Happy Valley picks up Best Drama Series, Best Actress and Best Writer awards as Ken Bruce takes Best Audio Presenter trophy

The gripping final series of Happy Valley won three major prizes at this year’s Broadcasting Press Guild Awards today as BPG members and leaders of the UK’s TV, streaming and audio industries celebrated the BPG’s 50^th anniversary with a gala lunch in London.

The BBC One programme’s star Sarah Lancashire won the Best Actress Award, while Happy Valley was also commended for Best Drama Series and Best Writer for Sally Wainwright.

Other major winners were the phenomenal ITV hit Mr Bates vs The Post Office starring Toby Jones and Monica Dolan which took home a BPG Jury Prize; and Andy Harries who was presented with the Harvey Lee Award for outstanding contribution to broadcasting in honour of his remarkable near-50 years of producing landmark TV programmes such as The Crown, The Royle Family and Cracker.

Elsewhere, Gary Oldman took the Best Actor trophy for his role in Slow Horses on Apple+ and the final series of Ghosts on BBC One was voted Best Comedy. In a very competitive category, Squid Game: The Challenge took the honours as Best Entertainment show, while series 2 of the BBC One series Time written by Jimmy McGovern and Helen Black won for Best Single Drama or Mini Series.

The two documentary trophies went to Channel 4’s Russell Brand: In Plain Sight – Dispatches as Best Documentary Mini Series and BBC One’s Once Upon A Time In Northern Ireland for Best Documentary Series (4+ episodes). 

Manori Ravindran, the chair of the BPG, said: “To have such a list of worthy and talented winners to celebrate our 50^th anniversary is very fitting because our members take great pride in honouring the very best programmes and people.”

The 50^th BPG Television, Streaming & Audio Awards were given for work commissioned or produced in the UK and screened in 2023. These prizes are highly valued by programme-makers because they are chosen independently by TV and audio writers, correspondents and critics.

The Broadcasting Press Guild marks its 50th anniversary this year and the Guild is delighted that this special occasion is sponsored by some of the most influential names in the industry: BBC Studios, Netflix, Pact, Prime Video and Warner Bros. Discovery. 

The BPG began in 1974 and, as part of its celebrations, invited its members to select a list of the Top 50 Landmark TV Programmes. Full details are on the Guild’s website http://www.broadcastingpressguild.org.

This year, the BPG Executive Committee handed out a pair of BPG Jury Prizes for the first time. They went to ITV’s spectacular drama series about the worst miscarriage of justice in British legal history, Mr Bates vs The Post Office; and Goalhanger Podcasts for their unparalleled achievements in the world of podcasting. Also the gifts of the BPG Executive Committee, the BPG Breakthrough Award went to the gifted actor David Jonsson for his special performance in Agatha Christie’s Murder Is Easy and the BPG Emerging Creators Award was picked up by social media influencer and presenter GK Barry.

The three Audio Awards were for Radio Programme of the Year which went to David Aaronovitch’s The Briefing Room (BBC Radio 4 & BBC Sounds) for its deep dives into big issues of the day; Best Podcast winner which was Movers and Shakers (Podot) in which six friends including Jeremy Paxman talked honestly and movingly about living with Parkinson’s disease; and to Ken Bruce who won Audio Presenter of the Year after his highly successful move to Greatest Hits Radio last year.

Simon O’Hagan, chair of the audio jury, said: “At a time when the audio industry bursts with intelligence and innovation, our winners managed to stand out from the rest last year and are all very deserving of their prizes.”

The annual BPG Awards winners are also announced today 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 110 members who are journalists specialising in covering television, streaming, radio, podcasts and the media. They include critics, previewers, media correspondents and feature writers from national newspapers, broadcasters and leading trade journals and 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/X and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/bpgpressguild @BPGPressGuild #BPGAwards at lunchtime on Thursday March 21^st 2024. 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. The two Jury Prizes, the Breakthrough Award, the Emerging Creators Award, and the Harvey Lee Award were decided by the BPG Executive Committee. All other BPG prizes were voted for by Guild members.
5. BBC Studios, Netflix, Pact, Prime Video and Warner Bros. Discovery are supporters of this year’s Awards (see below for more details).

