Monica Barbaro, Jeff Goldblum and David Tennant lead early Bafta arrivals

Jeff Goldblum, Monica Barbaro and David Tennant are among the early arrivals at this year’s Bafta film awards.

Scottish actor and Doctor Who star Tennant arrived on the red carpet with purplish hair and wearing a sparkly black suit before he hosts the ceremony for the second year running at the Royal Festival Hall in London on Sunday.

Tennant, 53, has previously played a purple-clothed villain in Marvel’s Jessica Jones, and posed for pictures with his wife Georgia Tennant and The Diplomat actress Celia Imrie.

Take That will perform their chart-topping hit Greatest Day, which features in the film Anora, and Wicked star Goldblum is set to play the piano during the In Memoriam segment.

Goldblum plays the Wizard in the The Wizard Of Oz prequel musical, which tells the story of the early years of the Wicked Witch of the West, Elphaba, played by British star Cynthia Erivo.

Erivo is nominated for a best actress Bafta, and her co-star, US pop singer Ariana Grande is up for supporting actress for playing Glinda the good witch, an early friend to the green-skinned misunderstood witch.

On the red carpet, Bafta chief executive Jane Millichip told the PA news agency that this is a “really wide open race” and she had “no idea how to call” the winners.

She also said: “I think the viewing public in the UK have always welcomed films not in the English language, whether they’re subtitled or dubbed. We mostly subtitle in the UK, so I don’t think it’s a stretch for British audiences to watch and welcome these films.

“So the film not in the English language is a really important category for me. I think also the range of films, the number of countries represented, and the languages. I mean, it’s fantastic to have an Irish film (Kneecap) in Irish I mean, that’s great.”

Spanish language film Emilia Perez is nominated for 11 awards including a leading actress nomination for Spanish actress Karla Sofia Gascon, while American co-stars Selena Gomez and Zoe Saldana will go head-to-head in the supporting actress category.

They will compete against Italian-born US star Isabella Rossellini for playing a nun in papal drama Conclave, English actress Felicity Jones for portraying American actor Adrien Brody’s wife in The Brutalist and Hollywood star Jamie Lee Curtis for The Last Showgirl, about a showgirl who needs to find a new path after her show closes abruptly after three decades.

Curtis said before the event that she could not attend but her co-star, Baywatch actress Pamela Anderson, who played a veteran Las Vegas showgirl whose career comes to a sudden end in The Last Showgirl, wore an all-white outfit.

Gascon has apologised for tweets she sent before the awards race, and is not expected to attend the ceremony.

When asked about the controversy surrounding Emilia Perez, Ms Millichip said that “we don’t comment on any particular nominee”, and the event was a celebration of “great craft”.

Stacy Martin, who stars in the multi-nominated film The Brutalist, said the most amazing thing about the film is that it has been made by “a family of friends”.

The French actress, who plays the daughter of a businessman in the post-Second World War film, also told PA: “Even though the scope of the film was very big, there were lots of very strong friendships and strong collaborations happening, so you’re kind of more free and less intimidated to dive in.”

Also arriving on the red carpet was Love Island star Molly-Mae Hague, British actor and The Brutalist star Joe Alwyn, Happy Valley actor James Norton, and Wallace And Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl co-directors Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham, who brought along figurine-versions of their characters to the event.

Among the celebrities who will present prizes are pop singer Camila Cabello, The Lord Of The Rings actor Orlando Bloom, Scottish actor James McAvoy and Pitch Perfect actress Anna Kendrick.

Harry Potter star Warwick Davis will pick up the Bafta Fellowship, which is awarded to those “who have made an outstanding and exceptional contribution to film, games or television”.

It is understood that the Prince of Wales, who is president of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, will miss this year’s ceremony.

The 2025 Bafta film awards will be broadcast at 7pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the UK.