The time John Travolta became the final recipient of the ‘Best Boobs’ Bafta award

The Odeon Leicester Square. The Bafta Awards, 2002.

Host Stephen Fry has read out the nominations for the 2002 ‘Best Boobs’ Bafta, which included Nicole Kidman, Rene Zellweger and a surprise inclusion for Dame Judi Dench.

An uncomfortable silence descends over the guests.

“And the winner is…Halle Berry for Swordfish.”

A polite applause ripples through the auditorium.

Fry looks embarrassed as he explains Ms Berry had declined the offer to accept her award and, instead, co-star John Travolta ends up accepting the 2002 Bafta Award for Best Boobs.

A farcical way to end one of the more ignominious periods of the Baftas.

First introduced in the mid-nineties, the ‘Best Boobs’ category was an effort to integrate the popular ‘lad’ culture that was sweeping Great Britain into the fusty world of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.

“I was never particularly happy with winning an award for my breasts,” said inaugural winner Emma Thompson.

“But, I didn’t want to be rude. Bafta had also given me a screenplay award, so I tried to focus on that instead.”

Despite strong support from popular ‘lad’ magazines FHM, Loaded, and The New Statesman, the ‘Best Boobs’ category received stinging criticism over the next few years and, in 1999, the British Academy attempted to put an end to accusations of sexism by introducing the ‘Fittest Arse’ category.

Introduced by a clearly inebriated Sara Cox, she read out the nominations for the new award, announced the winner to be Leonardo Dicaprio, snogged him as he accepted the award and then left the stage singing Oasis’ Cast No Shadow.

By 2002, the ‘lad’ culture was becoming increasingly tired, and Halle Berry’s snub and proved embarrassing, so in 2003, the category was quietly dropped, with only a few newspapers noting the last ever recipient of the ‘Best Boobs’ award was John Travolta.

The ‘Fittest Arse’ category limped on for a few more year until it too was dropped in 2004 after being controversially won by Sean Astin for his work as Samwise in Lord of the Rings.

The Baftas returned to its traditional categories, and has gone for strength to strength ever since except, of course, 2011’s ‘All-nude hip hop Baftas’ which, happily, everyone has forgotten about.