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

Best Documentary Mini Series 1-3 episodes

Russell Brand: In Plain Sight – Dispatches (Hardcash Productions for Channel 4’s Dispatches)

Best Documentary Series 4+ episodes

Once Upon A Time in Northern Ireland (KEO Films and Walk on Air Films for BBC One)

Best Comedy

Ghosts (Monumental Television in Association with Them There for BBC One)

Best Entertainment

Squid Game: The Challenge (A Studio Lambert and The Garden production for Netflix)

Best Drama Mini Series 1-3 episodes

Time (BBC Studios Drama for BBC One)

Best Drama Series 4+ episodes

Happy Valley (Lookout Point in co-production with AMC for BBC One)

Best Actress

Sarah Lancashire – Happy Valley (Lookout Point in co-production with AMC for BBC One)

Best Actor

Gary Oldman – Slow Horses (A See-Saw Films production for Apple TV+)

Best Writer

Sally Wainwright – Happy Valley (Lookout Point in co-production with AMC for BBC One)

BPG Breakthrough Talent Award

David Jonsson – Agatha Christie’s Murder Is Easy (BBC One)

BPG Emerging Creators Award

GK Barry

Radio Programme of the Year

The Briefing Room (A BBC production for BBC Radio 4)

Best Podcast

Movers and Shakers (A Podot production)

Audio Presenter of the Year

Ken Bruce on Greatest Hits Radio, a production of Bauer Media Audio UK

BPG Jury Prize for Audio

Goalhanger Podcasts

BPG Jury Prize for Television

Mr Bates vs The Post Office (ITV Studios and Little Gem for ITV)

Harvey Lee Award for Outstanding Contribution to Broadcasting

Andy Harries

Note to Editors: Information about our sponsors

BBC Studios is a world-renowned content studio and channels & streaming business, powered by British creativity, with a reach that touches audiences in every corner of the globe. BBC Studios is sponsoring the BPG Awards Red Carpet.

Netflix is one of the world’s leading entertainment services with over 260 million paid memberships in over 190 countries enjoying TV series, films, and games across a wide variety of genres and languages. Members can play, pause and resume watching, as much as they want, anytime, anywhere, and can change their plans at any time. Netflix is co-sponsor of the BPG Awards Drinks Reception.

Pact is the UK screen sector trade body representing and supporting independent production and distribution companies. Pact is sponsoring the BPG for the second consecutive year and is co-sponsor of the BPG Awards 2024 Drinks Reception.

Prime Video membership provides access to thousands of popular movies, TV shows, award-winning Originals, sports, and exclusive channels like discovery+, STARZPLAY, and Paramount+, with the added benefit of special deals for Prime Video members using the rent and buy feature to access new-release movies and TV series. Prime Video is sponsoring two BPG Talent Awards: BPG Emerging Creators Award and the BPG Breakthrough Award.

Warner Bros. Discovery is a leading global media and entertainment company that creates and distributes the world’s most differentiated and complete portfolio of content and brands across television, film, streaming and games with globally known brands including CNN, Cartoon Network, Discovery Channel, Friends, Harry Potter, HBO, TNT Sports. In the UK & Ireland WBD brings audiences 22 linear channels and is the streaming home of factual entertainment and premium sport through discovery+. WBD UK & Ireland is a proud supporter of the BPG Awards for the second consecutive year sponsoring the Harvey Lee Award for Outstanding Contribution to Broadcasting.

Ends

Andy Harries, one of UK television’s leading producers and directors and the co-founder of Left Bank Pictures, is to be honoured this week at the 50th annual Broadcasting Press Guild Awards, chosen by journalists who write about television, streaming and audio.

Harries will receive the BPG’s prestigious Harvey Lee Award for Outstanding Contribution to Broadcasting for a career spanning more than four decades and including such television classics as The Crown, The Royle Family, Prime Suspect and Cold Feet as producer and Arena and The South Bank Show as director.

Harries will receive the award at the 50th annual BPG awards lunch at The Royal Horseguards Hotel in Whitehall, London, on Thursday, March 21. The Harvey Lee Award is sponsored by Warner Bros. Discovery and is the gift of the BPG Executive Committee.

The award celebrates a career that began as a news reporter on the Peterborough Evening Telegraph before moving into TV as a researcher for Granada Television in Manchester in 1976. There, Harries worked off and on-screen at Granada Reports and also on the prestigious World In Action before becoming a freelance in 1981.

His early work ranged from directing Channel 4’s Emmy-nominated documentary series Africa, making films in Peru and directing and producing on both The South Bank Show and Arena. He co-founded his first production company, Sleeping Partners, with Paul Greengrass at the end of the 1980s, working with talent such as previous Harvey Lee Award-winner Lenny Henry, Jonathan Ross and Peter Morgan.

Harries became controller of comedy at Granada in 1992 where he was behind two Caroline Aherne classics, The Mrs Merton Show and The Royle Family. Next came Cold Feet and his first panel show, Mel and Sue’s Casting Couch. In 2000, he became Granada’s controller of drama, where he produced hit TV shows including the return of Prime Suspect and Cracker, The Street, The Deal, Dirty Filthy Love, Longford and 2006 film The Queen – which not only won Helen Mirren an Oscar but also sparked the idea for the Netflix hit series The Crown a decade later.

