Benedict Cumberbatch was named best actor, for his roles as Christopher Tietjens in Parade’s End and Sherlock Holmes in BBC One’s Sherlock. Rebecca Hall was voted best actress for her role as Tietjens’ wife Sylvia, in the First World War drama.

Parade’s End also won the award for best drama series and the BPG writer’s award, which went to Sir Tom Stoppard, who adapted the novels by Ford Madox Ford. Cumberbatch, Hall and Stoppard are all due to attend the awards lunch, with executives from the BBC and Mammoth Screen, which produced the series.

The ITV documentary which exposed Jimmy Savile and helped plunge the BBC into crisis, won the award for best single documentary. Exposure: the Other Side of Jimmy Savile led to a national inquiry into child abuse and a chain of events that resulted in the departure of the BBC director-general George Entwistle.

John Humphrys, whose interview with Mr Entwistle on Radio 4’s Today was instrumental in the director-general’s resignation that evening, won the Harvey Lee Award for an outstanding contribution to broadcasting. John has been a BBC reporter, presenter and interviewer for more than 40 years, and the citation says “his tenacious interviewing of politicians and others in the news has made his name a byword for fearless inquisition.”

John’s colleague Charlotte Green, who has stepped down after 25 years as a Radio 4 newsreader and announcer, was named radio broadcaster of the year. The award for best radio programme also went to Radio 4, for the series Soul Music which explores music with a powerful emotional impact.

Three awards marked the Olympics and Paralympics in 2012. The BBC won the innovation award for its live and catch-up coverage of all 304 events at the Olympics, across multiple platforms and devices. Presenters Huw Edwards and Gabby Logan are due to attend the lunch and receive the award with senior BBC executives responsible for the output.

The BBC Two comedy series Twenty Twelve – showing how preparations for the Olympics could go horribly wrong, with what the judges called “an uncanny ability to predict real-life events” – won the best comedy/entertainment award.

And Channel 4’s Adam Hills won the breakthrough award for his nightly Paralympics show, The Last Leg, which gave an alternative view of the day’s events.

BBC Two also won the awards for best single drama (The Hollow Crown: Richard II), best documentary series (Inside Claridge’s) and best factual entertainment (Great British Bake Off).

The multichannel award went to Dynamo: Magician Impossible, featuring Steve Frayne, on UKTV’s Watch channel.

The awards are sponsored by Discovery Channel which is part of Discovery Networks. Discovery Networks has 12 channel brands in the UK reaching 11.8 million people every week covering factual, lifestyle and entertainment programming. www.discoveryuk.com.

The invitation-only ceremony at One Whitehall Place is attended by the winners, BPG members and leading broadcasting executives.

For more information, please contact:
Torin Douglas, Broadcasting Press Guild, 07860 422992
Twitter: #bpgawards

For exclusive video clips and photographs, or to send a photographer, reporter or crew, please contact:
Caroline Watt, Senior Publicity Manager, Discovery Networks
caroline_watt@discovery.com

020 8811 3584, m: 07879 474223

Editor’s notes:
1. The Broadcasting Press Guild was founded in 1974 and has more than 120 members – all journalists who specialise in writing and broadcasting about television, radio and the media in general. They include media correspondents, reviewers, previewers and feature writers from the major national newspapers, broadcasters and leading trade journals.
2. Harvey Lee was a leading light of the BPG, who died at the tragically early age of 41, and the award for outstanding achievement has been given in his memory every year since 1992.
3. Details of the nominations, previous BPG Awards and the event sponsor, Discovery Channel, can be found at: http://www.broadcastingpressguild.org, together with pictures and video of previous awards ceremonies and more on the history of the Harvey Lee Outstanding Contribution to Broadcasting Award.

39th Broadcasting Press Guild TV and Radio Awards – The winners

Best Single Drama
The Hollow Crown: Richard II
(A Neal Street Productions co-production with NBC Universal and WNET Thirteen for BBC Two)

Best Drama Series
Parade’s End
(A Mammoth Screen production for the BBC, in association with HBO Miniseries & Trademark Films, BBC Worldwide and Lookout Point /more

Best Single Documentary
Exposure: The Other Side of Jimmy Savile
(An ITV Studios production for ITV1)

Best Documentary Series
Inside Claridge’s
(Produced by The Garden for BBC Two)

Best Entertainment/Comedy
Twenty Twelve
(A BBC Comedy production for BBC Two)

Best Factual Entertainment
The Great British Bake Off
(A Love West production for BBC Two)

Best Multichannel Programme
Dynamo: Magician Impossible
(Phil McIntyre Productions for UKTV’s Watch)

Best Actor
Benedict Cumberbatch
(Christopher Tietjens in Parade’s End for BBC Two, and Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock for BBC One)

