Royal Television Society announces nominations for RTS Programme Awards 2023

Industry News  |  07 March 2023

The awards ceremony will be presented by returning host Tom Allen on Tuesday, 28th March at JW Marriott Grosvenor House in London.

The Royal Television Society (RTS), Britain’s leading forum for television and related media, has shortlisted the nominations for the RTS Programme Awards 2023, in partnership with Audio Network. The nominations were announced on 7 March via livestream by Gaby Roslin.

The BBC leads the way with 40 nominations across the 30 categories, followed by Channel 4 with 20, ITV with 11 and Sky with 9.

The BBC’s Am I Being Unreasonable? has secured four nominations, with Lenny Rush nominated for both the Breakthrough and Comedy Performance Male awards, and Daisy May Cooper for Comedy Performance Female. Am I Being Unreasonable? has also received a nomination in the new Comedy Drama category, alongside Sky Max’s Brassic and BBC’s Cheaters.

Billie Piper (I Hate Suzie Too), Kate Winslet (I Am Ruth) and Monica Dolan (The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe) are nominated in the Leading Actor Female category. Kane Robinson (Top Boy), Kit Connor (Heartstopper) and Chaske Spencer (The English) are all in the running for Leading Actor Male.

The BBC’s popular hit The Traitors is nominated in the Entertainment category, with presenter Claudia Winkleman also recognised in the Entertainment Performance category. EastEnders, Casualty and Hollyoaks will compete in the Soap and Continuing Drama category.

This year, the RTS has introduced two new performance categories: Supporting Actor Male and Supporting Actor Female. 2023 will see Ambika Mod (This Is Going to Hurt), Saffron Hocking (Top Boy)and Adelayo Adedayo (The Responder) compete in the Female category with Adeel Akhtar (Sherwood), Stephen Walters (Anne) and Stephen Merchant (Four Lives) in the Male category.

It is incredibly important to champion the outstanding content being made in our industry from both established and up and coming talent. 2023 was another year of attention grabbing, thought provoking, world class television. The nominees announced today are a reflection of the remarkable strength of our UK creatives and there is now the impossible task at hand of choosing winners for each of these highly competitive categories. I look forward to getting together later this month to celebrate everyone’s achievements.

Kenton Allen, Chair of the RTS Programme Awards

We would like to congratulate our animation member Tiger Aspect Kids & Family on their nomination in the Children’s Programme category. See the full list of nominations below.

Arts

  • The Evolution of Black British Music (Fan Studios and Motion Content Group for BET UK)
  • The Ghost of Richard Harris (Bright Yellow Films, Samson Films and Groove International for Sky Arts)
  • This Is Joan Collins (Salon Pictures for BBC)

Breakthrough Award

  • Lenny Rush – Am I Being Unreasonable? (Boffola Pictures and Lookout Point for BBC)
  • Nicôle Lecky – Mood (Bonafide Films for BBC)
  • Eddie Kadi – Sorry, I Didn’t Know (Triforce Productions for ITV1)

Children’s Programme

  • COP27: Six Ways to Save Our Planet (Fresh Start Media for Sky Kids and Sky News)
  • Corpse Talk (Tiger Aspect Kids & Family for YouTube Originals)
  • Dodger (Universal International Studios for CBBC)

Comedy Drama

  • Am I Being Unreasonable? (Boffola Pictures and Lookout Point for BBC)
  • Brassic (Calamity Films for Sky Max)
  • Cheaters (Clerkenwell Films for BBC)

Comedy Entertainment

  • Friday Night Live (Phil McIntyre Television and Boffola Pictures for Channel 4)
  • Joe Lycett vs David Beckham, A Got Your Back Special (Rumpus Media and My Options Were Limited for Channel 4)
  • Sorry, I Didn’t Know (Triforce Productions for ITV1)

Comedy Performance (Female)

  • Daisy May Cooper – Am I Being Unreasonable? (Boffola Pictures and Lookout Point for BBC)
  • Leah Brotherhead – Hullraisers (Fable Pictures for Channel 4)
  • Rose Matafeo – Starstruck (Avalon Television for BBC)

Comedy Performance (Male)

  • Samson Kayo – Bloods (Roughcut Television for Sky Comedy)
  • Jon Pointing – Big Boys (Roughcut Television for Channel 4)
  • Lenny Rush – Am I Being Unreasonable? (Boffola Pictures and Lookout Point for BBC)

Daytime Programme

  • Come Dine With Me: The Professionals (Multistory Media for Channel 4)
  • Loose Men (ITV Studios Daytime for ITV1)
  • Scam Interceptors (BBC Studios Documentary Unit for BBC)

Documentary Series

  • Big Oil vs The World (Mongoose Pictures/PBS Frontline for BBC)
  • Gazza (A Haviland Digital, Mark Stewart Productions and Western Edge Pictures production for BBC)
  • Jeremy Kyle Show: Death On Daytime (Blast! Films for Channel 4)

Drama Series

  • Sherwood (House Productions for BBC)
  • The Responder (Dancing Ledge Productions for BBC)
  • Top Boy (Cowboy Films, Easter Partisan Films, Dream Crew and SpringHill Entertainment for Netflix)

Entertainment

  • Joe Lycett’s Big Pride Party (Rumpus Media and My Options Were Limited for Channel 4)
  • The Lateish Show with Mo Gilligan (Expectation TV and Momo G for Channel 4)
  • The Traitors (Studio Lambert Scotland for BBC)