In 2007, Harries co-founded Left Bank Pictures, which would become one of the UK’s most successful independent production companies – with programmes including Wallander with Kenneth Branagh, Mad Dogs, Strike Back and another detective procedural DCI Banks, as well as the third part of Peter Morgan’s ‘Tony Blair Trilogy’, The Special Relationship. Left Bank Pictures also found success at the cinema, with Harries serving as producer on The Damned United and Stan & Ollie.

In 2016, The Crown became Harries’ biggest TV project – telling the story of the modern royal family from 1947 to 2005 and winning critical acclaim and reaching huge audiences around the world. In addition, he has been able to train the next TV generation, using an auction of The Crown’s props, costumes and furniture to fund at least 50 scholarships at the National Film & Television School. Harries was awarded an OBE in 2019 for services to film and television.

The BPG’s chair Manori Ravindran said: “There is no doubt that Andy Harries is a titan among TV producers who has proven himself time and again over the last five decades. The range of his programme successes reflect not only a flair for the creative, but also a knack for building special relationships with generational talents — of which he is one himself.”

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

For more information about the Broadcasting Press Guild, including a full list of winners over the past 50 years, visit
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 50th BPG Awards lunch at Royal Horseguards Hotel in Whitehall, London, on Thursday March 21st 2024 and simultaneously on Twitter @BPGPressGuild #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 Thursday, 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 110 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, Jon Snow and Jeremy Paxman. See more details at
   http://www.broadcastingpressguild.org/bpgawards/harvey-lee/

5. The 50th BPG Awards are being sponsored by some of the most influential names in the industry: BBC Studios, Netflix, Pact, Prime Video and Warner Bros. Discovery. 

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

Information about our sponsors

BBC Studios is a world-renowned content studio and channels & streaming business, powered by British creativity, with a reach that touches audiences in every corner of the globe. BBC Studios is sponsoring the BPG Awards Red Carpet.

Netflix is one of the world’s leading entertainment services with over 260 million paid memberships in over 190 countries enjoying TV series, films and games across a wide variety of genres and languages. Members can play, pause and resume watching, as much as they want, anytime, anywhere, and can change their plans at any time. Netflix is co-sponsor of the BPG Awards Drinks Reception.

Pact is the UK screen sector trade body representing and supporting independent production and distribution companies. Pact is sponsoring the BPG for the second consecutive year and is co-sponsor of the BPG Awards 2024 Drinks Reception.

Prime Video membership provides access to thousands of popular movies, TV shows, award-winning Originals, sports, and exclusive channels like discovery+, STARZPLAY, and Paramount+, with the added benefit of special deals for Prime Video members using the rent and buy feature to access new-release movies and TV series. Prime Video is sponsoring two BPG Talent Awards: BPG Emerging Creators Award and the BPG Breakthrough Award.

Warner Bros. Discovery is a leading global media and entertainment company that creates and distributes the world’s most differentiated and complete portfolio of content and brands across television, film, streaming and games with globally known brands including CNN, Cartoon Network, Discovery Channel, Friends, the Harry Potter films, HBO, TNT Sports. In the UK & Ireland WBD brings audiences 22 linear channels and is the streaming home of factual entertainment and premium sport through discovery+. 

WBD UK & Ireland is a proud supporter of the BPG Awards for the second consecutive year sponsoring the Harvey Lee Award for Outstanding Contribution to Broadcasting.

ENDS

Broadcasting Press Guild members create unique Top 50 Landmark TV Programme List, spanning the last half century, with shows ranging from
The World At War and I May Destroy You to
Life On Earth and Big Brother

What are the 50 landmark TV Programmes of the last 50 years? The shows that changed broadcasting, influenced how we look at the world and made us laugh or think in a new way. This is the challenge the Broadcasting Press Guild set its members to mark its 50th anniversary: the resulting Top 50 showcases the incredible breadth, diversity and evolution of British broadcasting over the last half century.

The BPG Top 50 Landmark Programmes of the last 50 Years include 31 BBC shows and eight each from ITV and Channel 4 alongside notable Sky, Netflix and Disney+ programmes. There are 18 dramas, 15 comedies and seven documentaries plus a wide range of other genres.

The BPG members’ votes created the list that features recent shows like Michaela Coel’s extraordinary BBC drama I May Destroy You, Lisa McGee’s ground-breaking Channel 4 comedy Derry Girls and Peter Jackson’s painstaking archive documentary series The Beatles: Get Back for Disney+ alongside classics like David Attenborough’s remarkable Life On Earth, Dennis Potter’s exceptional The Singing Detective, the revolutionary reality TV of Big Brother and the comedy genius of Caroline Aherne, Craig Cash and Henry Normal’s The Royle Family.

