The Grierson Trust has announced the nominations for the 2026 British Documentary Awards.
The BBC tops this year’s awards longlist with 19 nominations across its channels and on iPlayer, followed by Channel 4 with nine, Netflix with eight, Sky Documentaries with five, Disney+ (incorporating National Geographic) with four, and Apple TV+ with two. The National Film and Television School has three nominations in the best All3Media Best Student Documentary category.
This year’s nominations include entries made by 31 female directors (44% of the total) and 39 male directors (some productions are co-directed).
Four documentaries have been nominated in two categories in the 2026 awards: 2000 Meters to Andriivka (Associated Press/Frontline for Sky Documentaries) in the Broadcast International Best Single Documentary – International and Sky Documentaries Best Cinema Documentary categories; Come See Me in the Good Light (Tripod Media, Amplify Pictures, Treat Media, Something Fierce Productions for Apple TV+) also in the in the Broadcast International Best Single Documentary – International and Sky Documentaries Best Cinema Documentary categories; Grenfell: Uncovered (Rogan Productions for Netflix) in the ENVY Best Single Documentary – Domestic, and Best History Documentary categories; and The Dunblane Tapes (Candour Productions for Channel 4), also in the ENVY Best Single Documentary – Domestic, and Best History Documentary categories.
Three indies have three nominations each. Rogan Productions for Grenfell: Uncovered in the ENVY Best Single Documentary – Domestic, and Best History categories and The Secret of Me in the Best Science and Natural History Documentary; Passion Pictures for Turner: The Secret Sketchbooks in the Bleeding Fingers Music Best Arts and Music Documentary category and See No Evil in the Netflix Best Documentary Series category, and Wild London in the Best Science and Natural History Documentary category ; and Curious Films for Confessions of a Brain Surgeonin the Best Science and Natural History Documentary, together with Christine Flack for Caroline Flack: Search for the Truth and Hannah Fry for AI Confidential with Hannah Fry, both in the Best Documentary Presenter category.
Five production companies are nominated in two categories. Candour Productions for The Dunblane Tapes in the ENVY Best Single Documentary – Domestic, and Best History Documentary categories;; Zandland for Breaking Ranks: Inside Israel’s War in the Televisual Best Current Affairs Documentary and Inside Gooning: The Internet’s Porn Epidemic in the Best Digital Documentary category; Associated Press for 2000 Meters to Andriivka in the Broadcast International Best Single Documentary – International and Sky Documentaries Best Cinema Documentary categories; Tripod Media, Amplify Pictures, Treat Media, Something Fierce Productions for Come See Me in the Good Light in the in the Broadcast International Best Single Documentary – International and Sky Documentaries Best Cinema Documentary categories. BBC Current Affairs also received two nominations for Surviving Syria’s Prisons and The Zero Line: Inside Russia’s War, both in the Televisual Best Current Affairs Documentary category.
Tom McDonald, Chair of the Grierson Trust said: “This year’s Grierson Award nominations showcase powerful films and series which span so many topics. From forensic investigations into corporate wrongdoing and the power of big tech and AI to change our lives – for better or worse – to documenting the impact of war and civil unrest on ordinary people, and how the natural world is changing around us.”
“It’s great to see many films and series directed by female directors make the list; and to see projects from across the UK represented so strongly.”
This year’s awards form the centrepiece of the Trust’s year-long celebration of the 100thanniversary of John Grierson first coining the term ‘documentary’ when discussing filmmaking, and take place on 10thNovember at the Roundhouse, London.
Jon Creamer
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