BBC Leads The Way With 40 Nominations As The Royal Television Society Announces Nominations for RTS Programme Awards 2021

BBC leads the way with 40 nominations

Michaela Coel’s I May Destroy You recognised across three categories

Brand new ‘Comedy Entertainment’ category highlights Big Narstie Show, Antiviral Wipe and The Ranganation

Virtual Ceremony to be hosted by Jonathan Ross

The Royal Television Society (RTS), Britain’s leading forum for television and related media, has shortlisted the nominations for its RTS Programme Awards 2021, in partnership with Audio Network. The nominations were announced this morning via livestream by British television presenter Ore Oduba. 

After a challenging year filled with ingenuity, resilience and dedication across the industry, the BBC leads the way with 40 nominations across the 28 categories, followed by Channel 4 with 17 and Sky with 12. The prestigious awards will be presented, and the winners and nominees celebrated, on Tuesday 16^th March at 6:30pm and hosted by renowned British television and radio presenter Jonathan Ross. The ceremony will be streamed live on the RTS website.

BBC One’s hit series I May Destroy You garners three nominations for ‘Mini-Series’, and Michaela Coel for both ‘Actor (Female)’ and ‘Writer – Drama’. For the ‘Drama Series’ category Sky received two nominations for Sky Atlantic’s Save Me Too and Sky One’s I Hate Suzie. The third nomination for this competitive category is BBC Three and BBC One Wales’ In My Skin.

New this year, the ‘Comedy Entertainment’ category recognised Channel 4’s The Big Narstie Show, BBC Two’s Antiviral Wipe and BBC Two’s The Ranganation. Standout comedy was also highlighted in the ‘Scripted Comedy’ shortlist where Sky One’s Brassic, Netflix’s Sex Education and BBC Three’s The Young Offenders are all in the running for the coveted award.

Chair of the Awards, Kenton Allen, said “The standard of entries has been outstanding and demonstrated the breadth of high-quality content that has informed, entertained and kept audiences going through what has been such a uniquely difficult time. We very much look forward to and hope everyone will join us on the 16^th March to celebrate the nominees and winners and another outstanding year of television.”

Please see below the full list of nominations:

Actor (Female)

• Glenda Jackson - Elizabeth is Missing (STV Studios for BBC One)
• Michaela Coel - I May Destroy You ( Various Artists/FALKNA for BBC One)
• Daisy Edgar-Jones - Normal People (Element Pictures for BBC Three)

Actor (Male)

• Lennie James - Save Me Too (World Productions for Sky Atlantic)
• Paul Mescal - Normal People (Element Pictures for BBC Three)
• Shaun Parkes - Small Axe (Turbine Studios and Lammas Park for BBC One)

Arts

• African Renaissance: When Art Meets Power (ClearStory for BBC Four)
• Keith Haring: Street Art Boy (BBC Studios for BBC Two)
• Grayson's Art Club (Swan Films for Channel 4)

Breakthrough Award

• Big Zuu - Big Zuu’s Big Eats (Boomerang for Dave)
• Robert Softley Gale - CripTales: Hamish (BBC Studios for BBC Four)
• Mae Martin - Feel Good (Objective Fiction and Objective Media Group Scotland for Channel 4 and Netflix)

Children’s Programme

• JoJo and Gran Gran/ It's Time to Go to the Hairdresser's (BBC Children’s In-House Productions in collaboration with A Productions for CBeebies)
• FYI Investigates – Brazil: Children Caught in the Crossfire (Fresh Start Media for Sky News and Sky Kids)
• IRL with Team Charlene ( ITN Productions for ITV & CITV)

Comedy Entertainment

• The Big Narstie Show ( Expectation/Dice Productions for Channel 4)
• Charlie Brooker’s Antiviral Wipe (Broke and Bones/Endemol Shine Group for BBC Two)
• The Ranganation (Zeppotron for BBC Two)

Comedy Performance (Female)

• Gbemisola Ikumelo – Famalam ( BBC Studios for BBC Three)
• Sophie Willan - Alma's Not Normal (Expectation for BBC Two)
• Ruth Jones - Gavin & Stacey Christmas Special (Fulwell 73, Baby Cow and Tidy Productions for BBC One)

Comedy Performance (Male)

• Youssef Kerkour - Home (Jantaculum and Channel X for Channel 4)
• O-T Fagbenle – Maxxx (Luti Media for Channel 4)
• Paul Chahidi - This Country ( BBC Studios for BBC Three)

Daytime Programme

• Loose Women (ITV Studios - Daytime for ITV)
• The Bidding Room (Ricochet for BBC One)
• Junior Bake Off (Love Productions for Channel 4)

Documentary Series

• Hospital: Fighting Covid-19 (Label1 for BBC Two)
• Once Upon a Time in Iraq (KEO Films for BBC Two)
• The School That Tried to End Racism (Proper Content for Channel 4)

Drama Series

• Save Me Too (World Productions for Sky Atlantic)
• I Hate Suzie (Bad Wolf for Sky Atlantic)
• In My Skin (Expectation for BBC Three and BBC One Wales)

Entertainment

• Beat the Chasers (Potato for ITV)
• The Masked Singer (Bandicoot Scotland for ITV)
• Big Zuu’s Big Eats (Boomerang for Dave)

Entertainment Performance

• Big Narstie & Mo Gilligan - The Big Narstie Show (Expectation/Dice Productions for Channel 4)
• Yung Filly - Hot Property (BBC Three In-House Productions for BBC Three)
• Rob Beckett & Romesh Ranganathan - Rob & Romesh Vs (CPL Productions for Sky One)