The Broadcasting Press Guild was founded in 1974 and has more than 110 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. The Top 50 list was compiled as part of the BPG’s 50^th annual Awards event that takes place this year on Thursday 21^st March.

The BPG Top 50 Landmark Programmes of the last 50 Years is a comprehensive evaluation of key shows in the evolution of television across the decades, and a roster that will provoke debate and encourage exploration of streaming and catch-up services that offer access to these classics from the archive.

BPG chair Manori Ravindran said the BPG Top 50 of 50 Years is a reminder of just how rich, varied and important the creative sector is in this country: “In our 50 years, members of the Broadcasting Press Guild have been the tastemakers of the British TV industry. As such, it felt appropriate to celebrate this milestone birthday with a Top 50 list reflecting the programmes we believe have created landmark TV moments or have been truly significant to the industry over that time. It wasn’t an easy process — and we welcome healthy debate about our selections — but we believe this list encapsulates the richness of the creative sector and its inimitable contribution to our culture and society.”

The BPG is delighted that this year’s Awards lunch is being sponsored by some of the most influential names in the industry: BBC Studios, Netflix, Pact, Prime Video and Warner Bros. Discovery. 

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

The BPG Top 50 Landmark Programmes of The Last 50 Years 
1 7 Up series – ITV/Granada + BBC, 1964-2019
2 Life On Earth – BBC, 1979
3 The World At War – ITV/Thames, 1973
4 The Office – BBC, 2001
5 Big Brother – Channel 4, 2000
6 Planet Earth – BBC, 2006
7 Have I Got News For You – BBC, 1990
8 I May Destroy You – BBC, 2020
9 The Singing Detective – BBC, 1986
10 The Day Today – BBC, 1994

11 The Royle Family – BBC
12 Our Friends In The North – BBC
13 I’m Alan Partridge – BBC
14 Boys From The Blackstuff – BBC
15 Blackadder – BBC
16 Strictly Come Dancing – BBC
17 The Thick Of It – BBC
18 Fleabag – BBC/Amazon
19 Only Fools And Horses – BBC
20 The Naked Civil Servant – ITV/Thames

21 Spitting Image – ITV/Central
22 Queer As Folk –-Channel 4
23 The Family – BBC
24 Monty Python’s Flying Circus – BBC
25 House Of Cards – BBC
26 Gogglebox – Channel 4
27 Goodness Gracious Me – BBC
28 The Crown – Netflix
29 Newsnight – BBC
30 Derry Girls – Channel 4

31 Brideshead Revisited – ITV/Granada
32 Chernobyl – HBO/Sky
33 Cracker – ITV/Granada
34 Blue Peter – BBC
35 Inspector Morse – ITV/Central
36 Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy – BBC
37 The Beatles: Get Back – Disney+
38 I, Claudius – BBC
39 Wallace & Gromit: A Close Shave – BBC
40 The Word – Channel 4

41 Death On The Rock – ITV/Thames
42 This is England – Channel 4
43 The Great British Bake-Off – BBC + Channel 4
44 Grange Hill – BBC
45 Pride and Prejudice – BBC
46 Pennies From Heaven – BBC
47 Desmond’s – Channel 4
48 The Big Breakfast – Channel 4
49 Parkinson – BBC + ITV
50 The Traitors – BBC

Notes to editors

1. The 50th BPG Awards lunch takes place on Thursday March 21, 2024. Winners will be announced at the lunch and simultaneously on Twitter/X and Instagram @BPGPressGuild #BPGAwards. For further details go to our website: www.broadcastingpressguild.org

2. The BPG Television, Streaming & Audio Awards celebrate work commissioned or produced in the UK and screened in 2023. These prizes are highly valued by programme-makers because they are chosen independently by TV and audio writers, correspondents, critics and previewers.

ENDS

Old favourites, new voices and investigative reporting celebrated in BPG Audio award nominations

Long-time radio favourites, brand-new podcasts and superb investigative reporting are among the nominations for this year’s Broadcasting Press Guild Audio Awards.

The Presenter of the Year shortlist includes broadcasting legend Ken Bruce, political podcaster supreme Rory Stewart and audio star of Sunday mornings Cerys Matthews, while the radio programme nominations centre on heavy hitting shows both in the commercial sphere and within BBC Radio. Meanwhile the latest The Rest Is… franchise does battle with a moving story of a group of friends living with a degenerative disease for the best podcast prize.

