The winners have been announced for the 44th Broadcasting Press Guild Awards with Ed Miliband, Sir David Attenborough, Dame Hilary Mantel and Prue Leith among the winners.
Claire Foy, Jed Mercurio, Mark Bonnar and Emma Barnett all won individual awards
The awards, given only for work commissioned in the UK are selected independently by TV and radio correspondents, critics and previewers.
Claire Foy was named Best Actress for her role in the second series of The Crown (Netflix), which also won the award for Best Online First /Streaming production.
Mark Bonnar was named Best Actor for a string of high-profile roles, including Unforgotten, Eric, Ernie and Me, Catastrophe and Apple Tree Yard.
Line of Duty (BBC One) was named Best Drama Series, and its creator Jed Mercurio won the award for Best Writer. Three Girls, the three-part BBC One drama based on the true stories of victims of grooming and sexual abuse in Rochdale, was named Best Single Drama/Mini-series.
Blue Planet II (BBC One) was named Best Documentary Series and Chris Packham: Aspergers and Me (BBC Two) won the award for Best Single Documentary.
The annual Harvey Lee Award for an Outstanding Contribution to Broadcasting was given to the children’s television producers Biddy Baxter and Edward Barnes, in special recognition of Blue Peter, which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year. The citation says: “For creating the ‘new’ Blue Peter in the early 1960s alongside the late Rosemary Gill. The involvement of its audience was ground-breaking, giving every child the opportunity to make a valuable contribution to the programme,to become involved in charity fund-raising and win a coveted Blue Peter badge. Blue Peter unleashed the power and potential of children’s television and 60 years on has created some of its most memorable moments.”
The BPG Award for Innovation went to Channel 4 for its latest advances in championing diversity both on and off screen.These include initiatives such as Spotlight on Directors and diversity throughout its commissioning – in programmes such as Ackley Bridge, The Last Leg and its 50 Shades of Gay season – and in its advertising.
Channel Four also won the award for Best Entertainment/Factual Entertainment category, with its first series of The Great British Bake Off. Detectorists (BBC Four) was named Best Comedy.
The Trip to Spain (Sky Atlantic) won the award for Best Multichannel (non-PSB) programme.
The full list of BPG TV and Radio Awards winners is:
Best Single Drama/Mini-series
Three Girls
A BBC Studios in association with Studio Lambert production for BBC One
Best Drama Series
Line of Duty
Produced by World Productions for BBC One
Best Single Documentary
Chris Packham: Asperger’s and Me
A Raw TV production for BBC Two
Best Documentary Series
Blue Planet II
A co-production of BBC Worldwide, WDR, BBC America, Tencent, The Open University, France Televisions & CCTV9 made by BBC Studios, Natural History Unit for BBC One
Best Entertainment
The Great British Bake Off
A Love Productions production for Channel 4
Best Digital First Streaming
The Crown
A Left Bank Pictures, Sony Pictures TV Company production for Netflix
Best Comedy
Detectorists
A Channel X North, Treasure Trove Productions & Lola Entertainment production for BBC Four
Best Multichannel Programme
The Trip to Spain
A Revolution Films, Baby Cow, Small Man Production for Sky Atlantic
Radio Broadcaster of the Year
Emma Barnett
The Emma Barnett Show, BBC Radio 5 Live, and Woman’s Hour, BBC Radio 4
Radio Programme of the Year
BBC Reith Lectures 2017: Hilary Mantel
A BBC Radio Current Affairs production for BBC Radio 4
Podcast of the Year
Reasons to be Cheerful
A Cheerful Thinking production
Best Actor
Mark Bonnar for Eric, Ernie and Me (BBC Four), Apple Tree Yard (BBC One), Catastrophe (Channel 4), Unforgotten (ITV)
Best Actress
Claire Foy for The Crown (Netflix)
Best Writer Jed Mercurio for Line of Duty (BBC One)
Innovation Award
Channel 4 for new advances in championing diversity, including initiatives such as Spotlight on Directors and diversity throughout its commissioning and in its advertising.
Harvey Lee Award
Biddy Baxter & Edward Barnes, children’s television producers, in special recognition of Blue Peter.
Staff Reporter
Share this story
