Emma's top actress, actually

It was the night one of our most celebrated actresses and a 15-year-old schoolboy shared the limelight.

Emma Thompson, star of Love Actually, and Master And Commander's Max Pirkis were outstanding winners at the Evening Standard British Film Awards - the only awards dedicated exclusively to celebrating British talent.

While Love Actually lost out as best film, Thompson bagged the best actress award for her performance in it.

Ms Thompson, 44, wearing a daring backless pink Maria Grachvogel gown, said: "I thought I've only got a few more years left to wear things like this so I might as well make the most of them."

Eton schoolboy Max Pirkis, aged 15, was named ITV London's most promising newcomer for his part alongside Russell Crowe in Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.

Pirkis admitted his schoolfriends tease him about his new-found fame. He said: "This was the first acting I had ever done. The film's producers just came to our school and auditioned some of us. My schoolmates are quite amused - and they do bring it up in class."

Many of the recipients of the awards spoke in defence of the BBC following the Hutton Report.

Best actor winner Paul Bettany, 32, whose wife is actress Jennifer Connelly, said: "I would like to thank the whole of the BBC. I'm married to an American so it's nice to have somebody that tells things as they are." He received his award for performances in Master And Commander and The Heart Of Me.

Director Ken Loach presented the best film award to Kevin Macdonald for his true story of a mountaineering expedition, Touching The Void.

Mr Loach said: "It is very important that the BBC retains its independence for all of us because for those of us who make films, the independence of broadcasting television is not negotiable."

Comic Jack Dee, who presented the 31st awards, joked to the audience at the Savoy that he helped out with the writing of the Hutton Report. He said: "That great punch line at the end - 'it was the BBC's fault' - I wrote that."