The chair of the BPG audio jury, journalist Simon O’Hagan, said this year’s judging committee produced amazingly talented lists in all three categories: “The quality and range of British audio presenters, radio programmes and podcasts just keeps on improving year-on-year and any one of our nominees would have made a worthy winner – the final votes by the judges was that close.”

The BPG Television, Streaming & Audio Awards are given for work commissioned or produced in the UK and broadcast in 2023. These prizes are highly valued by programme-makers because they are chosen independently by TV and audio writers, correspondents and critics. The 50th annual BPG Awards lunch is an invitation-only event to be held at The Royal Horseguards Hotel at 2 Whitehall Court in Whitehall, London, on Thursday 21^st March 2024. We are delighted that this special occasion is being sponsored by some of the most influential names in the industry: BBC Studios, Netflix, Pact, Prime Video and Warner Bros. Discovery. 

The Radio Programme of the Year category recognises the very strongest personalities at the microphone. James O’Brien’s LBC show holds guests and phone-in listeners accountable on a daily basis; journalist and Times Radio presenter Matt Chorley tackles serious politics – and so much more – with real humour; The Briefing Room on BBC Radio 4 offers a vital public service as David Aaronovitch explains and interrogates the big issues of the day; while The Great Post Office Trial, also on BBC Radio 4, saw Nick Wallis return to his investigation into the largest miscarriage of justice in UK legal history pushing the story back into the public consciousness even before 2024’s ITV drama hit the headlines.

The five nominations in the UK Podcast of the Year category cover the widest possible range of topics – from entertainment and history to politics and living with illness. The Rest Is…Entertainment is the latest hit from Goalhanger Podcasts, as the dream pairing of Marina Hyde and Richard Osman take a deep dive into everything showbiz; Movers and Shakers (Podot) saw Jeremy Paxman – recipient of the BPG’s Harvey Lee Award in 2023 – return to broadcasting alongside Rory Cellan-Jones, Gillian Lacey-Solmar and others to take a humorous and deeply honest look at living with Parkinson’s disease; Empire (Goalhanger Podcasts) receives a second consecutive nomination for hosts Anita Anand and William Dalrymple’s fascinating stories of world history; while I’m Not A Monster Series 2: The Shamima Begum Story (BBC Sounds) is an intelligent look at the story of the young woman who left the UK to join the Islamic State group.

The Audio Presenter of the Year nominees are a nod to both the worlds of radio and podcasts. Ken Bruce had a huge year in 2023 with the Popmaster leaving his beloved BBC Radio 2 show after more than 40 years at the Corporation and bringing a huge audience with him to Greatest Hits Radio; Cerys Matthews continued to hit the high spots with a range of music and guests on her hugely popular Sunday morning show on BBC Radio 6 Music; India Rakusen is among the nominees for the second consecutive year, this time as a presenter for the critically acclaimed podcast Witch – a worthy follow up to hit series 28ish Days Later; Rory Stewart made friends and influenced listeners from across the political spectrum as co-host of Goalhanger’s The Rest Is… Politics; and John Wilson is nominated for his superb work with some of the world’s leading artists and creatives in This Cultural Life.

The Broadcasting Press Guild marks its 50^th anniversary this year. The Guild began in 1974 and, as part of its celebrations, has compiled a list of the Top 50 Landmark TV Programmes. Full details will be revealed later throughout the media and on the Guild’s website http://www.broadcastingpressguild.org.

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

More About the Awards

1. The winners of the Audio Awards will be announced at the 50th BPG Awards lunch on Thursday 21^st March 2024, at The Royal Horseguards Hotel at 2 Whitehall Court in Whitehall, London. In addition, The Harvey Lee Award for outstanding contribution to broadcasting and two BPG Jury Prizes will be presented at the same time.
2. The BPG X/Twitter handle for the Awards is #BPGAwards @BPGPressGuild.  
3. The BPG Television, Streaming and Audio Awards are presented for work commissioned or premiered in the UK and broadcast in 2023.
4. The Broadcasting Press Guild was founded in 1974 and has more than 110 members. They are journalists who specialise in covering television, streaming, audio, 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. The BPG celebrates its 50th year in 2024.
5. Previous winners of the BPG Radio/Audio Broadcaster award include Aasmah Mir, Clara Amfo, 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, Simon Mayo, Kirsty Young, Brian Redhead, Sir Mark Tully, Sandy Toksvig, John Finnemore, Michael Buerk, Susannah Simons and Marianna Spring.
   (For more details/photos, see  http://www.broadcastingpressguild.org/).

6. BBC Studios, Netflix, Pact, Prime Video and Warner Bros. Discovery are supporters of this year’s Awards (see below for more details).

