‘Scandal’ and ‘Sin’ head this year’s Broadcasting Press Guild Awards
March 25, 2022 By Torin Douglas
Two TV dramas – A Very British Scandal and It’s A Sin – have taken top honours at this year’s Broadcasting Press Guild Awards, chosen by critics and journalists who write about TV and radio.
It’s a Sin (Channel 4) was named Best Drama Series and its creator, Russell T Davies, won the BPG award for Best Writer, in the teeth of competition from Jimmy McGovern (Time), Sarah Phelps (A Very British Scandal), Chris Lang (Unforgotten) and Neil Forsyth (Guilt).
A Very British Scandal (BBC One) was voted Best Drama Mini-Series and its star Claire Foy was named Best Actress, ahead of Olivia Colman (Landscapers), Jodie Comer (Help) and Lydia West (It’s A Sin).
Stephen Graham won the award for Best Actor for his performances in Help (C4) and Time (BBC One), in another strong shortlist with Sean Bean (Time), Sanjeev Bhaskar (Unforgotten) and Olly Alexander and Callum Scott Howells (It’s A Sin).
The 48th BPG Awards lunch, sponsored for the first time by YouTube, took place today at The Brewery in the City of London, attended by the winners, BPG members and leading broadcasting executives. (Full list of winners below). The BPG Awards are given for TV, streaming and audio productions commissioned or premiered in the UK and screened in 2021. They are highly prized by programme-makers because they are selected independently by TV and radio correspondents, critics and previewers.
Bob Mortimer and Paul Whitehouse won the BPG Best Entertainment award for the third time with Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing (BBC Two), ahead of Michael MacIntyre’s The Wheel, Strictly Come Dancing (both BBC One), Mel Giedroyc: Unforgivable (Dave) and The Masked Singer (ITV). The Best Comedy award went to Alma’s Not Normal (BBC Two), in competition with Sex Education (Netflix) Stath Lets Flats (C4) and Starstruck (BBC Three).
The BBC Two series Blair & Brown: The New Labour Revolution was named Best Documentary Series, ahead of Clarkson’s Farm (Prime Video), David Attenborough’s A Perfect Planet (BBC One) and Grayson’s Art Club (Channel 4). Peter Jackson’s Disney+ series The Beatles: Get Back was voted Best Documentary Mini-Series, in competition with Grenfell: The Untold Story (Channel 4) and two BBC Two series – Four Hours at the Capitol and Gods of Snooker.
Grant Tucker, the chair of the BPG, said: “In their 48th year, the BPG awards remain true to the values on which they were founded: celebrating the best work on TV and radio, voted for by those whose job is to write about broadcasting.
“2021 was a fantastic year for British television. The industry bounced back from the worst days of the pandemic with record levels of investment and programming, and our winners announced today are testimony to that creative explosion.
“It is also evident that, despite reports of their death, our public service broadcasters are very much alive and thriving. “
Aasmah Mir of Times Radio was named as BPG Audio Presenter of the Year, for her performance on the station’s breakfast show, Aasmah Mir and Stig Abell with Times Radio Breakfast. The other nominees were Amol Rajan (BBC Radio 4), Iain Dale (LBC), Petroc Trelawny (BBC Radio 3) and Vick Hope (BBC Radio 1).
Jamz Supernova won the Radio Programme of the Year award, for her BBC 6 Music show Jamz Supernova on 6, ahead of Aasmah Mir and Stig Abell with Times Radio Breakfast (Times Radio), The Eco Show (Marlow FM 97.5), Uncanny with Danny Robins (BBC Radio 4), and Woman’s Hour (BBC Radio 4).
The UK Podcast of the Year was Things Fell Apart – Jon Ronson (BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds), in competition with Backlisted (Unbound), Finding Q: My Journey into QAnon (Audible), Sweet Bobby (Tortoise Media) and The Rest Is History (Goalhanger Films)
Scott Bryan, chair of the audio jury, said: “It has been another exceptional year for audio. For much of the time, many of us were apart and radio and podcasts continued to keep us together. It is notable that whilst the internet has continued to change the way we live our lives, the intimacy of radio and audio has been retained and even enhanced.”
As announced earlier this week, Jon Snow of Channel 4 News won the Harvey Lee Award for Outstanding Contribution to Broadcasting.
The BPG Breakthrough Award went to the actor and writer of BBC Three’s Starstruck, Rose Matafeo. She was up against the creator of We Are Lady Parts (C4), Nida Manzoor, and the ‘Pink Palace’ cast members of C4’s It’s A Sin – Omari Douglas, Olly Alexander, Callum Scott Howells, Lydia West and Nathaniel Curtis.
A new award, the BPG Emerging Creators Award for video creativity on social media platforms, was given to Chunkz (YouTube), in competition with Francis Bourgeois (TikTok), Lucy Edwards (TikTok), Michael Dappah (YouTube) and Rosie Holt (Twitter).
