Two BBC One dramas – Bleak House and Doctor Who – lead the nominations in the annual Broadcasting Press Guild Programme Awards. Each has five nominations.
Bleak House has been nominated for best drama series, best actor (Charles Dance), best actress (Gillian Anderson, Anna Maxwell Martin) and the writer’s award (Andrew Davies). Doctor Who is nominated in the same categories, with both Doctors – Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant – up for best actor, Billie Piper for best actress and Russell T Davies for the writer’s award. Tennant is also cited for his roles in Casanova and Secret Smile. Piper is also nominated for Much Ado About Nothing.
Winners of the 32nd Annual Broadcasting Press Guild Awards, sponsored by Home Choice, the video-on-demand company will be announced on March 31, 2006 at the Guild’s prestigious awards lunch at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.
The comedy series The Thick Of It, shown on BBC Two and BBC Four, has three nominations – for best comedy/entertainment programme; best actor (Chris Langham); and the writer’s award (Armando Iannucci, Jessie Armstrong and team).
Channel 4 has two nominations for best single drama – The Government Inspector, about the David Kelly case, and A Very Social Secretary, about the events leading to David Blunkett’s resignation as Home Secretary. They’re up against BBC Two’s Jerry Springer The Opera and BBC One’s Much Ado About Nothing.
Jamie Oliver is nominated for two awards. Jamie’s School Dinners is vying for best documentary series, against BBC One’s Life In The Undergrowth and BBC Two’s The Apprentice and Auschwitz: The Nazis and the Final Solution. Oliver himself is up against Jonathan Ross and Ant and Dec as best performer in a non-acting role.
Helen Mirren is nominated as best actress for her role in Channel 4’s Elizabeth, while Ashley Jensen is nominated for her part in BBC Two’s Extras, which is also nominated as best comedy/entertainment programme.
The Broadcasting Press Guild has more than a hundred 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. Details of all previous award winners can be found at: www.broadcastingpressguild.org/awards
Further details: Torin Douglas – 020 8624 9052
The full list of nominations is:
Best Single Drama
A Very Social Secretary (Channel 4/More 4)
Jerry Springer: The Opera (BBC Two)
Much Ado about Nothing (BBC One)
The Government Inspector (Channel 4)
Best Drama Series
Bleak House (BBC One)
Doctor Who (BBC One)
Best Comedy/Entertainment
Extras (BBC Two)
Love Soup (BBC One)
The Thick of It (BBC Four/BBC Two)
Best Multichannel Programme
Cops Cars & Superstars: Bullrun 2 (Bravo)
Ross Kemp on Gangs (Sky One)
Titanic Tales of Two Journeys (History Channel)
Best Single Documentary
49Up (ITV)
Arena: No Direction Home: Bob Dylan (BBC Two)
The Last Tommy (BBC One)
Best Documentary Series
Auschwitz: The Nazis & the Final Solution (BBC Two)
Jamie’s School Dinners (Channel 4)
Life in the Undergrowth (BBC One)
The Apprentice (BBC Two)
Best Actor
Charles Dance (Bleak House)
Chris Eccleston (Doctor Who)
Chris Langham (The Thick of It)
David Tennant (Casanova, Secret Smile, Doctor Who)
Best Actress
Gillian Anderson (Bleak House)
Ashley Jensen (Extras)
Anna Maxwell Martin (Bleak House)
Helen Mirren (Elizabeth I)
Billie Piper (Doctor Who/Much Ado About Nothing)
Best Performer in Non-acting Role
Ant and Dec
Jamie Oliver
Jonathan Ross
Writer’s Award
Andrew Davies (Bleak House, Falling)
Russell T. Davies (Doctor Who, Casanova)
Armando Iannucci, Jesse Armstrong & writing team (The Thick of It)
Innovation Award
Bill Oddie’s Springwatch (BBC Two)
Bleak House (BBC One)
Coast (BBC Two)
David Attenborough’s Life in the Undergrowth (BBC One)
Dubplate Drama (Channel 4)
Radio On Demand (BBC Radio & Music, New Media)
