Derry Girls picks up Best Comedy and Best Writer awards & 
This is Going To Hurt stars take Best Actor and Best Actress trophies

Two hit programmes picked up a pair of prizes at this year’s Broadcasting Press Guild Awards: Channel 4’s Derry Girls as Best Comedy plus Best Writer for Lisa McGee and the stars of BBC One’s This Is Going to Hurt – Ben Whishaw and Ambika Mod – for Best Actor and Best Actress.

Derry Girls previously won Best Comedy in 2019, while this is the first Best Writer trophy for Lisa McGee. Ben Whishaw has finally taken the BPG Best Actor award at the fourth time of asking after being nominated previously in 2016 for London Spy, 2013 (The Hollow Crown: Richard II and The Hour) and 2009 (Criminal Justice). Ambika Mod’s outstanding performance in the series saw her win with her very first BPG nomination for Best Actress.

The most popular new reality show on British TV, The Traitors, took the Best Entertainment title by a wide margin of votes, while BBC One shows also grabbed three other trophies: Sherwood for Best Drama (4+ episodes); The Real Mo Farah for Best Documentary Mini Series; and Frozen Planet II for Best Documentary (4+ episodes). The original Frozen Planet series won the same prize back in 2012.

Sky picked up its second drama category award in the last three years with I Hate Suzie Too winning Best Drama Mini Series. Chernobyl also won a drama prize in 2020 with HBO for Sky Atlantic.

Grant Tucker, the chair of the BPG, said: “Our winners always reflect the vast amount of talent in British television and the prizes are going to both programmes and individuals who were extremely popular with our audiences last year.”

The BPG Television, Streaming & Audio Awards – for work commissioned or produced in the UK and screened in 2022 – are prized by programme-makers because they are chosen independently by TV and audio correspondents, critics and previewers.

The 49^th annual BPG Awards lunch took place today at Royal Horseguards Hotel in Whitehall, London. Warner Bros. Discovery and Pact are the event supporters.

This year, three awards were chosen directly by the BPG Executive Committee. For the first time, the BPG Jury Prize was awarded to multiple winners: eight BBC local radio journalists whose interviews held Liz Truss’s feet to the fire during her short stint as Prime Minister. The Breakthrough Award went to the very talented screen writer Jack Rooke whose Big Boys creation on Channel 4 was such a success in 2022 and which also received a BPG nomination in the Best Comedy category. The Harvey Lee Award, for an outstanding contribution to broadcasting, was presented to Jeremy Paxman to honour his remarkable 50 years on TV and radio as a broadcaster, journalist and author.

In the Audio Awards this year, the Radio Programme of the Year award went to In Dark Corners (BBC Radio 4) which saw Alex Renton investigate abuse at some of the nation’s most exclusive public schools; Best Podcast was The Coming Storm (BBC Long Form Audio) in which Gabriel Gatehouse took a journey into the dark heart of the American right and of modern conspiracy theories in the US; and Marianna Spring won Audio Presenter of the Year after receiving rave notices for her journalism on podcasts War on Truth and Disaster Trolls (both BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds).

Simon O’Hagan, chair of the audio jury, said: “Three great winners this year that have tackled some very serious subjects and that shows that radio and podcasts are especially important when it comes to investigative journalism.”

The annual BPG Awards winners are also announced via the BPG Twitter account @BPGPressAwards.

Further information: Adrian Lobb, BPG, 07986 379 452 & adrianlobb1@gmail.com.

Notes to editors

1. The Broadcasting Press Guild was founded in 1974 and has more than 130 members. They are journalists who specialise in covering television, streaming, radio, podcasts and the media, and include critics, previewers, media correspondents and feature writers from national newspapers, broadcasters and leading trade journals an online publishers.
2. In addition to the annual invitation-only lunch, attended by the winners, BPG members and leading broadcasting executives, the awards were announced at the same time on Twitter @BPGPressGuild #BPGAwards at lunchtime on Friday March 24^th 2023. Details of the nominations and previous BPG awards can be found at http://broadcastingpressguild.org, together with pictures, videos and a history of the Guild.
3. Harvey Lee – in honour of whom our Outstanding Contribution to Broadcasting Award is named – was a leading light of the BPG, who died at the tragically early age of 41. The award for outstanding achievement has been given in his memory every year since every year since 1992. Previous winners are named on our website: http://www.broadcastingpressguild.org/bpgawards/harvey-lee/
4. Other than the Jury Prize, the Breakthrough Award and the Harvey Lee Award, the other 12 BPG prizes were voted for by Guild members.
5. Warner Bros. Discovery and Pact are the supporters of the 49^th BPG Awards. Pact is the UK screen sector trade body representing and supporting independent production and distribution companies.