The full list of Audio Nominations for the 50^th BPG Awards is:

Radio Programme Of The Year

James O’Brien (LBC)

Matt Chorley (Times Radio)

The Briefing Room (BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds)

The Great Post Office Trial (BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds)

Audio Presenter Of The Year              

Ken Bruce (Greatest Hits Radio)

Cerys Matthews (BBC Radio 6 Music)

India Rakusen (BBC Radio 4)

Rory Stewart (Goalhanger Podcasts)

John Wilson (BBC Radio 4)

Podcast Of The Year

The Rest Is…Entertainment (Goalhanger Podcasts)

Movers and Shakers (Podot)             

Empire (Goalhanger Podcasts)

I’m Not A Monster Series 2: The Shamima Begum Story (BBC Sounds) 

Note to Editors: Information about our sponsors

BBC Studios is a world-renowned content studio and channels & streaming business, powered by British creativity, with a reach that touches audiences in every corner of the globe. BBC Studios is sponsoring the BPG Awards Red Carpet.

Netflix is one of the world’s leading entertainment services with over 260 million paid memberships in over 190 countries enjoying TV series, films, and games across a wide variety of genres and languages. Members can play, pause and resume watching, as much as they want, anytime, anywhere, and can change their plans at any time. Netflix is co-sponsor of the BPG Awards Drinks Reception.

Pact is the UK screen sector trade body representing and supporting independent production and distribution companies. Pact is sponsoring the BPG for the second consecutive year and is co-sponsor of the BPG Awards 2024 Drinks Reception.

Prime Video membership provides access to thousands of popular movies, TV shows, award-winning Originals, sports, and exclusive channels like discovery+, STARZPLAY, and Paramount+, with the added benefit of special deals for Prime Video members using the rent and buy feature to access new-release movies and TV series. Prime Video is sponsoring two BPG Talent Awards: BPG Emerging Creators Award and the BPG Breakthrough Award.

Warner Bros. Discovery is a leading global media and entertainment company that creates and distributes the world’s most differentiated and complete portfolio of content and brands across television, film, streaming and games with globally known brands including CNN, Cartoon Network, Discovery Channel, Friends, Harry Potter, HBO, TNT Sports. In the UK & Ireland WBD brings audiences 22 linear channels and is the streaming home of factual entertainment and premium sport through discovery+. 

WBD UK & Ireland is a proud supporter of the BPG Awards for the second consecutive year sponsoring the Harvey Lee Award for Outstanding Contribution to Broadcasting.

ENDS

Happy Valley & Slow Horses battle for drama prizes in the 50th BPG Awards while newcomer Kat Sadler takes on former winners Sally Wainwright and Russell T Davies for best writer

The acclaimed final series of Happy Valley leads the way in this year’s Broadcasting Press Guild Awards with nominations for Best Drama Series; Sarah Lancashire for Best Actress; James Norton for Best Actor; and Sally Wainwright for Best Writer. Meanwhile, Slow Horses, The Sixth Commandment and Kat Sadler’s debut Such Brave Girls are all acknowledged three times in this 50^th year of the Guild.

The BPG’s two drama categories are among the most hotly contested. Happy Valley (BBC One) and Slow Horses (Apple+) are joined in the Best Drama Series (4+ episodes) section by three outstanding and stylistically distinctive BBC One shows – Boiling Point, The Sixth Commandment and The Woman In The Wall. 

In addition, the story of Crossroads’ leading lady Noele Gordon is at the heart of ITV’s Nolly which faces strong competition in the Best Single Drama or Mini Series (1-3 episodes) category from Black Mirror: Demon 79 (Netflix), Partygate (Channel 4), Stonehouse (ITV), and series 2 of Time (BBC One) by Jimmy McGovern and Helen Black.

2023 was also an outstanding year for documentaries with the pop partnership of a young George Michael and his friend Andrew Ridgeley featured in the Netflix film WHAM! which is nominated for the Best Documentary Mini Series (1-3 episodes) award along with Russell Brand: In Plain Sight – Dispatches (Channel 4), Chris Packham: Is It Time To Break The Law? (Channel 4), and David Harewood on Blackface (BBC Two). The five programmes in contention for the Best Documentary Series (4+ episodes) explore a wide range of topics: Beckham (Netflix), Lockerbie (Sky), and three BBC Two series – Once Upon A Time in Northern Ireland, Putin vs the West and Union with David Olusoga: The Making of Britain.