The BPG Innovation in Broadcasting award went to Channel 4 for its Black to Front project and ongoing inclusion initiatives. Also on the shortlist were Albert, BAFTA’s sustainable production certificate, and Lights Up, the virtual theatre festival in lockdown (BBC Four).
Further information from Torin Douglas, BPG, 07860 422992 or torindouglas@aol.com.
Notes to editors:
- The awards are being announced at the 48th BPG Awards lunch at The Brewery in the City of London on Friday March 25th 2022 and simultaneously on Twitter @BPGPress #BPGAwards.
- The Broadcasting Press Guild was founded in 1974 and has more than 150 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.
- 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 Charles Wheeler. See more details at http://www.broadcastingpressguild.org/bpgawards/harvey-lee/
- The 48th BPG Awards are sponsored by YouTube, the world’s largest video-sharing platform, owned by Google. Launched in 2005, YouTube’s mission is to give everyone a voice and show them the world. They say: We believe that everyone deserves to have a voice, and that the world is a better place when we listen, share and build community through our stories. https://www.youtube.com
The full list of BPG TV and Radio Awards winners is:
Best Documentary Series
Blair & Brown: The New Labour Revolution
A BBC Studios Documentary Unit Production for BBC Two
Best Documentary Mini-Series
The Beatles: Get Back
Apple Corps Ltd. & WingNut Films Productions Ltd. for Disney+
Best Drama Mini-Series
A Very British Scandal
A Blueprint Television production for BBC One
Best Drama Series
It’s a Sin
A RED Production Company production for Channel 4 and HBO Max in association with All3Media International
Best Entertainment
Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing Series 4
An Owl Power Television production for BBC Two
Best Comedy
Alma’s Not Normal
An Expectation production for BBC Two
Best Actor
Stephen Graham
For his roles as:
Tony in Help
The Forge Entertainment and One Shoe Films for Channel 4
and as
Eric McNally in Time
BBC Studios Drama Productions for BBC One
Best Actress
Claire Foy
For her role as Margaret Campbell, Duchess of Argyll, in A Very British Scandal
A Blueprint Television production for BBC One
Best Writer
Russell T Davies
It’s a Sin
A RED Production Company production for Channel 4 and HBO Max in association with All3Media International
Audio Presenter of the Year
Aasmah Mir
Times Radio Breakfast, a Times Radio production
Radio Programme of the Year
Jamz Supernova on 6
A BBC Audio production for BBC Radio 6 Music
Podcast of the Year
Things Fell Apart – written and presented by Jon Ronson
A BBC Audio production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds
BPG Innovation in Broadcasting Award
Channel 4’s Black to Front Project and ongoing inclusion initiatives
BPG Breakthrough Award
Rose Matafeo
Writer and Actor, Starstruck
An Avalon production for BBC Three and HBO Max
BPG Emerging Creators Award
Amin Mohamed aka Chunkz
for YouTube
Harvey Lee Outstanding Contribution to Broadcasting Award
Jon Snow
Channel 4 News
Jon Snow to be honoured by TV and radio writers at Broadcasting Press Guild Awards lunch
March 23, 2022 By Torin Douglas
Jon Snow to be honoured by TV and radio writers at Broadcasting Press Guild Awards lunch
www.broadcastingpressguild.org
The journalist and broadcaster, Jon Snow, is to be honoured later this week at the 48th annual Broadcasting Press Guild Awards, chosen by journalists who write about television, streaming and audio, sponsored by YouTube.
On Friday March 25th, he will receive the Harvey Lee Award for Outstanding Contribution to Broadcasting at the awards lunch at The Brewery, Chiswell Street, in the City of London. The award celebrates his 48 years of reporting and presenting the news, most notably as the face of Channel 4 News from 1989 to 2021.
It recognises a career of remarkable broadcasting, in which he has covered elections, wars, earthquakes and many of the world’s most memorable events, including the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the release of Nelson Mandela, earthquakes in Haiti and Japan, and the elections of Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan, Tony Blair and Barack Obama.
Jon Snow began his career at LBC Radio in 1973, where he established his reputation for getting quickly to the story (often on his bicycle) and securing interviews with those at the centre of it. He joined ITN in 1978, serving as its Washington correspondent in the mid 1980s; as diplomatic editor in the second half of the eighties and, in 1992 as the main anchor for ITN’s election night programme on ITV. He also presented the award-winning documentary Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields, as well as reaching out to audiences through his daily news email ‘Snowmail’ from 2000 to 2021.
The BPG also recognises him for being outspoken and idealistic – even declining to accept an OBE, believing journalists should not receive honours from the people on whom they report – and, on a lighter note, for his sartorially famous collection of brightly coloured ties that underline his irreplaceable on-air style.
The BPG’s chairman Grant Tucker, said: “A fearless journalist, Jon Snow has spent his life holding the powerful to account and in doing so has earnt his place among Britain’s greatest news presenters. As war once again dominates headlines around the world, we are also reminded of Snow’s tenacious reporting from countless conflicts to ensure audiences witnessed the horrors of war.”
