TV series featuring Royal Navy photographer's work on Kabul evacuation nominated for Bafta

A documentary about the evacuation of Kabul that features the work of a renowned Royal Navy photographer has been nominated for a Bafta.

Evacuation, which includes film taken by Petty Officer Ben Shread, tells the story of Operation Pitting.

This was the British effort to evacuate British citizens and eligible Afghans from the capital in 2021 amid the resurgence of the Taliban.

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Striking images of Op Pitting have already earned PO Shread the Royal Navy's top photography award.

He was named Royal Navy Photographer of the Year back in 2021 – the same year as the evacuation.

PO Shread later recounted his time in the country, explaining how when he arrived he was the only UK forces photographer in theatre.

He told Forces News: "I'd say it's probably the highlight of my career, and I've had a lot of highlights in my career.

"Watching our men and women in action out there filled me full of pride. It was great for me to be able to tell the stories of those guys out on the ground."

But he also described the brutal treatment of civilians at the hands of the resurgent Taliban.

"At the beginning when Kabul fell, I think there was quite a moderate version of the Taliban there," he said.

"As the evacuation process went on, it became a more hardline version of the Taliban there, they were treating the evacuees much worse.

"Sometimes they were beating them with rubber hoses and stuff like that."   Evacuation, a three-part documentary from Channel 4, is nominated in the Best Factual Series category in the Bafta television awards.

It is going up against rival nominees Dublin Narcos, Lockerbie and Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland.

The British Academy Television Awards, which will be hosted by Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan, take place on Sunday 12 May.