The Broadcasting Press Guild marks its 50th anniversary this year. The Guild began in 1974 and, as part of its celebrations, has invited its members to select a list of the Top 50 Landmark TV Programmes. Full details will be revealed on 12^th March throughout the media and on the website http://www.broadcastingpressguild.org

The BPG Television, Streaming & Audio Awards are given for work commissioned or produced in the UK and screened in 2023. These prizes are highly valued by programme-makers because they are chosen independently by TV and audio writers, correspondents and critics. The 50th annual BPG Awards lunch is an invitation-only event to be held at The Royal Horseguards Hotel at 2 Whitehall Court in Whitehall, London, on Thursday 21^st March 2024. We are delighted that this special occasion is being sponsored by some of the most influential names in the industry: BBC Studios, Netflix, Pact, Prime Video and Warner Bros. Discovery. 

In the Best Entertainment category, the nominations shortlist features the BBC’s triumphant Eurovision coverage; the intense emotion of My Mum Your Dad (ITV); The Piano hitting the high notes on Channel 4; another compelling Race Across The World (BBC One); and the astounding technological feat of Squid Game: The Challenge (Netflix).

Gary Oldman is nominated as Best Actor for his performance in Slow Horses for the second consecutive year, and is joined by Steve Coogan (The Reckoning), previous BPG Breakthrough Talent Award-winner Ncuti Gatwa (Sex Education/Doctor Who), James Norton (Happy Valley) and Timothy Spall (The Sixth Commandment).

In the Best Actress category, first-time nominees for acting, Daisy May Cooper, star of Rain Dogs, Vinette Robinson (Boiling Point, Six Four and The Lazarus Project) and Elizabeth Debicki (The Crown) line up with more established talent Sarah Lancashire (Happy Valley) and Ruth Wilson (The Woman In The Wall).

Inside No 9 (BBC Two) has been a regular a contender for BPG Best Comedy (this time for series 9) and this year battles Ghosts (BBC One) in its final series; superhero show Extraordinary (Disney+); and two BBC Three shows that showcased brilliant new talent – Adjani Salmon’s Dreaming Whilst Black and Kat Sadler’s Such Brave Girls.

The Best Writer category is as strong as ever with former winners Russell T Davies (Nolly/Doctor Who) and Sally Wainwright (Happy Valley) in the running with Sarah Phelps (The Sixth Commandment), Kat Sadler (Such Brave Girls) and Will Smith (Slow Horses).

Every year, two TV awards are the gift of the BPG Executive Committee. The annual BPG Breakthrough Talent Award features outstanding young acting stars Bella Ramsey (Time) and David Jonsson (Agatha Christie’s Murder Is Easy) who are on the final shortlist alongside writer-actor Kat Sadler (Such Brave Girls). The BPG Emerging Creators Award nominees for calendar year 2023 are the comedian, interviewer and host of Chicken Shop Date Amelia Dimoldenberg; the social media influencer and presenter GK Barry; and actor Mawaan Rizwan for his performances in Dr Who and Juice.

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

More About the Awards

1. The winners of the TV and Streaming Awards will be announced at the 50th BPG Awards lunch on Thursday 21^stMarch 2024, at The Royal Horseguards Hotel at 2 Whitehall Court in Whitehall, London. In addition, The Harvey Lee Award for outstanding contribution to broadcasting and two BPG Jury Prizes will be presented at the same time.
2. The BPG X/Twitter handle for the Awards is #BPGAwards @BPGPressGuild.  
3. The BPG Television, Streaming and Audio Awards are presented for work commissioned or premiered in the UK and screened in 2023. Programmes which were first streamed online are nominated and voted for alongside broadcast channel commissions originating in the UK.
4. 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 7^th March.
5. The Broadcasting Press Guild was founded in 1974 and has more than 110 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. The BPG celebrates its 50th year in 2024.
6. Past programme winners in entertainment, comedy, documentary and drama include some of the most renowned and significant shows in UK television history and range from Life On Earth, The 7-Up Series, The Word, The Jewel In The Crown and The Thick Of It to Downton Abbey, The Crown, Fleabag, Death On The Rock, The World At War andHave I Got News For You.
7. Past BPG Best Actress winners include Dame Glenda Jackson, Dame Eileen Atkins, Dame Helen Mirren, Dame Peggy Ashcroft, Gillian Anderson, Dame Vanessa Redgrave, Dame Diana Rigg, Zoe Wanamaker, Dame Julie Walters, Olivia Colman, Keeley Hawes, Sheridan Smith, Juliet Stevenson, Claire Foy and Jodie Comer.
8. Past BPG Best Actor winners include Sir Mark Rylance, Sir Kenneth Branagh, Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, Sir Alec Guinness, Albert Finney, Charles Dance, Robert Hardy, Jim Broadbent, Benedict Cumberbatch, Toby Jones, Stephen Graham, Ben Whishaw and Dominic West (For more details/photos, see  http://www.broadcastingpressguild.org/).
9. BBC Studios, Netflix, Pact, Prime Video and Warner Bros. Discovery are supporters of this year’s Awards (see below for more details).