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, sponsored by YouTube, will be attended by the winners, BPG members and leading broadcasting executives.
www.broadcastingpressguild.org
For more information about the Broadcasting Press Guild, including a full list of winners over the past 47 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:
- The remaining award winners will be announced at the 48th BPG Awards lunch at The Brewery in the City of London on Friday March 25th 2022 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
- 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. - 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 Charles Wheeler. See more details at
http://www.broadcastingpressguild.org/bpgawards/harvey-lee/ - The 48th BPG Awards are sponsored by YouTube, the world’s largest video-sharing platform, owned by Google. Launched in 2005, YouTube’s mission is to give everyone a voice and show them the world. It says: We believe that everyone deserves to have a voice, and that the world is a better place when we listen, share and build community through our stories. https://www.youtube.com
Further information: Torin Douglas, BPG: torindouglas@aol.com or 07860 422992
BPG Awards 2022: Television And Streaming Nominations
March 12, 2022 By Torin Douglas
Jeremy Clarkson will go head-to-head with David Attenborough and Grayson Perry in this year’s Broadcasting Press Guild Awards, to be presented next month in London.
Clarkson’s Farm (Prime Video) has been shortlisted for best TV and streaming documentary series, alongside Attenborough’s A Perfect Planet (BBC One), Grayson’s Art Club (Channel 4) and two BBC Two series – Life In Ten Pictures and Blair & Brown: The New Labour Revolution.
Olivia Colman, Jodie Comer, Claire Foy and Lydia West will compete for the best actress award. Colman is nominated for her role in Landscapers (HBO/Sky), Comer for Help (Channel 4), Foy for A Very British Scandal (BBC One) and West for It’s a Sin (Channel 4)
Shortlisted as best actor are Sean Bean and Stephen Graham for Time (BBC One), Sanjeev Bhaskar for Unforgotten (ITV) and Olly Alexander and Callum Scott Howells for It’s a Sin. Graham is also nominated for his role in Help.
The BPG Television, Streaming and Audio Awards – for work commissioned or premiered in the UK and screened in 2021 – are prized by programme-makers because they are chosen independently by TV and radio correspondents, critics and previewers. The 48th annual BPG Awards ceremony – attended by the winners, BPG members and guests – will take place at lunchtime on Friday March 25th 2022 at The Brewery in the City of London. It will be supported for the first time by YouTube, the video sharing and social media platform owned by Google.
The Best Writer award will be contested by Jimmy McGovern (Time), Russell T Davies (It’s a Sin), Chris Lang (Unforgotten), Sarah Phelps (A Very British Scandal) and Neil Forsyth for Guilt, screened on BBC Scotland and BBC Two.
Guilt is also nominated for best drama series, alongside It’s a Sin, Landscapers, Line of Duty (BBC One) and The Serpent (BBC One). Help, Time and A Very British Scandal are shortlisted for best drama mini-series (1-3 episodes) along with Stephen (ITV) and Romeo and Juliet (the National Theatre production on Sky Arts).
Alma’s Not Normal on BBC Two is nominated as best comedy, with Sex Education (Netflix), Stath Lets Flats (Channel 4) and Starstruck (BBC Three). Mel Giedroyc: Unforgivable (Dave) will compete for the best entertainment award against Michael McIntyre’s The Wheel (BBC One), Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing (BBC Two), Strictly Come Dancing (BBC One) and The Masked Singer (ITV).
Two BBC Two series – Four Hours at the Capitol and Gods of Snooker – are shortlisted for best documentary mini-series against Grenfell: The Untold Story (Channel 4) and The Beatles: Get Back (Disney+).
Two Channel Four shows are acknowledged in the lineup for the BPG Breakthrough Award. The creator of We Are Lady Parts, Nida Manzoor, is up against the ‘Pink Palace’ cast members of It’s a Sin – Omari Douglas, Olly Alexander, Callum Scott Howells, Lydia West and Nathaniel Curtis – and also BBC Three’s Starstruck writer and actor, Rose Matafeo.
Other newcomers are recognised in a new award, the BPG Emerging Creators Award for video creativity on social media platforms. The nominees are Chunkz (YouTube), Francis Bourgeois (TikTok), Lucy Edwards (TikTok), Michael Dappah (YouTube) and Rosie Holt (Twitter).
And three broadcasting initiatives are shortlisted for the BPG Innovation in Broadcasting award: Albert, BAFTA’s sustainable production certificate; Channel 4’s Black to Front project and ongoing inclusion initiatives; and Lights Up, the virtual theatre festival in lockdown (BBC Four).
Further information from Torin Douglas, BPG, 07860 422992
Notes to editors
- The winners will be announced at the 48th BPG Awards lunch on Friday March 25th 2022, at The Brewery in the City of London, sponsored by YouTube. The Harvey Lee Award for outstanding contribution to broadcasting is in the gift of the BPG Executive Committee and will be presented as well.
- The BPG Twitter handle for the Awards is #BPGAwards @BPGPressGuild.
