Adolescence Wins Big at Broadcasting Press Guild Awards
A new crop of British programmes and creators were honoured at the Broadcasting Press Guild Awards held at The Barbican in London. The evening recognised drama, comedy, entertainment, audio and innovation across television and radio.
Big winners and headline drama
A single crime drama dominated, taking five awards. Its cast and creators collected several top prizes.
Stephen Graham and Erin Doherty both won best actor awards in their categories. Both were also recognised for performances linked to the Disney+ series A Thousand Blows.
The show won best single drama or mini-series. Owen Cooper, its star, received the BPG breakthrough talent award.
Co-creator Jack Thorne, who also wrote the mini-series Toxic Town, won the award for best writer. The drama, about a teenage boy arrested for the murder of a classmate, had earlier won four Golden Globes in January and several Emmys last year.
Entertainment, drama and comedy honours
The Celebrity Traitors took the prize for best entertainment. The series first aired on the BBC last autumn.
Claudia Winkleman presented the celebrity spin-off. Comedian Alan Carr emerged victorious, beating historian David Olusoga and actor Nick Mohammed.
The BBC also secured the best drama award for Blue Lights. Amandaland won best comedy.
Documentary and returning favourites
Louis Theroux: The Settlers won best single documentary or mini-series. Educating Yorkshire was named best documentary series.
The Channel 4 fly-on-the-wall series returned last autumn after a 12-year break. The ceremony highlighted the BBC and Channel 4’s strong documentary output.
Audio and podcast awards
The ceremony was hosted by Rhianna Dhillon. During the event, Bill Nighy won podcast of the year for Ill-Advised.
BBC Radio 4’s What Happened To Counter Culture? received the audio programme of the year award. Sara Cox was recognised as audio presenter of the year.
Special awards and innovation
Sally Wainwright received the Harvey Lee award for her work on TV dramas, including Happy Valley. The BPG innovation prize went to WSQK ‘The Squawk’.
The Squawk was a pop-up 1980s-themed radio station. Global launched it to promote the final series of Stranger Things on Netflix.
Specs Gonzalez won the emerging creator prize. TV producer Adeel Amini and broadcaster Melvyn Bragg earned BPG members’ special awards.
Organisers’ response
Matt Deegan, chairman of the BPG, praised the winners. He said the awards underline the strength of British broadcasting when ambition meets authenticity.
He noted the variety of bold drama, inventive entertainment and strong audio storytelling on display. Members of the Broadcasting Press Guild vote on the awards.
Adolescence featured prominently in the coverage, reflecting how the subject continues to resonate with critics and viewers. Filmogaz.com will follow up with further analysis and interviews.