The full list of BPG TV and Streaming Nominations for this year’s BPG Awards 2024:

Best Single Drama or Mini-Series 1-3 EPS

Black Mirror: Demon 79 (Netflix)
Nolly (ITV)
Partygate (Channel 4)
Stonehouse (ITV)
Time S2 (BBC One)

Best Single Documentary or Mini- Series 1-3 EPS
Russell Brand: In Plain Sight – Dispatches (Channel 4)
Chris Packham: Is It Time To Break The Law? (Channel 4)
David Harewood on Blackface (BBC Two)
WHAM! (Netflix)

Best Documentary Series (4+ EPS)
Beckham (Netflix)
Lockerbie (Sky)
Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland (BBC Two)
Putin vs the West (BBC Two)
Union with David Olusoga: The Making of Britain (BBC Two)

Best Drama Series (4+ EPS)
Boiling Point (BBC One)
Happy Valley S3 (BBC One)
Slow Horses S3 (Apple+)
The Sixth Commandment (BBC One)
The Woman In The Wall (BBC One)

Best Comedy
Dreaming Whilst Black (BBC Three)
Extraordinary (Disney+)
Ghosts S5 (BBC One)
Inside No 9 S8 (BBC Two)
Such Brave Girls (BBC Three)

Best Entertainment (Including Factual Entertainment)
Eurovision coverage across week on BBC
My Mum Your Dad (ITV)
The Piano (Channel 4)
Race Across The World S3 (BBC One)
Squid Game: The Challenge (Netflix)

Best Actor
Gary Oldman – Slow Horses S3
James Norton – Happy Valley S3
Ncuti Gatwa – Sex Education S4/Doctor Who S14
Steve Coogan – The Reckoning
Timothy Spall – The Sixth Commandment

Best Actress
Daisy May Cooper – Rain Dogs
Elizabeth Debicki – The Crown S6
Sarah Lancashire – Happy Valley S3
Ruth Wilson – The Woman in the Wall
Vinette Robinson – Boiling Point/Six Four/The Lazarus Project

Best Writer
Kat Sadler – Such Brave Girls
Russell T Davies – Nolly/Doctor Who S14
Sally Wainwright – Happy Valley S3
Sarah Phelps – The Sixth Commandment
Will Smith – Slow Horses S3

BPG Breakthrough Talent Award
Bella Ramsey – Time
David Jonsson – Agatha Christie’s Murder Is Easy
Kat Sadler – Such Brave Girls

BPG Emerging Creators Award
Amelia Dimoldenberg – comedian, interviewer and host of Chicken Shop Date
GK Barry – social media influencer and presenter
Mawaan Rizwan – actor for Dr Who and Juice

Note to Editors: Information about our sponsors

BBC Studios is a world-renowned content studio and channels & streaming business, powered by British creativity, with a reach that touches audiences in every corner of the globe. BBC Studios is sponsoring the BPG Awards Red Carpet.

Netflix is one of the world’s leading entertainment services with over 260 million paid memberships in over 190 countries enjoying TV series, films, and games across a wide variety of genres and languages. Members can play, pause and resume watching, as much as they want, anytime, anywhere, and can change their plans at any time. Netflix is co-sponsor of the BPG Awards Drinks Reception.

Pact is the UK screen sector trade body representing and supporting independent production and distribution companies. Pact is sponsoring the BPG for the second consecutive year and is co-sponsor of the BPG Awards 2024 Drinks Reception.

Prime Video membership provides access to thousands of popular movies, TV shows, award-winning Originals, sports, and exclusive channels like discovery+, STARZPLAY, and Paramount+, with the added benefit of special deals for Prime Video members using the rent and buy feature to access new-release movies and TV series. Prime Video is sponsoring two BPG Talent Awards: BPG Emerging Creators Award and the BPG Breakthrough Award.

Warner Bros. Discovery is a leading global media and entertainment company that creates and distributes the world’s most differentiated and complete portfolio of content and brands across television, film, streaming and games with globally known brands including CNN, Cartoon Network, Discovery Channel, Friends, Harry Potter, HBO, TNT Sports. In the UK & Ireland WBD brings audiences 22 linear channels and is the streaming home of factual entertainment and premium sport through discovery+. WBD UK & Ireland is a proud supporter of the BPG Awards for the second consecutive year sponsoring the Harvey Lee Award for Outstanding Contribution to Broadcasting.

ENDS