- Launched in 2005, YouTube’s mission is to give everyone a voice and show them the world. We believe that everyone deserves to have a voice, and that the world is a better place when we listen, share and build community through our stories. YouTube is a Google company.
- The BPG Television, Streaming and Audio Awards are presented for work commissioned or premiered in the UK and screened in 2021. Programmes which were first streamed online are nominated and voted for alongside broadcast channel commissions originating in the UK.
- The shortlists for Audio Broadcaster of the Year, UK Podcast of the Year and Radio Programme of the Year will be announced in a week’s time on March 3rd 2022.
- The Broadcasting Press Guild was founded in 1974 and has more than 175 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.
- Past BPG Best Actress winners include Glenda Jackson, 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, Dame Julie Walters, Olivia Colman, Keeley Hawes, Sheridan Smith, Juliet Stevenson and Jodie Comer.
- The BPG Best Actor award has been awarded in previous years to Sir Mark Rylance, Sir Kenneth Branagh, Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, Sir Alec Guinness, Albert Finney, Charles Dance, Robert Hardy, Jim Broadbent, Christopher Ecclestone, Benedict Cumberbatch, Toby Jones and Dominic West among others (see more details and photos at http://www.broadcastingpressguild.org/.)
The full list of nominations is:
Best Drama Mini Series, 1-3 episodes
A Very British Scandal (BBC One)
Help (C4)
Romeo and Juliet (Sky Arts)
Stephen (ITV)
Time (BBC One)
Best Drama Series, 4+ episodes
Guilt (BBC Scotland)
It’s a Sin (C4)
Landscapers (HBO/Sky)
Line of Duty S6 (BBC One)
The Serpent (BBC One)
Best Documentary Mini Series, 1-3 episodes
Four Hours at the Capitol (BBC Two)
Gods of Snooker (BBC Two)
Grenfell: The Untold Story (C4)
The Beatles: Get Back (Disney+)
Best Documentary Series, 4+ episodes
A Perfect Planet (BBC One)
Blair & Brown: The New Labour Revolution (BBC Two)
Clarkson’s Farm (Prime Video)
Grayson Art Club (C4)
Life in Ten Pictures (BBC Two)
Best Comedy
Alma’s Not Normal (BBC Two)
Sex Education S3 (Netflix)
Stath Lets Flats S3 (C4)
Starstruck (BBC Three)
Best Entertainment
Mel Giedroyc: Unforgivable (Dave)
Michael McIntyre’s The Wheel S2 (BBC One)
Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing S4 (BBC Two)
Strictly Come Dancing S19 (BBC One)
The Masked Singer S2 (ITV)
Best Actor
Olly Alexander, It’s a Sin
Sanjeev Bhaskar, Unforgotten
Sean Bean, Time
Stephen Graham, Help, Time
Callum Scott Howells, It’s a Sin
Best Actress
Olivia Colman, Landscapers
Jodie Comer, Help
Claire Foy, A Very British Scandal
Lydia West, It’s a Sin
Best Writer
Russell T Davies, It’s a Sin
Neil Forsyth, Guilt
Chris Lang, Unforgotten
Jimmy McGovern, Time
Sarah Phelps, A Very British Scandal
BPG Innovation in Broadcasting Award
Albert, BAFTA’s sustainable production certificate
Channel 4’s Black to Front project and ongoing inclusion initiatives
Lights Up, virtual theatre festival in lockdown (BBC Four)
BPG Emerging Creators Award
Chunkz (YouTube)
Francis Bourgeois (TikTok)
Lucy Edwards (TikTok)
Michael Dappah (YouTube)
Rosie Holt (Twitter)
BPG Breakthrough Award
Rose Matafeo, writer and actor, Starstruck (BBC Three)
The ‘Pink Palace’ cast members of It’s a Sin (C4)
(Omari Douglas, Olly Alexander, Callum Scott Howells, Lydia West and Nathaniel Curtis)
Nida Manzoor, creator & director, We Are Lady Parts (C4)
BPG Awards 2021: winners revealed
March 12, 2021 By Torin Douglas
Michaela Coel and David Tennant have dominated this year’s Broadcasting Press Guild Awards with both of them winning multiple prizes.
I May Destroy You – the ground-breaking and original drama which Coel created, starred in and wrote – took three of the BPG’s top awards: for Best Actress, Best Writer and Best Drama Series. The 12-part series was made for BBC One and HBO. Accepting her award, she said: “Receiving this from the Broadcasting Press Guild is particularly meaningful to me, because this is awarded by journalists, the best of which scrutinize the topic, their opinion of it, and interrogate both the world and themselves, as writers within it. I can identify with this, particularly because I May Destroy You was inspired by my own experiences of sexual assault.”
Tennant won the award for Best Actor, for his performances in Des (ITV) and Staged (BBC One). In his video acceptance speech, he said: “I’m very aware that I’m piggybacking on the back of the brilliant people I work with … working with great people makes you look better. I’m very aware of that.” Staged was also named Best Comedy.