The full list of this year’s BPG TV, Streaming and Audio Awards Winners are:

Best Documentary Mini Series 1-3 episodes

The Real Mo Farah (Atomised Studios in association with Red Bull Studios for BBC One)

Best Documentary Series 4+ episodes

Frozen Planet II (BBC Studios Natural History Unit production with BBC America, France Télévisions, ZDF and The Open University)

Best Comedy

Derry Girls S3 (Hat Trick Productions for Channel 4)

Best Entertainment

The Traitors (Studio Lambert for BBC One)

Best Drama Mini Series 1-3 episodes

I Hate Suzie Too (Bad Wolf for Sky Atlantic)

Best Drama Series 4+ episodes

Sherwood (House Productions for BBC One)

Best Actress

Ambika Mod – This Is Going to Hurt (Sister in association with Terrible Productions for BBC One and AMC+)

Best Actor

Ben Whishaw – This Is Going to Hurt (Sister in association with Terrible Productions for BBC One and AMC+)

Best Writer

Lisa McGee – Derry Girls (Hat Trick Productions for Channel 4)

BPG Breakthrough Talent Award

Jack Rooke, writer, Big Boys (Roughcut Television for Channel 4)

BPG Jury Prize

BBC Local Radio (BBC English Regions)

Radio Programme of the Year

In Dark Corners (BBC Scotland Productions for BBC Radio 4)

Best Podcast

The Coming Storm (Long Form Audio for BBC Radio 4 and BBC World Service)

Audio Presenter of the Year

Marianna Spring for War On Truth, and Disaster Trolls (BBC Radio 44 and BBC Sounds)

Harvey Lee Award for Outstanding Contribution to Broadcasting

Jeremy Paxman

Outstanding Contribution to Broadcasting Award announcement for Broadcasting Press Guild Awards lunch

Jeremy Paxman to be honoured by TV and audio writers at Broadcasting Press Guild Awards lunch this Friday

Broadcaster, presenter and journalist Jeremy Paxman is to be honoured this week at the 49th annual Broadcasting Press Guild Awards, chosen by journalists who write about television, streaming and audio.

Paxman will receive the BPG’s prestigious Harvey Lee Award for Outstanding Contribution to Broadcasting at the awards lunch at Royal Horseguards Hotel in Whitehall, London on Friday March 24th. The award is sponsored by Warner Bros. Discovery.

The award celebrates Paxman’s 50 years of broadcasting that includes his work on Newsnight, Panorama,Breakfast Time and University Challenge and began with his first job as a graduate trainee at BBC Radio Brighton back in 1972.

From there, Paxman’s remarkable broadcasting career took him to Belfast, where he reported on the conflict in Northern Ireland before moving to London in 1977. Starting on the Tonight programme, he next landed a job on Panorama in 1979 and spent five years reporting from around the world. His next career move was to the Six O’Clock News where he was a newsreader for two years before joining BBC One’s Breakfast Time.

But it was his time as presenter of Newsnight – a job which began in 1989 – that left the biggest mark on British broadcasting. Paxman’s iconic interview with then Home Secretary Michael Howard, in which he asked the same question of the minister 12 times, is one of the most memorable political interviews of all time. But there were many more outstanding moments during 15 years in the job, including much-watched face-offs with politicians including British Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Theresa May; US President George Bush; Italian leader Silvio Berlusconi; and UK party leaders Ed Miliband and Charles Kennedy. His outstanding broadcasting work on General Elections spanned decades. He also asked the tough questions of people in the arts, including David Bowie, Dizzie Rascal and Russell Brand.

For 29 years from 1994, Paxman also presented University Challenge – asking more tough questions. And he returned to radio for four years from 1998, when he presented Start The Week on BBC Radio 4.

Aside from his job as a journalist and presenter, Paxman even appeared as himself in the political comedy The Thick Of It, while his work in the field of documentaries included The Victorians in 2012 and Empire two years later (both series were complemented with books by Paxman). He also presented Britain’s Great War on the 100^th anniversary of the start of World War I.

The BPG’s chairman Grant Tucker, said: “As an organisation of journalists, the BPG holds Jeremy Paxman in very high esteem for his broadcasting record which has meant remarkable longevity, a unique authenticity, and a fierce desire to hold some people’s feet to the fire. We loudly applaud Jeremy’s famous interview interrogations of the powerful and his dedication to the journalistic craft, which provides the very best for his viewers, listeners and readers.”

The BPG Television, Streaming and Audio Awards are highly prized by programme-makers because they are selected independently by journalists who write about TV, radio, streaming and podcasts – correspondents, critics and previewers. The awards lunch will be attended by award winners, BPG members, and leading broadcasting executives.

