April 20, 2023
The meeting point for UK Media Journalists
April 20, 2023
The writer and star of the hit BBC One drama Sherwood spent an hour with over a dozen members in June via the latest BPG Zoom Lunch and gave a masterclass on how the series came into being.
James Graham and David Morrissey were candid about the reasons for the programme’s success; spoke about its impressive ensemble cast; and also gave insights into the production issues with some fascinating behind-the-scenes stories.
David said that he would be very happy to reprise his character, Detective Chief Superintendent Ian St Clair, and a second season is now confirmed. Stories by BPG members later appeared in both the Daily Telegraph and Broadcast.
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 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
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:
Further information: Torin Douglas, BPG: torindouglas@aol.com or 07860 422992
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
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)
Historians Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook; music presenters Petroc Trelawney, Vick Hope and Jamz Supernova; and journalists Amol Rajan, Aasmah Mir, Iain Dale and Jon Ronson are among the nominees for this year’s Broadcasting Press Guild (BPG) audio awards, encompassing radio and podcasts.
Holland and Sandbrook’s podcast The Rest Is History has been shortlisted as UK Podcast of the Year, alongside the literary podcast Backlisted, with John Mitchinson and Andy Miller; Nicky Woolf’s Finding Q: My Journey into QAnon; Tortoise Media’s Sweet Bobby; and Things Fell Apart, presented by Jon Ronson.
Amol Rajan from BBC Radio 4 has been nominated as Audio Presenter of the Year, alongside Aasmah Mir who presents Times Radio Breakfast with Stig Abell, Iain Dale of LBC, Petroc Trelawny of BBC Radio 3 and Vick Hope of BBC Radio 1.
Aasmah Mir and Stig Abell with Times Radio Breakfast is also nominated as Radio Programme of the Year, alongside Jamz Supernova on 6 (BBC 6 Music), The Eco Show (Marlow FM 97.5) Uncanny with Danny Robins (BBC Radio 4) and Woman’s Hour (BBC Radio 4).
The chair of the BPG audio jury, journalist and broadcaster Scott Bryan, said: “Once again the jury, consisting of many of the best critics and writers in the country, were blown away with the quality and variety of audio on offer. Whittling down our longlist of entries to our eventual shortlist and winner in each category was a bit of a nightmare, but it just goes to show the strength of British audio at the moment.”
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 radio and TV 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.
Further information from Torin Douglas, BPG, 07860 422992
Notes to editors
The full list of nominations is:
Radio Programme of the Year
Jamz Supernova on 6 (BBC Radio 6 Music)
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)
Woman’s Hour (BBC Radio 4)
UK Podcast of the Year
Backlisted (Unbound)
Finding Q: My Journey into QAnon (Audible)
Sweet Bobby (Tortoise Media)
The Rest Is History (Goalhanger Films)
Things Fell Apart – Jon Ronson (BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds)
Audio Presenter of the Year
Aasmah Mir (Times Radio)
Amol Rajan (BBC Radio 4)
Iain Dale (LBC)
Petroc Trelawny (BBC Radio 3)
Vick Hope (BBC Radio 1)
The Broadcasting Press Guild held its first lunch of the year in late January with Arrow Pictures’ John Smithson and Channel 4 commissioner Sacha Mirzoeff.
The pair were discussing Channel 4 true crime doc I, Sniper: The Washington Killers, which gave a minute-by-minute account of the 2002 Washington, D.C. sniper case – one of the most terrifying crimes in recent history.
Mirzoeff said he had immediately wanted the show for his true crime strand, while the Oscar-nominated Smithson said his team spoke to 450 people during the making of the doc.
The key was using the voice of Lee Malvo, one of the perpetrators, added Smithson, who is now serving a life prison sentence and spoke to Smithson and his team on the phone.
“It was one of the most difficult things I’ve done,” said Smithson.
He added later: “The barriers with linear world and the streaming world are breaking down . It helps (producers) rather than hinders to have the streamers as buyers because it creates competition and there is a quality threshold. I,Sniper is a streaming proposition for Channel 4, for example. And we are talking to Channel 4 now about other streaming commissions.”
Mirzoeff said: “We are seeing a shift into true crime on All4. Both in commissions and acquisitions. Viewing figures have been astonishing.”
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