The BPG Jury Prize was awarded to Joe Wicks for his PE With Joe fitness sessions on YouTube during lockdown. He said: “What a wonderful honour it is to receive this award … we have now streamed 115 live workouts, with a total of 100 million views globally.”
The BPG Innovation in Broadcasting Award went to the BBC for its Lockdown Learning initiative and the Harvey Lee Award, for an outstanding contribution to broadcasting, was given to John McVay of PACT on behalf of all who created the Film & TV Production Restart Scheme, to help the industry open up again during the pandemic.
Jake Kanter, the chair of the BPG, said: “2020 was a challenging year for British television. Coronavirus shuttered production for months, ripped a near-fatal hole in the ad market, and ravaged a brilliant freelance community that actually makes the stuff we love to watch. But amid the rubble, industry ingenuity prospered and what crumbled was quickly rebuilt.
“It was a year when television and radio provided comfort, distraction and a friendy embrace in an ugly world. Our winners are testament to that.”
The BPG Television, Streaming and Audio Awards are prized by programme-makers because they are chosen independently by TV and radio correspondents, critics and previewers. Instead of the usual BPG Awards lunch, the 47th Awards was held as a virtual event for the first time, with the winners announced – and prizes accepted – via the BPG Twitter account, @BPGPressAwards.
Clara Amfo of BBC Radio 1 was named as Audio Presenter of the Year. Accepting her award on Twitter, she said: “We’ve all experienced a fervoured relationship with our audience. That’s not to be taken for granted at all. It would be remiss of me not to accept this award and not big up all of my colleagues. I accept this award alongside them.”
Seani B and DJ Ace won the Radio Programme of the Year award, for their BBC 1Xtra Talks Special on George Floyd and Black Lives Matter. The Podcast of the Year was How Do You Cope? With Elis James and John Robins, produced by Audio Always for BBC Radio 5 Live.
Scott Bryan, chair of the audio jury, said: “This has been such an important year for radio, connecting us at a time when we’ve all been apart. The winners have all provided thoughtful, powerful conversations and moments that listeners will remember for a long time to come.”
Quiz (ITV), from James Graham’s stage play about Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, was named Best Drama Mini-Series, and Emma Corrin won the BPG Breakthrough Award for her performance as Princess Diana in The Crown (Netflix). Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing (BBC Two) won the Best Entertainment award, for the second time in three years.
Once Upon a Time in Iraq (BBC Two) won the award for Best Documentary Series and The Rise of the Murdoch Dynasty (BBC Two) was named Best Documentary Mini-Series.
Further information from Torin Douglas, BPG, 07860 422992 or torindouglas@aol.com.
Notes to editors
- The Broadcasting Press Guild was founded in 1974 and has more than 145 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.
- Instead of the usual invitation-only lunch, attended by the winners, BPG members and leading broadcasting executives, the awards were announced in a virtual ceremony on Twitter @BPGPressGuild #BPGAwards at lunchtime on Friday March 12th2021. Details of the nominations, previous BPG awards can be found at http://broadcastingpressguild.org, together with pictures, videos and a history of the Guild.
- 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/
- While 12 of the BPG awards were voted for by Guild members, the following prizes were decided by the BPG’s Executive Committee: the BPG Jury Prize to Joe Wicks for PE With Joeon YouTube; the BPG Innovation Award to the BBC for Lockdown Learning, which was accepted by the BBC’s head of education Helen Foulkes; the BPG Breakthrough Award to Emma Corrin for her role as Princess Diana in The Crown(Netflix); and the Harvey Lee Award, in honour of a former leading light of the BPG for an outstanding contribution to broadcasting, to John McVay of PACT on behalf of all who created the Film & TV Production Restart Scheme, to help the industry open up again during the pandemic.
