The lady is for winning: Meryl Streep wins Best Actress for The Iron Lady as The Artist takes seven awards including Best Film

This one's for Maggie! Meryl Streep happily poses with her Best Actress award for her role as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady

It was a role that some said she was born to play while other were left less then impressed.
But Meryl Streep silenced her critics tonight when she scooped the coveted Best Actress Bafta for her portrayal of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady.
And it proved to be a night that certainly wasn't silent for The Artist as it walked away with the Best Film gong as well as six other awards.

She nearly didn't make it! Meryl held up her award which she collected after losing her shoe as she made her way to the stage

Meryl, 62, looked absolutely stunned as her name was read out at the Royal Opera House in London.
Wearing a low cut Vivienne Westwood dress which showed off her impressive cleavage, she took to the stage to accept her award.

I won one of those last year, you know: Colin Firth, who scooped Best Actor in 2011, points at Meryl's gong after he presented the actress with the gold statuette

She almost lost her shoe in the process but Colin Firth gallantly came to her assistance and put it back on her foot as she laughed and told the audience: 'That couldn't have gone worse!'
And she added: 'Somebody once said the fate of the well known is to be misunderstood. The ambition of this film was to look at the life of The Iron Lady form inside out and locate something real.
'Something that may be hidden but truthful in the life of someone that we have all decided we know something about already. I am very proud of the film. Half of me is Streep but half of me is Wilkinson from Lincolnshire so I come by this part honestly.'

Vive La France! The Artists director Michel Hazanavicius poses with one of the seven gongs the film walked away with tonight including Best Film while leading man Jean Dujardin clutched his Best Actor prize

She had beaten off stiff competition from Michelle Williams as Marilyn Monroe in A Week With Marilyn, The Help's Viola Davis, Tilda Swinton in We Need To Talk About Kevin, and Berenice Bejo in The Artist.
And this is her second BAFTA for leading actress, having taken the award in 1981 for The French Lieutenant's Woman.
The latter of which stole the night taking seven awards, including Original Screenplay, Costume Design and the coveted Best Film gong.

'I'll be sleeping with this tonight!' Octavia Spencer poses with her Best Supporting Actress award for her role as Minnie Jackson in The Help

Its star Jean Dujardin won Best Actor, stealing it from under the noses of Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Gary Oldman and Michael Fassbender.
It also won Best Director, which was presented to Michael Hazanavicius, who had earlier accepted the Cinematography award for the film said: 'Thank you, again. I'm so proud that Brad Pitt pronounced my name so well.'
He also accepted the award for Best Original Screenplay for the movie and he said: 'I am very surprised, because most people thought there was no script because there was no dialogue. So the British people are very clever.'

Minding his manners: John Hurt holds up his Outstanding Contribution to Cinema award and said his wife reminded him to say please and thank you

John Hurt was recognised for his fantastic career when he was awarded the Outstanding Contribution to British Cinema award.
As he took to the podium, he made the audience laugh when he told them that his wife just told him to saying nothing more than 'thank you'.
He added: 'One of the difficult things about being given an award that you know are going to get is that you are expected to have had the time to write a speech.'

Other winners: Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe hold the Short Animation award for A Morning Stroll while a delighted Paddy Considine and Diarmid Scrimshaw posed proudly with their Outstanding Debut by a British Writer or Producer award for for Tyrannosaur

The spy how loved us: (L-R), Eric Fellner, Tomas Alfredson, Robyn Slovo and Tim Bevan hold the award for Outstanding British Film for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Making the magic: (L-R)Tim Burke, John Richardson, Greg Butler and David Vickery pose after winning the Special Visual Effects award for Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows - Part 2