Hosted by Graham Norton, the 2011 Philips British Academy Television Awards ceremony will take place on Sunday 22nd May in London and will be and broadcast on BBC One. Nominees were announced today on the official BAFTA website.

Nominees for the ‘Supporting Actor’ award include Martin Freeman for Sherlock and Robert Sheehan for Misfits.

Misfits star Lauren Socha is also nominated for the ‘Supporting Actress’ award, alongside Gillian Anderson (The X Files) for her role in Any Human Heart.

Shows nominated for the ‘Drama Series’ award include Being Human, Misfits and Sherlock.