The full list of BPG TV and Radio Awards winners is:
Audio Presenter of the Year
Clara Amfo
BBC Radio 1 production for BBC Radio 1
Radio Programme of the Year
1Xtra Talks Special: George Floyd and Black Lives Matter with
Seani B and DJ Ace
BBC Audio for BBC 1Xtra
Podcast of the Year
How Do You Cope?…With Elis James and John Robins
Audio Always for BBC Radio 5 Live
Best Documentary Mini-Series
The Rise of the Murdoch Dynasty
72 Films for BBC Two
Best Documentary Series
Once Upon a Time in Iraq
KEO films for BBC Two / PBS Frontline
Best Drama Mini-Series
Quiz
Left Bank Pictures for ITV /AMC
Best Drama Series
I May Destroy You
Various Artists Ltd /FALKNA for BBC One / HBO
Best Entertainment
Mortimer and Whitehouse: Gone Fishing, Series 3
Owl Power TV for BBC Two
Best Comedy
Staged, Series 1
Infinity Hill / GCB Films for BBC One
Best Actor
David Tennant, for his roles as:
– Dennis (Des) Nilsen in
Des
New Pictures for ITV, and
– Himself in
Staged, Series 1
Infinity Hill / GCB Films for BBC
Best Actress
Michaela Coel
For her role as Arabella Essiuedu in
I May Destroy You
Various Artists Ltd /FALKNA for BBC One / HBO
Best Writer
Michaela Coel
I May Destroy You
Various Artists Ltd /FALKNA for BBC One / HBO
BPG Innovation in Broadcasting Award
BBC for its Lockdown Learning initiative
BBC Education and Children’s Department for BBC TV / Online / Social Media
BPG Breakthrough Award
Emma Corrin
For her role as Diana, Princess of Wales in
The Crown, Series 4
Left Bank Pictures / Sony Pictures Television for Netflix
BPG Jury Prize
PE With Joe
Body Coach TV and Joe Wicks for YouTube
Harvey Lee Outstanding Contribution to Broadcasting Award
John McVay, PACT
On behalf of all who created the Film & TV Production Restart Scheme
BPG Awards 2021: audio nominations revealed
February 25, 2021 By Torin Douglas
Louis Theroux, Emma Barnett, Stanley Tucci, Iain Dale, DJ Ace, Seani B, Jacqui Smith, Frank Skinner and Clara Amfo are among a wide range of broadcasters shortlisted in this year’s Broadcasting Press Guild (BPG) audio awards, for performances on radio and in podcasts.
Theroux is nominated for his lockdown podcast ‘Grounded with Louis Theroux’, which set out to “track down some high-profile people he’s been longing to talk to – from all walks of life and on both sides of the Atlantic”. It’s one of several BPG audio nominations reflecting issues of health and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The chair of the BPG audio jury, journalist and broadcaster Scott Bryan, said: “Radio and podcasting have been more important than ever this year, when we’ve all been apart from our friends and loved ones. Many of us have relied on audio not just to stay informed, but to stay connected and have some companionship too.
“The jury, including some of the UK’s best critics and journalists, were blown away by the quality and purpose of audio this year, covering important issues such as the coronavirus pandemic, Black Lives Matter and the importance of taking care of our own mental health.”
The BPG Television, Streaming and Audio Awards – for work commissioned or premiered in the UK and released in 2020 – are prized by programme-makers because they are chosen independently by TV and radio correspondents, critics and previewers.
This year, instead of the usual BPG Awards lunch – attended by the winners, BPG members and guests – the 47th Awards will be a virtual event at lunchtime on Friday March 12th 2021. The winners will be announced – and the awards accepted – on the BPG’s Twitter account @BPGPressAwards #BPGAwards.
Grounded with Louis Theroux (BBC Radio 4/BBC Sounds) is shortlisted as UK Podcast of the Year alongside For The Many with Iain Dale and Jacqui Smith (LBC); How Do You Cope?…with Elis and John (BBC Radio 5 Live); The Log Books, by Shivani Dave, Tash Walker and Adam Zmith; and The Stubborn Light of Things with Melissa Harrison.
Emma Barnett, the new Radio 4 Woman’s Hour presenter, is nominated as Radio Broadcaster of the Year for her Radio 5 Live morning show, which she presented till the end of 2020. She will compete with Clara Amfo (BBC Radio 1), Frank Skinner (Absolute Radio) and Matt Chorley of Times Radio, which started broadcasting in June last year.
A 1Xtra Talks Special – George Floyd and Black Lives Matter with Seani B and DJ Ace – is nominated for Radio Programme of the Year, along with #NS10v10 (No Signal), Between the Ears (BBC Radio 3), The Californian Century, presented by Stanley Tucci (BBC Radio 4) and The Great Post Office Trial (Whistledown Productions/Radio 4).
Further information from Torin Douglas, BPG, 07860 422992
Notes to editors:
- The winners will be announced – and the awards accepted – in a virtual ceremony at lunchtime on Friday March 12th 2021, hosted on the BPG’s Twitter account @BPGPressAwards #BPGAwards. The Harvey Lee Award for outstanding contribution to broadcasting and the BPG Jury Prize are both in the gift of the BPG Executive Committee and will be presented as well. Winners will be informed in advance.
- The television and streaming nominations for this year’s BPG Awards were announced on February 18th 2021: http://www.broadcastingpressguild.org/2021/02/bpg-awards-2021-nominations-revealed/
- The Broadcasting Press Guild was founded in 1974 and has more than 175 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.
- Previous winners of the BPG Radio/Audio Broadcaster award include Alistair Cooke, Sir Terry Wogan, Sue Lawley, Samira Ahmed, James O’Brien, Jane Garvey, Emma Barnett, Nick Ferrari, Eddie Mair, Lauren Laverne, Jonathan Ross, Evan Davis, Charlotte Green, Simon Mayo, Sean Rafferty, Kirsty Young, Brian Redhead, Sir Mark Tully, Sandy Toksvig, John Finnemore, Michael Buerk, Susannah Simons and Graham Seed (Nigel Pargetter in The Archers).
