The Shape of Water, Guillermo Del Toro’s fantasy epic about a woman who falls in love with a sea monster, leads the nominations for this year’s Bafta film awards – though it will face strong competition from Martin McDonagh’s Golden Globe-winning black comedy Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and the Gary Oldman-starring Churchill biopic Darkest Hour.

At a Bafta press conference that also unveiled Joanna Lumley as the new host for the awards, Del Toro’s drama picked up 12 nominations, including best film and best director, as well as a best actress pick for Sally Hawkins and best supporting actress for Octavia Spencer.

Darkest Hour and Three Billboards each received nine nominations, including best film and outstanding British film. Oldman followed up a leading actor (drama) victory at Sunday’s Golden Globes with a nomination for best actor, while Frances McDormand received a nomination for leading actress for her work in McDonagh’s film.

Play Video 0:59 ‘I said yes indecently quick’: Joanna Lumley named as new Bafta host – video

There was also recognition for a number of other British films. Christopher Nolan’s bruising war epic Dunkirk received eight nominations, including best film and best director, while there were three nominations for Paddington 2, including a best supporting actor nod for Hugh Grant. Also receiving the same number of nominations was Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool, Paul McGuigan’s account of the final days of Hollywood star Gloria Grahame. Annette Bening, who plays Grahame in the film, received a best actress nomination for her performance. Armando Iannucci’s dark Soviet satire The Death of Stalin took home two nominations, for best adapted screenplay and outstanding British film.

Despite struggling at the box office, sci-fi noir sequel Blade Runner 2049 was awarded eight nominations, including a best director nod for Denis Villeneuve. There was also cheer for two films largely overlooked at the Golden Globes. I, Tonya, the Margot Robbie-starring biopic of disgraced ice skater Tonya Harding, picked up five nominations, including a best actress nod for Robbie and a supporting actress pick for Allison Janney, while Paul Thomas Anderson’s fashion drama Phantom Thread was handed five nominations. The film’s lead Daniel Day-Lewis, received a best actor nod in what is rumoured to be his final film.

But there was major disappointment for Stephen Spielberg’s Pentagon Papers drama The Post, which stars Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep as Washington Post higher-ups fighting to publish sensitive government documents about the Vietnam war. It was expected to feature heavily in awards-season running, but failed to receive a single Bafta nomination, following on from its shut-out at the Golden Globes.

Ahead of the announcement Bafta chair Jane Lush addressed the sexual abuse scandal currently dominating discussion in Hollywood, by announcing that the British Academy of Film and Television Arts would soon be publishing a “unified set of principles and guidelines” pertaining to working practices in the industry. “We want to ensure the brave revelations become a watershed moment for lasting change in workplace of film and television”, she added.

This year’s Bafta awards will take place on Sunday 18 February at the Royal Albert Hall, London. The ceremony will be presented for the first time by Lumley, who succeeds Stephen Fry as host of the awards. Fry, who has hosted the awards 12 times, announced last week that he would step down from presenting duties in order to “let others take the Baftas on to new heights and greater glories”.