The Crown leads Broadcasting Press Guild Awards nominations

Netflix drama The Crown leads the nominations at this year’s Broadcasting Press Guild Awards, chosen by journalists who write about TV and radio.

Its stars Claire Foy and Matt Smith, who play Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, have been nominated in the acting categories, Peter Morgan is shortlisted for best writer, and the series is nominated as the best ‘online first or streaming’ programme.

Line of Duty (BBC Two), The Night Manager and War and Peace (both BBC One) and The Tunnel – Sabotage (Sky Atlantic) are shortlisted for best TV drama series. Four BBC One plays – A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Damilola Our Loved Boy, The Witness for the Prosecution and To Walk Invisible – will compete with Sky 1’s The Last Dragonslayer for the best single drama award.

Two BBC Two documentaries by Louis Theroux – Drinking to Oblivion and Savile – have been nominated as Best Single Documentary, alongside Hillsborough (BBC Two) and The Fall – Zola Budd and Mary Decker (Sky Atlantic).

Exodus: Our Journey to Europe and Inside Obama’s White House (both BBC Two) are nominated for Best Documentary Series, with Planet Earth II (BBC One) and Richard E Grant on Ealing Comedies (Dave). 

In the Best Entertainment/Factual Entertainment category, The Great British Bake Off, The Graham Norton Show and Strictly Come Dancing (all BBC One) will be competing with Taskmaster (Dave). The Best Comedy award will be contested by Alan Partridge’s Mid Morning Matters (Sky Atlantic) and Motherland, Mum and Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle (all BBC Two).

The 43rd annual BPG awards, sponsored this year for the first time by Virgin TV, will be presented next month at a lunch in central London.

The full list of nominations is:

Best Single Drama
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Russell T Davies version) (BBC One)
Damilola, Our Loved Boy (BBC One)
The Last Dragonslayer (Sky1)
The Witness for the Prosecution (BBC One)
To Walk Invisible (BBC One)

Best Drama Series
Line of Duty (BBC Two)
The Night Manager (BBC One)
The Tunnel – Sabotage (Sky Atlantic)
War and Peace (BBC One)

Best Single Documentary
Hillsborough (BBC Two)
Louis Theroux – Drinking to Oblivion (BBC Two)
Louis Theroux – Savile (BBC Two)
The Fall – Zola Budd and Mary Decker (Sky Atlantic)

Best Documentary Series
Exodus: Our Journey to Europe (BBC Two)
Inside Obama’s White House (BBC Two)
Planet Earth II (BBC One)
Richard E. Grant on Ealing Comedies (Dave)

Best Entertainment/ Factual Entertainment
Great British Bake-Off (BBC One)
The Graham Norton Show (BBC One)
Strictly Come Dancing (BBC One)
Taskmaster (Dave)

Best Comedy
Alan Partridge’s Mid Morning Matters (Sky Atlantic)
Motherland (BBC Two)
Mum (BBC Two)
Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle (BBC Two)

Best Actor
Robbie Coltrane (National Treasure)
Hugh Laurie (The Night Manager)
James Norton (War and Peace, Happy Valley, Grantchester)
Matt Smith (The Crown)

Best Actress
Claire Foy (The Crown)
Keeley Hawes (Line of Duty, The Missing, The Durrells)
Sarah Lancashire (Happy Valley)
Andrea Riseborough (National Treasure, The Witness for The Prosecution)

Best of Multichannel (non-PSB)
Alan Partridge’s Mid Morning Matters (Sky Atlantic)
The Fall – Zola Budd and Mary Decker (Sky Atlantic)
The Last Dragonslayer (Sky1)
Richard E. Grant on Ealing Comedies (Dave)
Taskmaster (Dave)
The Tunnel – Sabotage (Sky Atlantic) 5/
BPG Awards 2017 – TV nominations /5

Best Online First/Streaming
Adam Curtis: HyperNormalisation (BBC iPlayer)
Black Mirror (Netflix)
The Crown (Netflix)
Fleabag (BBC Three)

Best Writer
Phoebe Waller Bridge (Fleabag)
Peter Morgan (The Crown)
Jack Thorne (National Treasure)
Sally Wainwright (Happy Valley, To Walk Invisible)

BPG Innovation in Broadcasting Award
Exodus: Our Journey to Europe (BBC Two) – for innovative use of crowd-sourced content to tell a compelling story
Walter Presents – for bringing the best of subtitled television drama to a wider, on-demand audience, for free
Facebook Live – for bringing the capacity for creating and watching live video streaming to mass audiences