The full list of nominations is:
Radio Programme of the Year
#NS10v10 (No Signal)
1Xtra Talks Special: George Floyd and Black Lives Matter with Seani B and DJ Ace (BBC Audio for BBC 1Xtra)
Between the Ears (BBC Radio 3)
The Californian Century (BBC Radio 4)
The Great Post Office Trial (Whistledown Productions/Radio 4)
Audio Broadcaster of the Year
Clara Amfo (BBC Radio 1)
Emma Barnett (BBC Radio 5 Live)
Frank Skinner (Absolute Radio)
Matt Chorley (Times Radio)
UK Podcast of the Year
For The Many with Iain Dale and Jacqui Smith (LBC)
Grounded with Louis Theroux (BBC Radio 4/BBC Sounds)
How Do You Cope? … with Elis and John (Elis James and John Robins, Audio Always for BBC Radio 5 Live)
The Log Books, produced by Shivani Dave, Tash Walker and Adam Zmith, in partnership with Switchboard – the LGBT+ helpline
The Stubborn Light of Things with Melissa Harrison (producer Peter Rogers)
BPG Awards 2021: TV and streaming nominations revealed
February 18, 2021 By Torin Douglas
Three BBC dramas – Normal People, Small Axe and I May Destroy You – lead the nominations for this year’s Broadcasting Press Guild TV and Streaming Awards, alongside two ITV dramas, Des and Quiz.
Normal People is shortlisted as Best Drama Series (5+ episodes), and its stars Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal are nominated as Best Actor and Best Actress and for the BPG Breakthrough Award. Small Axe receives nominations for Best Drama Series (5+), Best Writer, Best Actor (Shaun Parkes), Best Actress (Letitia Wright) and the Breakthrough Award (Amarah-Jae St. Aubin). Michaela Coel is shortlisted as Best Actress and Best Writer for I May Destroy You, which is also nominated as Best Drama Series (5+).
Quiz is shortlisted for Best Drama Series (1-4 episodes), Best Actor (Matthew Macfadyen) and Best Writer (James Graham). Des is nominated as Best Drama (1-4) and for Best Actor (David Tennant, who is also shortlisted for Staged). Other dramas nominated for the series awards are Roald and Beatrix: The Tail of the Curious Mouse (Sky One), The Salisbury Poisonings (BBC One), All Creatures Great and Small (Channel 5) and I Hate Suzie (Sky Atlantic).
Dolly Wells (Dracula) will compete with Coel, Edgar-Jones and Wright for the Best Actress award and Emma Corrin (The Crown) is nominated alongside Edgar-Jones, Mescal and St Aubin for the BPG Breakthrough Award.
The BPG Television, Streaming and Audio Awards – for work commissioned or premiered in the UK and screened in 2020 – are prized by programme-makers because they are chosen independently by TV and radio correspondents, critics and previewers. This year, instead of the usual BPG Awards lunch – attended by the winners, BPG members and guests – the 47th Awards will be a virtual event. The winners will be announced – and will accept their awards – via Twitter on Friday March 12th 2021, from 1pm to 3.30pm.
BBC Two’s Inside No 9. is shortlisted for Best Writer (Reece Shearsmith, Steve Pemberton) and as Best Comedy, where it is up against Friday Night Dinner (Channel 4), Staged (BBC One), This Country (BBC Three) and The Trip (Greece) on Sky One. Taskmaster’s first series on Channel Four is shortlisted for the Best Entertainment award, with Big Zuu’s Big Eats (Dave), Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing (BBC Two) and Race Across The World (BBC Two).
Robert Rinder’s BBC One documentary My Family, The Holocaust and Me is shortlisted for Best Documentary Series (1-3 episodes) alongside Freddie Flintoff – Living with Bulimia (BBC One), 8 Minutes And 46 Seconds – The Killing of George Floyd (Sky News) and The Rise of the Murdoch Dynasty (BBC Two). In the longer documentary category (4+ episodes), Nigella’s Cook, Eat, Repeat (BBC Two) competes against Dispatches (Channel 4), Portrait Artist of the Year (Sky Arts) and Once Upon a Time in Iraq (BBC Two).
This year’s BPG ‘Innovation in Broadcasting’ award recognises the industry’s creative response to the COVID-19 lockdown. There are three nominations: BBC for its Lockdown Learning initiative (BBC TV/Online/social media); Grayson’s Art Club – Grayson and Philippa Perry tackling lockdown through art (Channel 4); and PE With Joe – Joe Wicks’ lockdown PE lessons (YouTube).
Further information from Torin Douglas, BPG, 07860 422992
Notes to editors
- The winners will be announced online at the 47th BPG Awards event via Twitter. The Harvey Lee Award for outstanding contribution to broadcasting and the BPG Jury Prize are in the gift of the BPG Executive Committee and will be presented as well.
- The BPG Television, Streaming and Audio Awards are presented for work commissioned or premiered in the UK and screened in 2020. Programmes which were first streamed online are nominated and voted for alongside broadcast channel commissions originating in the UK.