For more information about the Broadcasting Press Guild, including a full list of winners over the past 48 years, and see pictures and videos from previous BPG awards ceremonies at:
http://www.broadcastingpressguild.org/2014/03/25/history-of-the-broadcasting-press-guild

Notes to editors:

1. The remaining award winners will be announced at the 49th BPG Awards lunch at Royal Horseguards Hotel in Whitehall, London, on Friday March 24th 2023 and simultaneously on Twitter @BPGPress #BPGAwards. Winners have been informed in advance and places at the lunch are by invitation only. A full news release about the winners, embargoed till 2pm on Friday, will be available on our website: www.broadcastingpressguild.org
2. The BPG Twitter handle for the Awards is #BPGAwards @BPGPressGuild.
3. The Broadcasting Press Guild was founded in 1974 and has more than 130 members. They are journalists who specialise in covering television, radio and the media, and include critics, previewers, media correspondents and feature writers from national newspapers, broadcasters and leading
   trade journals and websites.
4. Harvey Lee (1950-1991) – after whom the award is named – was the media correspondent for the Daily Telegraph and a leading light in the BPG throughout the 1980s. Previous winners of the BPG’s Harvey Lee Award, for an outstanding contribution to broadcasting, include Sir Lenny Henry, Moira
   Stuart, John Humphrys, Nicholas Parsons, Sir Terry Wogan, Cilla Black, Melvyn Bragg, Andrew Davies, Sir David Frost, Michael Grade, Norma Percy, Biddy Baxter, Edward Barnes, Phil Redmond, Beryl Vertue, Tony Warren, Anne Wood, John Lloyd and Jon Snow. See more details at
   http://www.broadcastingpressguild.org/bpgawards/harvey-lee/
5. The 49th BPG Awards are supported by Warner Bros. Discovery and Pact. Pact is the UK screen sector trade body representing and supporting independent production and distribution companies.

Further information: Adrian Lobb, BPG: 07986 379 452 or adrianlobb1@gmail.com

BBC Local Radio journalists collect special award for their remarkable interviews during the short leadership of ex-Prime Minister Liz Truss

Eight BBC local radio journalists who carried out a series of stunning interviews with Liz Truss during her rollercoaster 42-day stint as Prime Minister have received a special award from the Broadcasting Press Guild.

The BPG – an organisation of TV and audio journalists – has recognised the eight with its prestigious Jury Prize and will deliver the award today at a star-studded luncheon in London. It is the first time, the BPG Jury Prize has been awarded to multiple winners.

The eight journalists being honoured are: Rima Ahmed, BBC Radio Leeds; James Hanson, BBC Radio Bristol; Graham Liver, BBC Radio Lancashire; Anna Cookson, BBC Radio Kent; John Acres, BBC Radio Stoke; Chris Goreham, BBC Radio Norfolk; Sarah Julian, BBC Radio Nottingham; and Amy Oakden, BBC Radio Tees.

BPG Chair Grant Tucker said: “As an organisation of journalists, the BPG is always among the first to see the value of great interviewing and these BBC radio interviews were game-changing for Liz Truss and her doomed government. There is no doubt that the PM’s feet were held to the fire in these eight radio sessions in a way that stood out among so much drama that was happening in British politics last summer.”

The Jury Prize winners are in good company as BPG Award winners because another top prize – the Harvey Lee Award for outstanding contribution to broadcasting – is being presented today to Jeremy Paxman, one of Britain’s finest interviewers of modern times.

“It’s a happy coincidence that some BBC radio journalists and Jeremy will be in the same room together, collecting prizes for the same journalistic talents,” said Tucker.

The 49^th BPG Television, Streaming and Audio Awards – for work commissioned or premiered in the UK and released in 2022 – are prized by programme-makers because they are chosen independently by TV and radio correspondents, critics and previewers. This year, Warner Bros. Discovery and PACT are the supporters of the Awards luncheon which takes place today, Friday March 24th 2023, at The Royal Horseguards Hotel in Whitehall, London.

Other BPG Awards to be handed out today include three Audio prizes – Best Audio Presenter, Best Radio Programme and Best Podcast – and television/streaming trophies for Best Actor and Best Actress, Best Drama, Best Comedy, Best Entertainment and Best Documentary.

Further information from Grant Tucker, 07854 247521 or grant@whynow.co.uk

Notes to editors

1. The BPG Twitter handle for the Awards is #BPGAwards @BPGPressGuild.
2. The Awards are presented for work commissioned, produced or co-produced  in the UK and broadcast in 2022.
3. The Broadcasting Press Guild was founded in 1974 and has more than 130 members. They are journalists who specialise in covering television, streaming, radio podcasts and the media, and include critics, previewers, media correspondents and feature writers from national newspapers, broadcasters and leading trade journals and online publishers.
4. The last winner of the BPG Jury Prize was producer Michael Apted in 2020 for the groundbreaking 7Upseries made by Granada Television for ITV.
5. Warner Bros. Discovery and PACT are the supporters of the 49^th BPG Awards. Pact is the UK screen sector trade body representing and supporting independent production and distribution companies.