Best Actress
Rebecca Hall
(Sylvia Tietjens in Parade’s End for BBC Two)

Breakthrough Award
Adam Hills
(The Last Leg, during the 2012 Paralympics on Channel 4)

Writer’s Award
Sir Tom Stoppard
(Parade’s End, from the novels by Ford Madox Ford, for BBC Two)

Radio Broadcaster of the Year
Charlotte Green
(Newsreader and announcer for BBC Radio 4)

Radio Programme of the Year
Soul Music
(A BBC A&M Bristol production for BBC Radio 4)

Innovation Award
BBC Olympics 2012
(In recognition of the first truly multi-platform, multi-device, digital Olympics)

Harvey Lee Award for Outstanding Contribution to Broadcasting
John Humphrys
(BBC reporter, interviewer and presenter, in special recognition of his work for BBC Radio 4’s Today programme)

The BPG awards are voted for by journalists who write about TV and radio, and will be presented today (Thursday) at a lunch in the Gladstone Library at One Whitehall Place in central London. Names of the other winners will be revealed at the lunch (see separate release embargoed till 12 Noon Thursday March 14th).

The TV nominations were announced last month, here:

and the radio nominations here:

John Humphrys has been a BBC reporter, presenter and interviewer for more than 40 years. He joined Today as a presenter in January 1987 and has also worked as a BBC foreign correspondent in America and Africa, a diplomatic correspondent and presenter of the Nine O’Clock News. The award citation says “his tenacious interviewing of politicians and others in the news has made his name a byword for fearless inquisition.”

The award comes at the end of a year in which his Today interview with his boss, the BBC director-general George Entwistle, about the handling of the Jimmy Savile scandal led directly to Mr Entwistle’s resignation that evening.
The award is given in memory of Harvey Lee, a leading light of the BPG, who died at the tragically early age of 41, and will be presented by his widow Marilyn. Previous recipients include Sir David Frost, Sir Terry Wogan, Melvyn Bragg, Charles Wheeler, Beryl Vertue and Michael Grade.

The awards are sponsored by Discovery Channel which is part of Discovery Networks. Discovery Networks has 12 channel brands in the UK reaching 11.8 million people every week covering factual, lifestyle and entertainment programming.

The invitation-only ceremony at One Whitehall Place is attended by the winners, BPG members and leading broadcasting executives.

For more information, please contact:

Torin Douglas, Broadcasting Press Guild, 07860 422992
Twitter: @bpgpressguild #bpgawards

For exclusive video clips and photographs, or to send a photographer, reporter or crew, please contact:
Caroline Watt, Senior Publicity Manager, Discovery Networks

Discovery Networks
caroline_watt@discovery.com
020 8811 3584, m: 07879 474223
Editor’s notes:

1. The Broadcasting Press Guild was founded in 1974 and has more than 120 members – all journalists who specialise in writing and broadcasting about television, radio and the media in general. They include media correspondents, reviewers, previewers and feature writers from the major national newspapers, broadcasters and leading trade journals.

2. Details of the nominations, previous BPG Awards and the event sponsor, Discovery Channel, can be found at: http://www.broadcastingpressguild.org, together with pictures and video of previous awards ceremonies and more on the history of the Harvey Lee Outstanding Contribution to Broadcasting Award.

The third nominee for Radio Broadcaster of the Year is the Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker, whose shows – Wireless Nights on Radio 4 and Jarvis Cocker’s Sunday Service on BBC Radio 6 Music – were among the judges’ favourites.

The nominations for Radio Programme of the Year include Radio 4’s dramatisation of James Joyce’s Ulysses, marking Bloomsday, the day when the book’s events take place; the Radio 4 comedy series Cabin Pressure, which features Roger Allam and Benedict Cumberbatch (both shortlisted in the best actor category in this year’s BPG TV Awards); and Soul Music, the Radio 4 series about pieces of music.with a powerful emotional impact.

The fourth nomination is BBC Radio 3’s Words and Music, a sequence of classical music interspersed with well-loved – and less familiar – poems and prose read by leading actors.  The judges described it as an “overlooked jewel” in the BBC’s crown.

The BPG awards are highly prized by programme-makers because they are selected independently, by journalists who write about TV and radio – correspondents, critics and previewers. Previous winners of the Radio Broadcaster award include Alistair Cook, Sir Terry Wogan, Eddie Mair, Sue Lawley, Jonathan Ross, Evan Davis, Simon Mayo, Sean Rafferty, Kirsty Young, and Graham Seed (Nigel Pargetter).

The winners will be announced next month at the BPG Awards lunch at One Whitehall Place on Thursday March 14th, 2013. The BPG television awards, the Innovation Award and the Harvey Lee Award for outstanding contribution to broadcasting will also be presented at the lunch. Winners are informed in advance and places at the lunch are by invitation only – but media organisations are invited to cover the ‘red carpet’ arrivals.