- The shortlists for Audio Broadcaster of the Year, UK Podcast of the Year and Radio Programme of the Year will be announced in a week’s time on February 25th
- The Broadcasting Press Guild was founded in 1974 and has more than 175 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.
- Past BPG Best Actress winners include Glenda Jackson, 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, Dame Julie Walters, Olivia Colman, Keeley Hawes, Sheridan Smith, Juliet Stevenson and Jodie Comer.
- The BPG Best Actor award has been awarded in previous years to Sir Mark Rylance, Sir Kenneth Branagh, Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, Sir Alec Guinness, Albert Finney, Charles Dance, Robert Hardy, Jim Broadbent, Christopher Ecclestone, Benedict Cumberbatch, Toby Jones and Dominic West among others (see more details and photos at http://www.broadcastingpressguild.org/.)
The full list of nominations is:
Best Documentary Series 1-3 episodes
8 Minutes And 46 Seconds: The Killing of George Floyd (Sky News)
Freddie Flintoff – Living with Bulimia (South Shore Productions for BBC One)
My Family, The Holocaust and Me (Wall to Wall for BBC One)
The Rise of the Murdoch Dynasty (72 Films for BBC Two)
Best Documentary Series 4+ episodes
Dispatches: all 2020 programmes (Various production companies for Channel 4)
Nigella’s Cook, Eat, Repeat (BBC Studios for BBC Two)
Portrait Artist of the Year, Series 7 (Storyvault Films for Sky Arts)
Once Upon a Time in Iraq (KEO Films for BBC Two and PBS Frontline)
Best Comedy
Friday Night Dinner, Series 6 (Big Talk Productions for Channel 4)
Inside No. 9, Series 5 (BBC Studios for BBC Two)
Staged, Series 1 (Infinity Hill/ GCB Films for BBC One)
This Country, Series 3 (BBC Studios for BBC Three)
The Trip, Series 4 (Greece) (Revolution Films for Sky One)
Best Entertainment
Big Zuu’s Big Eats (TwoFour’s Boomerang for Dave)
Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing, Series 3 (Owl Power for BBC Two)
Race Across the World, Series 2 (Studio Lambert for BBC Two)
Taskmaster, Series 10 (Avalon Television for Channel 4)
Best Actress
Michaela Coel (I May Destroy You)
Daisy Edgar-Jones (Normal People)
Dolly Wells (Dracula)
Letitia Wright (Mangrove, Small Axe)
Best Actor
Shaun Parkes (Mangrove, Small Axe)
Matthew Macfadyen (Quiz)
Paul Mescal (Normal People)
David Tennant (Des/ Staged)
Best Writer
James Graham (Quiz)
Michaela Coel (I May Destroy You)
Reece Shearsmith, Steve Pemberton (Inside No. 9)
Steve McQueen, Courttia Newland, Rebecca Lenkiewicz and Alastair Siddons (Small Axe)
Best Drama Series 1-4 episodes
Des (New Pictures for ITV)
Quiz (Left Bank Pictures for ITV and AMC)
Roald and Beatrix: The Tail of the Curious Mouse (Hartswood Films for Sky One)
The Salisbury Poisonings (Dancing Ledge Productions for BBC One)
Best Drama Series 5+ episodes
All Creatures Great and Small (Playground Entertainment for Channel 5)
I Hate Suzie (Bad Wolf and Sky Studios for Sky Atlantic)
I May Destroy You (Various Artists Limited/ FALKNA for BBC One and HBO)
Normal People (Element Pictures for BBC Three and Hulu)
Small Axe (Turbine Studios/ Lammas Park for Amazon and BBC One)
BPG Breakthrough Award
Emma Corrin (The Crown)
Daisy Edgar-Jones (Normal People)
Paul Mescal (Normal People)
Amarah-Jae St. Aubyn (Lovers Rock, Small Axe)
BPG Innovation in Broadcasting Award
BBC for its Lockdown Learning initiative (BBC TV/Online/social media)
Grayson’s Art Club – Grayson and Philippa Perry tackling lockdown through art (Swan Films for Channel 4)
PE With Joe – Joe Wicks’ lockdown PE lessons (YouTube)
Glenda Jackson, Moira Stuart, Michael Apted and George the Poet are among the winners at the 46th Broadcasting Press Guild Awards
March 13, 2020 By Torin Douglas
Glenda Jackson has been named best actress at this year’s Broadcasting Press Guild Awards, for her first screen appearance in 27 years. The award, voted for by journalists who write about television and radio, was for her role as Maud, a dementia sufferer, in BBC One’s adaptation of Emma Healey’s best-selling novel, Elizabeth Is Missing. [Read more…]
Moira Stuart to be honoured by TV and radio writers at Broadcasting Press Guild Awards lunch
March 12, 2020 By Torin Douglas
The radio and TV presenter, Moira Stuart, is to be honoured later this week at the 46th annual Broadcasting Press Guild Awards, chosen by journalists who write about television and radio and sponsored by Virgin Media. [Read more…]