Entertainment Performance

  • Jordan Stephens – Don’t Hate The Playaz (Monkey Kingdom for ITV2)
  • Mo Gilligan – The Lateish Show with Mo Gilligan (Expectation TV and Momo G for Channel 4)
  • Claudia Winkleman – The Traitors (Studio Lambert Scotland for BBC)

Formatted Popular Factual

  • Gogglebox (Studio Lambert for Channel 4)
  • Idris Elba’s Fight School (Workerbee and Green Door for BBC)
  • The Repair Shop: A Royal Visit (Ricochet for BBC)

History

  • Aids: The Unheard Tapes (Wall to Wall Media for BBC)
  • Italia 90: Four Weeks that Changed the World (Blast! Films for Sky Documentaries)
  • Our Falklands War: A Frontline Story (The Garden Productions for BBC)

Leading Actor (Female)

  • Billie Piper – I Hate Suzie Too (Bad Wolf for Sky Atlantic)
  • Kate Winslet – I Am Ruth (Me+You Productions in association with Juggle Productions for Channel 4)
  • Monica Dolan – The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe (Story Films for ITV1)

Leading Actor (Male)

  • Kane Robinson – Top Boy (Cowboy Films, Easter Partisan Films, Dream Crew and SpringHill Entertainment for Netflix)
  • Kit Connor – Heartstopper (A See-Saw Films Production for Netflix)
  • Chaske Spencer – The English (Drama Republic for BBC)

Limited Series

  • Anne (World Productions for ITV1)
  • Chloe (Mam Tor Productions for BBC)
  • Mood (Bonafide Films for BBC)

Live Event

  • Glastonbury 2022 (BBC Studios Music Productions for BBC)
  • Platinum Party at the Palace (BBC Studios Events Productions for BBC)
  • The State Funeral of HM The Queen Elizabeth II (BBC Studios Events Productions for BBC)

Presenter

  • Huw Edwards – The State Funeral of HM The Queen Elizabeth II (BBC Studios Events Productions for BBC)
  • Martin Lewis – The Martin Lewis Money Show Live (MultiStory Media for ITV1)
  • Ramita Nava i– Afghanistan: No Country for Women (Quicksilver Media for ITV1)

Science & The Natural World

  • My Dead Body (141 Productions for Channel 4)
  • My Garden of a Thousand Bees (Passion Planet; WNET Group; HHMI Tangled Bank Studios and Ammonite Films for Sky Nature)
  • The Green Planet (BBC Studios Natural History Unit with PBS, bilibili, ZDF, China Media Group, CCTV9, France Télévisions and The Open University for BBC)

Scripted Comedy

  • Big Boys (Roughcut Television for Channel 4)
  • Cunk On Earth (Broke and Bones for BBC/Netflix)
  • Derry Girls (Hat Trick Productions for Channel 4)

Single Documentary

  • Dying to Divorce (Dying to Divorce for Sky Documentaries)
  • The Tinder Swindler (A Raw Production with Gaspin Media and AGC Studios in association with VG for Netflix)
  • Will Young: Losing My Twin Rupert (Wall to Wall Media for Channel 4)

Single Drama

  • Life and Death in the Warehouse (BBC Studios Drama Productions for BBC)
  • The House (Nexus Studios for Netflix)
  • Then Barbara Met Alan (Dragonfly Film and Television and One Shoe Films for BBC)

Soap and Continuing Drama

  • Casualty (BBC Studios Continuing Drama for BBC)
  • EastEnders (BBC Studios Continuing Drama for BBC)
  • Hollyoaks (Lime Pictures for Channel 4)

Sports Presenter, Commentator or Pundit

  • Ade Adepitan – Sports Presenter, Commentator or Pundit (Whisper for Channel 4)
  • Gabby Logan – Women’s Euro 2022 (BBC Sport)
  • Roy Keane – FIFA World Cup 2022 (ITV Sport for ITV1 and ITV4)

Sports Programme

  • Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games (BBC Sport/Sunset+Vine for BBC)
  • Winter Paralympics: Today in Beijing (Whisper for Channel 4)
  • Women’s Euro 2022 (Whisper and BBC Sport for BBC)

Supporting Actor – Female

  • Ambika Mod – This Is Going to Hurt (Sister in Association with Terrible Productions for BBC)
  • Saffron Hocking – Top Boy (Cowboy Films, Easter Partisan Films, Dream Crew and SpringHill Entertainment for Netflix)
  • Adelayo Adedayo – The Responder (Dancing Ledge Productions for BBC)

Supporting Actor – Male

  • Adeel Akhtar – Sherwood (House Productions for BBC)
  • Stephen Walters – Anne (World Productions for ITV1)
  • Stephen Merchant – Four Lives (ITV Studios for BBC)

Writer – Comedy

  • Jack Rooke – Big Boys (Roughcut Television for Channel 4)
  • Lisa McGee – Derry Girls (Hat Trick Productions for Channel 4)
  • Sam Leifer and Tom Basden – Plebs: Soldiers of Rome (Rise Films for ITVX)

Writer – Drama

  • Lucy Prebble – I Hate Suzie Too (Bad Wolf for Sky Atlantic)
  • Sharon Horgan – Bad Sisters (Merman/ABC Signature in association with Apple for Apple TV+)
  • Will Smith – Slow Horses (See-Saw Films in association with Apple for Apple TV+)

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