The BPG awards are sponsored by Discovery Channel, which champions intelligent entertainment. Discovery Networks UK has 12 channel brands in the UK covering factual, lifestyle and entertainment programming.
.
The awards lunch will be attended by the winners, BPG members and leading broadcasting executives.

Nominations for the BPG television awards were announced last week and can be seen on the BPG website here:

The Broadcasting Press Guild was founded in 1974 and has more than 120 members – journalists who specialise in covering television, radio and the media. They include critics, previewers, media correspondents and feature writers from national newspapers, broadcasters and leading trade journals and websites

Further information from Torin Douglas, BPG, 07860 422992

The BBC2 drama Parade’s End – starring Cumberbatch and Hall and written by Stoppard – leads the way with five nominations, including best drama series.

Roger Allam is nominated alongside Cumberbatch as best actor for his role in Parade’s End and The Thick of It. They are up against Peter Capaldi (The Thick of It and The Hour) and Ben Whishaw (The Hollow Crown: Richard II and The Hour).

Rebecca Hall is nominated as best actress with Sienna Miller (The Girl), Anna Chancellor (Pramface, The Hour), Olivia Colman (Accused, Twenty Twelve) and Maxine Peake (Silk, Room at the Top).

Parade’s End will compete for the best drama series award against Last Tango in Halifax, Line of Duty and Sherlock. And Sir Tom Stoppard is nominated for the Writer’s Award alongside John Morton (Twenty Twelve), Sally Wainwright (Last Tango in Halifax, Scott & Bailey) and Steven Moffat (Doctor Who, Sherlock).

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

The BPG awards are sponsored by Discovery Channel, which champions intelligent entertainment. Discovery Networks UK has 12 channel brands in the UK covering factual, lifestyle and entertainment programming: www.discoveryuk.com

The ITV documentary which exposed a nationwide paedophile scandal leads the nominations for best single documentary: Exposure: The Other Side of Jimmy Savile. It will compete with Arena: Jonathan Miller; London: The Modern Babylon; and Storyville: Fire in Babylon.

Grayson Perry: All in the Best Possible Taste is nominated for best documentary series, alongside Inside Claridge’s; Meet the Romans with Mary Beard; Putin, Russia and The West; and The Secret History of our Streets.

In the best comedy/entertainment category, Fresh Meat is up against Twenty Twelve and The Thick of It. Two cookery series, Great British Bake Off and Masterchef: The Professionals will compete for the best factual entertainment award against Who Do You Think You Are? and Paul O’Grady: For the Love of Dogs.

The Multichannel Award will be contested by Dynamo: Magician Impossible, Hunderby, Moone Boy and Stella.

The Breakthrough Award – for someone who attained a new level of success in 2012 – will be between Clare Balding (Olympics and Paralympics), Adam Hills (The Last Leg – Paralympics) and Jack Whitehall (Fresh Meat and Bad Education).

The shortlists for Radio Broadcaster of the Year and Radio Programme of the Year will be announced in a week’s time.

Notes to editors:

1. The winners will be announced at the BPG Awards lunch in the beautiful Gladstone Library at One Whitehall Place on Thursday March 14th 2013. The Innovation Award and the Harvey Lee Award for outstanding contribution to broadcasting, which are in the gift of the BPG committee, will be presented as well. Winners will be informed in advance and places at the lunch are by invitation only.

2. The Broadcasting Press Guild was founded in 1974 and has more than a hundred 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.

3. Previous BPG Best Actress winners include Dame Eileen Atkins, Dame Helen Mirren, Gillian Anderson, Vanessa Redgrave, Maxine Peake, Anne-Marie Duff, Dame Diana Rigg, Zoe Wanamaker, Gina McKee, Julie Walters, Olivia Colman and Juliet Stevenson.

4. The Best Actor award has gone to Kenneth Branagh, Colin Firth, Sir Alec Guinness, Albert Finney, Charles Dance, Robert Hardy, Jim Broadbent, Christopher Ecclestone, Benedict Cumberbatch and Dominic West among others (see details and photos at http://www.broadcastingpressguild.org/.)

