Former York College student Lisa Parkinson has added a BAFTA to this year’s remarkable roll of honour for the Sim Balk Lane institute’s Media Make-Up, Special Effects and Hair Design course.
Following on from the success of Oscar winner Nadia Stacey and Emmy victor Freda Ellis, Lisa has completed an astonishing 2024 hat-trick for amazing alumni from the much-decorated college department.
Lisa received the Best Make Up and Hair Design BAFTA for her work on the ITV hit drama The Long Shadow, which told the story of the police’s five-year search for Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe.
The BAFTA TV awards were televised by BBC One on Sunday night in a show hosted by comedians Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan at London’s Royal Festival Hall.
Lisa was one of the first students to enrol on York College’s Media Make-Up course when it was run by Yorkshire Television at the time.
She has since worked as a Hair and Make-up Designer in the industry for 24 years and won the award at the age of 53 following her first-ever BAFTA nomination.
Having seen off stiff competition from Netflix’s The Crown and Apple TV+ thriller Slow Horses, Lisa was presented with the award by Marcella actor Ray Panthaki and has since received messages of congratulations from many of The Long Shadow’s esteemed cast members including Katherine Kelly, Jill Halfpenny, David Morrissey and Daniel Mays.
Pontefract-based Lisa’s first media make-up job was in theatre at Leeds Playhouse and she worked as a trainee under future Hairy Bikers star David Myers, who was then a Make-up Designer.
She has since gone on to work on popular TV shows such as Heartbeat, Emmerdale and All Creatures Great and Small.
In an emotional acceptance speech, Lisa spoke warmly of Myers, who sadly died from cancer at the age of 66 three months ago.
Taking a note out of her pocket to read from and apologising in case she threw up, Lisa said:
I started in drama many years ago as a trainee with a hairy biker called David Myers. He took a chance on me, a gobby northerner who didn’t quite fit the mould and I will always be very grateful to him.
She went on to thank several members of The Long Shadow team and expressed special gratitude for “amazing director” Lewis Arnold, who she added “always trusts what I do and inspires me to be better”.
Lisa, meanwhile, was not the only former York College student who was nominated for a TV BAFTA this year.
Actress Taj Atwal, who studied the college’s Performing Arts (Acting) and Dance courses from 2004 to 2007, was shortlisted for the Best Female Comedy Performance in Channel 4’s Hullraisers.
Taj has previously appeared in Line of Duty and The Syndicate.
In January, meanwhile, Freda Ellis scooped the Emmy Award for Outstanding Contemporary Makeup on the Netflix show Wednesday and, two months later, Nadia Stacey received an Oscar for Best Makeup and Hairstyling in recognition of her work on Poor Things.
If you would like further information on the above courses and to meet department tutors, please consider attending the college’s next Open Event on Wednesday 19 June from 5.30pm to 7.30pm.