Formatted Popular Factual

• Long Lost Family:  Born Without Trace (Wall to Wall Media for ITV)
• The Rap Game UK ( Naked (A Fremantle Label) for BBC Three)
• Joe Lycett’s Got Your Back (Rumpus Media for Channel 4)

History

• Lost Home Movies of Nazi Germany ( Bright Button Productions for BBC Four)
• Damilola: The Boy Next Door (Acme Films for Channel 4)
• The World's Biggest Murder Trial: Nuremberg (Middlechild Productions for Channel 5)

Live Event

• ENO’s Drive & Live: La Bohème ( Somethin' Else for Sky Arts)
• The Third Day: Autumn (Sky Studios, Plan B Entertainment and Punchdrunk Entertainment for Sky Atlantic in association with HBO)
• General Election Live Results: An ITV News Special (ITN Productions for ITV)

Mini-Series

• Adult Material (Fifty Fathoms for Channel 4)
• Small Axe (Turbine Studios and Lammas Park for BBC One)
• I May Destroy You (Various Artists/FALKNA for BBC One)

Presenter

• Joe Lycett - The Great British Sewing Bee (Love Productions for BBC One)
• Yinka Bokinni - Damilola: The Boy Next Door (Acme Films for Channel 4)
• Grayson Perry - Grayson's Art Club (Swan Films for Channel 4)

RTS Channel of the Year

• ITV
• BBC One
• Sky Arts

Science & Natural History

• Surviving the Virus: My Brother & Me ( Little Gem for BBC One)
• The Surgeon's Cut (BBC Studios Production for Netflix)
• Brain Surgeons: Between Life and Death (Blast! Films for Channel 4)

Scripted Comedy

• Brassic (Calamity Films for Sky One)
• Sex Education (Eleven Film for Netflix)
• The Young Offenders (Vico Films for BBC Three)

Single Documentary

• Anton Ferdinand: Football, Racism & Me (Wonder and New Era Global Productions for BBC One)
• Surviving Covid (Sandpaper Films for Channel 4)
• The Family Secret (Candour Productions for Channel 4)

Single Drama

• Elizabeth is Missing (STV Studios for BBC One)
• Anthony (LA Productions for BBC One)
• Sitting in Limbo (Left Bank Pictures for BBC One)

Soap and Continuing Drama

• Coronation Street (ITV Studios for ITV)
• Casualty (BBC Studios for BBC One)
• Holby City (BBC Studios for BBC One)

Sports Presenter, Commentator or Pundit

• Michael Holding - England v West Indies (Sky Sports for Sky Sports Cricket)
• Bryan Habana - 2019 Rugby World Cup Final (ITV Sport for ITV)
• Gabby Logan - London Marathon 2020 (BBC Sport for BBC One and BBC Two)

Sports Programme

• England v West Indies 1st Test - Black Lives Matter (Sky Sports for Sky Sports Cricket)
• London Marathon 2020 (BBC Sport for BBC One and BBC Two)
• The Open for the Ages (IMG for The R&A and Sky Sports)

Writer – Comedy

• Mae Martin and Joe Hampson - Feel Good (Objective Fiction and Objective Media Group Scotland for Channel 4 and Netflix)
• Peter Foott - The Young Offenders (Vico Films for BBC Three)
• Writing Team – Ghosts (Monumental Television for BBC One)

Writer – Drama

• Michaela Coel - I May Destroy You ( Various Artists/FALKNA for BBC One)
• Lucy Prebble - I Hate Suzie (Bad Wolf for Sky Atlantic)
• Steve McQueen and Alastair Siddons - Small Axe (Turbine Studios and Lammas Park for BBC One)

About The Royal Television Society
From glamorous award ceremonies to lively debates, the RTS embraces all aspects of television, and is open to anyone with an interest in the medium.

As an educational charity, we encourage and celebrate work in television and its related fields, from finding out how the nation’s favourite shows are made in our Anatomy of a Hit series, to celebrating burgeoning talent at our annual Student Awards.

The industry’s most talented individuals give us an insight into the work that goes into making cutting edge contemporary TV. From Government ministers and CEOs to workshops with great runners, our events look at every part of the business. 

Our annual Television Journalism, Programme, Craft and Design, and Student Awards celebrate achievements across the broadcasting industry. 

Each year, we offer Television Production and Technology bursaries to help those from less affluent backgrounds get a foothold in the industry, and Masterclass sessions bring together students, academics and industry heads.

Global television leaders gather to discuss what the future holds for television at our London Conference or the RTS Cambridge Convention.

Alongside our engaged community of around 5,000 full members, the Society is supported by Britain and the world's biggest broadcasters, producers and consultants, including Principal Patrons BBC, Channel 4, ITV and Sky.

Originally founded as the Television Society in 1927, the Society was granted its Royal title in 1966 and HRH The Prince of Wales became Patron of the RTS in 1997.

Today, 15 regional and national groups curate lively events and awards around the UK and Ireland, from Glasgow to Galway. 

RTS Futures, which is aimed at those in their first two years of employment, organises an exciting roster of discussion, training and social occasions. Recent events have included workshops on learning how to format shows and how to survive as a freelancer, and expert panels explaining how to be the best researcher and how to make it on-screen.

About Audio Network
Audio Network provides original, high-quality music for broadcasters, brands, creators and music fans everywhere. Discover music from world-renowned and emerging artists and composers, recorded at some of the world’s finest studios – including over 150 sessions each year at Abbey Road Studios.

We provide simple and transparent licensing, allowing creators to use music on multiple platforms, everywhere, forever.

In 2019, Audio Network was acquired by eOne, a talent-driven independent studio specialising in entertainment content, and part of global play and entertainment company Hasbro.