Further information from Torin Douglas, BPG, 07860 422992

The full list of TV nominations is:

Best Single Drama

Best Possible Taste: the Kenny Everett Story (BBC Four)

The Hollow Crown: Richard II (BBC Two)

Loving Miss Hatto (BBC One)

Murder (BBC Two)

Best Drama Series

Last Tango in Halifax (BBC One)

Line of Duty (BBC Two)

Parade’s End (BBC Two)

Sherlock (BBC One)

Best Single Documentary

Arena: Jonathan Miller (BBC Two)

Exposure: The Other Side of Jimmy Savile (ITV1)

London: The Modern Babylon (BBC Two)

Storyville: Fire in Babylon (BBC Four)

Best Documentary Series

Grayson Perry: All in the Best Possible Taste (Channel 4)

Inside Claridge’s (BBC Two)

Meet the Romans with Mary Beard (BBC Two)

Putin, Russia and The West (BBC Two)

Secret History of Our Streets (BBC Two)

Best Entertainment/Comedy

Fresh Meat (Channel 4)

Twenty Twelve (BBC Two)

The Thick of It (BBC Two)

Best Multichannel

Dynamo: Magician Impossible (UKTV/Watch)

Hunderby (Sky Atlantic)

Moone Boy (Sky1)

Stella (Sky1)

Best Factual Entertainment

Great British Bake Off (BBC Two)

MasterChef: The Professionals (BBC Two)

Who Do You Think You Are? (BBC One)

Paul O’Grady: for the Love of Dogs (ITV1)

Best Actor

Roger Allam (Parade’s End, The Thick of It)

Peter Capaldi (The Thick of It, The Hour)

Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock, Parade’s End)

Ben Whishaw (The Hollow Crown: Richard II, The Hour)

Best Actress

Anna Chancellor (Pramface, The Hour)

Olivia Colman (Accused, Twenty Twelve)

Rebecca Hall (Parade’s End)

Sienna Miller (The Girl)

Maxine Peake (Silk, Room at the Top)

BPG Writer’s Award

John Morton (Twenty Twelve)

Sir Tom Stoppard (Parade’s End)

Sally Wainwright (Last Tango; Scott & Bailey)

Steven Moffat (Doctor Who, Sherlock)

BPG Breakthrough Award

Clare Balding, Olympics & Paralympics presenting

Adam Hills, The Last Leg (Paralympics)

Jack Whitehall, Fresh Meat & Bad Education

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Mike Bartlett (The Town)

William Boyd (Restless)

Julia Davis (Hunderby)

Robert Jones (Murder; Secret State)

Chris Lang (A Mother’s Son)

Jed Mercurio (Line of Duty)

Steven Moffat (Doctor Who/Sherlock)

John Morton (Twenty Twelve)

Chris O’Dowd & Nick Vincent Murphy (Moone Boy)

Jeff Pope (Mrs Biggs)

Sir Tom Stoppard (Parade’s End)

Heidi Thomas (Call the Midwife)

Sally Wainwright (Last Tango; Scott & Bailey)

Fresh Meat writing team

Getting On – the writing team (Jo Brand etc)

Stella writing team (Ruth Jones creator)

Endeavour (ITV 1)

Everyday (Channel 4)

Loving Miss Hatto (BBC One)

Murder (BBC Two)

My Murder (BBC Three)

Nixon’s the One (Harry Shearer) (Sky Arts)

The Best of Men (BBC2)

The Hollow Crown: Richard II (BBC Two)

The Kidnap Diaries (dramatisation of Sean Langan’s 2008 kidnapping) (BBC Four)

The Scapegoat (ITV 1)

Arena:The Dreams of William Golding (BBC Four)

Britain in a Day (BBC Two)

Dan Snow Battle of the Somme (Discovery Channel)

Dispatches: Great Ticket Scandal (Channel 4)

Exposure: The Other Side of Jimmy Savile (ITV1)

Four Born Every Second (BBC One)

Golden Oldies (BBC One)

Lifers (Channel 4)

London: The Modern Babylon Julien Temple (BBC Two)

Mark Gatiss: Horror Europa (BBC Four)

Storyville: Fire in Babylon (BBC Four)

Storyville: Tabloid – Sex in Chains (BBC Four)

Tales of Television Centre (BBC Four)

The Plane Crash (Channel 4)

The South Bank Show – Grime (Sky Arts)

The Toilet: An Unspoken History (BBC Four)

The Trouble with Aid (BBC4)

This World : Inside The Meltdown (BBC Two)

This World : Norway’s Massacre (BBC Two)

Bring Me Morecambe and Wise (UKTV)

Dan Snow Battle of the Somme, Discovery Channel

Dynamo: Magician Impossible (UKTV; Watch)

Hit and Miss, ( Sky Atlantic)

Hunderby (Sky Atlantic)

Kingdom of Plants (Sky 3D + Sky Atlantic)

Moone Boy (Sky1)

Preppers UK: Surviving Armageddon (NatGeo)

South Bank Show + South Bank Show Awards (Sky Arts)

Starlings (Sky1)

Stella (Sky1)

Stephen Hawking’s Grand Design (Discovery Channel)

Wheeler Dealers (Discovery Channel)

World’s Toughest Expeditions (with James Cracknell) (Discovery Channel)