News release – TV nominations – EMBARGOED till 0001 Thursday February 20th 2014
Channel 4 and BBC Two have dominated the nominations for the 40th annual Broadcasting Press Guild Awards, sponsored by Discovery Channel, to be presented next month at a lunch in central London.
Channel 4 has 10 nominations, including all four programmes shortlisted for best single documentary – Dogging Tales, The Murder Trial, Richard III: The King in the Car Park and Syria: Across the Lines.
BBC Two has nine nominations, including two of the finalists for best drama series – The Fall and Top of the Lake, which will compete for that prize with ITV’s Broadchurch.
In the best actor category, Broadchurch’s David Tennant is up against Peter Mullan from Top of the Lake, Rory Kinnear of Channel 4’s Southcliffe and Chiwetel Ejiofor from BBC Two’s Dancing on the Edge.
Olivia Colman from Broadchurch is nominated as best actress, alongside Elisabeth Moss from Top of the Lake, Gillian Anderson from The Fall and Maxine Peake for The Village.
The writer’s award will be a tussle between Jane Campion & Gerard Lee (Top of the Lake), Chris Chibnall (Broadchurch), Allan Cubitt (The Fall) and Sally Wainwright (BBC One’s Last Tango in Halifax).
The BPG awards, sponsored by Discovery Channel for the second consecutive year, are highly prized by programme-makers because they are selected independently by journalists who write about TV and radio – correspondents, critics and previewers. The 40th annual awards lunch, at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, will be attended by the winners, BPG members and leading broadcasting executives.
Simon Schama’s The Story of the Jews on BBC Two is shortlisted for best documentary series, with BBC Three’s The Call Centre and Channel 4’s Educating Yorkshire.
Channel 4’s Black Mirror: Be Right Back is nominated for best single drama, alongside BBC Four’s Burton and Taylor and BBC Two’s The Wiper’s Times. In the best entertainment/comedy category, Channel 4’s Fresh Meat and Toast will compete with BBC Two’s Ambassadors and BBC One’s Strictly Come Dancing.
BBC Two’s Great British Bake Off will compete for the best factual entertainment award with Channel 4’s Gogglebox and ITV’s Paul O’Grady: For the Love of Dogs. The Multichannel Award will be contested by Dave’s Crackanory, Sky Atlantic’s The Tunnel, Shaun Ryder on UFOs (History) and Sky 1’s Yonderland.
The Breakthrough Award – for people or organisations who attained a new level of success in 2013 – will be contested by BT Sport, for the successful launch of a challenger TV brand; Jamie Dornan (The Fall) and Sharon Rooney (My Mad Fat Diary). The nominees for the Innovation Award are Googlebox, for an innovative programme format; Netflix, for programming and distribution innovation; and Sky TV, for 25 years of innovation.
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 40th BPG Awards lunch in the beautifully restored Theatre Royal Drury Lane on Friday March 28th 2014. The Harvey Lee Award for outstanding contribution to broadcasting, which is in the gift of the BPG Executive 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. BPG Best Actress winners during the Guild’s 40 years include Dame Eileen Atkins, Dame Helen Mirren, Dame Peggy Ashcroft, 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 more details and photos at http://www.broadcastingpressguild.org/.)
Further information from Torin Douglas, BPG: torindouglas@aol.com or 07860 422992
The full list of TV nominations is:
Best Single Drama
Black Mirror: Be Right Back (Channel 4)
Burton and Taylor (BBC Four)
The Wipers Times (BBC Two)
Best Drama Series
Broadchurch (ITV)
The Fall (BBC Two)
Top of the Lake (BBC Two)
Best Single Documentary
Dogging Tales (Channel 4)
The Murder Trial (Channel 4)
Richard III: The King in the Car Park (Channel 4)
Syria: Across the Lines (Channel 4)
Best Documentary Series
The Call Centre (BBC Three)
Educating Yorkshire (Channel 4)
The Story of the Jews (BBC Two)
Best Entertainment/Comedy
Ambassadors (BBC Two)
Fresh Meat (Channel 4)
Strictly Come Dancing (BBC One)
Toast (Channel 4)
Best Multichannel Programme
Crackanory (Dave)
Shaun Ryder on UFOs (History)
The Tunnel (Sky Atlantic)
Yonderland (Sky 1)
Best Factual Entertainment
Gogglebox (Channel 4)
Paul O’Grady: For the Love of Dogs (ITV)
The Great British Bake Off, series 4 (BBC Two)
Best Actor
Chiwetel Ejiofor – Dancing on the Edge (BBC Two)
Rory Kinnear – Southcliffe (Channel 4)
Peter Mullen – Top of the Lake (BBC Two)
David Tennant – Broadchurch (ITV)
Best Actress
Gillian Anderson – The Fall (BBC Two)
Olivia Colman – Broadchurch (ITV)
Elisabeth Moss – Top of the Lake (BBC Two)
Maxine Peake – The Village (BBC One)
Best Writer
Jane Campion & Gerard Lee– Top of the Lake (BBC Two)
Chris Chibnall – Broadchurch (ITV)
Allan Cubitt – The Fall (BBC Two)
Sally Wainwright – Last Tango in Halifax (BBC One)
Breakthrough Award
BT Sport (successful launch of a challenger TV brand)
Jamie Dornan (The Fall)
Sharon Rooney (My Mad Fat Diary)
Innovation Award
Gogglebox – for an innovative programme format
Netflix – for programming and distribution innovation
Sky Television –for 25 years of innovation
