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Television and Streaming nominations for 49th BPG Awards revealed

February 23, 2023

Claudia Winkleman’s presenting skills pose a dilemma in the fight for a prize at this year’s Broadcasting Press Guild Awards – she fronts both The Traitors and series 20 of Strictly Come Dancing that are each nominated in the Best Entertainment category. The two BBC One shows will do battle with Rob & Romesh Vs (Sky) and Billy Connolly Does (Gold).

It was a strong year for drama with six channels or streaming services represented across the two drama categories. The nominations for Best Drama series (4+ eps) include an Apple TV+ entry for the first time, Slow Horses, competing against SAS Rogue Heroes (BBC One), The English (BBC Two), The Thief, His Wife and His Canoe (ITV) and Sherwood (BBC One). In the Best Drama Mini Series (1-3 eps) category, Vardy v Rooney: A Courtroom Drama (C4) hopes for a positive verdict as it goes up against Karen Pirie (ITV), I Hate Suzie Too (Sky), I Am Ruth (C4) and Mayflies (BBC One).

The BPG Television, Streaming & Audio Awards – for work commissioned or produced in the UK and screened in 2022 – are prized by programme-makers because they are chosen independently by TV and audio correspondents, critics and previewers. The 49th annual BPG Awards lunch in an invite-only event to be held at The Royal Horseguards Hotel in Whitehall, London, on l March 24th. Warner Bros Discovery and Pact are this year’s supporters of the event.

A diverse group of nominees line up in the documentary categories. The Real Mo Farah (BBC One) will be hoping to stay ahead of Jeremy Paxman: Putting up with Parkinson’s (ITV), Tindler Swindler (Netflix), Banned! The Mary Whitehouse Story (BBC Two) and Aids: The Unheard Tapes (BBC Two) for the Best Documentary Mini Series (1-3 eps) award.

And Mick Jagger faces up to David Attenborough in the Best Documentary Series (4+ eps) category as My Life As a Rolling Stone (BBC Two) takes on Frozen Planet II (BBC One). Three other series are also in the running: All or Nothing: Arsenal (Amazon Prime), Lenny Henry’s Caribbean Britain (BBC Two) and Once Upon a Time in Londongrad (Sky).

The Best Actor category sees Gary Oldman, veteran star of Slow Horses on Apple TV+ taking on the very busy Paapa Essiedu (The Lazarus Project, The Capture, Gangs of London), Connor Swindells (SAS Rogue Heroes) and Ben Whishaw, star of BBC One’s This Is Going To Hurt.

First-time nominee Ambika Mod, star of This Is Going to Hurt joins Lesley Manville (Sherwood, The Magpie Murders), Anna Maxwell Martin (Motherland, A Spy Among Friends) and Nicola Walker (Marriage, The Split) in the Best Actress category, again showcasing the range of new and established talent in UK TV drama and comedy.

The third and final series of Lisa McGee’s Derry Girls (C4) is a contender for Best Comedy along with Sharon Horgan’s Motherland (BBC One), newcomer Jack Rooke’s Big Boys (C4) and Rowan Atkinson and Will Davies’s Netflix hit Man V Bee.

The three comedy writers McGee, Horgan and Rooke are also nominated for Best Writer and are up against James Graham for Sherwood and Steven Knight for Peaky Blinders (BBC One) and SAS Rogue Heroes.

The annual BPG Breakthrough Talent Award nominations are decided by the BPG’s Executive Committee. Writer Jack Rooke is in the frame for Big Boys, up against actor Lenny Rush for his role in Am I Being Unreasonable? and Ione Wells for her strong year as a BBC News political correspondent.

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