Broadcasting Press Guild Awards winners revealed

This year’s Broadcasting Press Guild Awards winners have been revealed, with BBC dramas A Very English Scandal and Killing Eve each taking home three prizes.

The awards, voted for by journalists who write about television and radio, saw A Very English Scandal honoured for Best Single Drama/Mini Series, and Hugh Grant named as Best Actor.

A Very English Scandal was written by Russel T Davies, who won the Best Director award. It follows the story of the Jeremy Thorpe affair with Grant taking the lead as the Liberal leader.

Glossy serial-killer drama Killing Eve was voted as Best Drama Series, and its star Jodie Comer was named Best Actress.

It also won the Best Online/Streaming award, having been shown as a BBC Three box set on BBC iPlayer, ahead of its transmission on BBC One.

The 45th BPG Awards lunch took place at London’s Banking Hall on Friday (18 March), and was attended by the winners, BPG members and leading broadcasting executives.

BPG Awards are given to work commissioned or produced in the UK.

Jake Kanter, BPG Chair, said: “These awards are now a 45-year-old institution, and we think they are the most democratic in the land. No tedious judging panels, no political lobbying, just a list of the best TV and radio shows of 2018, voted for by people whose job it is to write about TV and radio for a living. In fact, this year, we had a record number of votes, which is testament to the enduring qualities of the BPG and the brilliance of the output.

“Drama’s hot streak continued. We had killer antiheroes, political subterfuge, and dangerous trysts. Elsewhere, five kids from Derry created history in Northern Ireland, two jokers went fishing and hooked an unexpected hit, and the retelling of one unthinkable murder shocked the nation all over again.”

The full list of winners can be found below:

Best Single Drama/Mini-series

A Very English Scandal
A Blueprint Pictures production for the BBC and Amazon Studios 

Best Drama Series

Killing Eve
A Sid Gentle Films Ltd production for BBC America, internationally distributed by Endeavor Content      

Best Single Documentary

Grenfell
A Minnow Films production for BBC One

Best Documentary Series

Stephen: The Murder that Changed a Nation
An On the Corner production, in association with Rogan Productions, for BBC One

Best Entertainment

Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing
An Owl Power TV production for BBC Two

Best Online First/ Streaming

Killing Eve
A Sid Gentle Films Ltd production for BBC America, internationally distributed by Endeavor Content and first streamed in UK on BBC Three as a box set on BBC iPlayer                                                                                                                     

Best Comedy

Derry Girls
A Hat Trick Productions production for Channel 4

Best of Multichannel

Patrick Melrose
A Two Cities production in association with Sunnymarch and Little Island for Sky Atlantic and Showtime

Radio Broadcaster of the Year

Lauren Laverne
BBC Radio 6 Music, Late Night Woman’s Hour and Desert Island Discs, BBC Radio 4

Radio Programme of the Year

Tara and George
A BBC Radio Production for BBC Radio 4

Podcast of the Year

Hip Hop Saved My Life – Romesh Ranganathan
Ranga Bee Productions

Best Actor

Hugh Grant for A Very English Scandal (BBC One)

Best Actress

Jodie Comer for Killing Eve (BBC America)                                                                              

Best Writer

Russell T Davies for A Very English Scandal (BBC One)

Innovation Award

Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, for a ground-breaking form of storytelling.
A House of Tomorrow production for Netflix

Breakthrough Award
Alex Scott
Sports broadcaster for BBC and Sky

BPG Chairman’s Prize
Big Brother
EndemolShine Group for Channel 4 and Channel 5

Harvey Lee Award

Nicholas Parsons CBE
Actor, presenter & game show host, in particular recognition of more than 50 years of presenting Radio 4’s Just A Minute.