The Crown star Claire Foy among the winners at the Broadcasting Press Guild Awards
Former Labour leader Ed Miliband also wins for his podcast alongside awards for Mark Bonnar, Mackenzie Crook and Line of Duty writer Jed Mercurio
The Crown’s Claire Foy has won the best actress award for her role in The Crown at the 2018 Broadcasting Press Guild Awards.
She won the prize in the same week that it was revealed that she earned less than her co-star Matt Smith. Netflix drama The Crown also won the award for Best Online First/Streaming production.
Former Labour leader Ed Miliband was also among the winners at the ceremony at London’s Theatre Royal Drury Lane.
- Claire Foy was paid less than Matt Smith for The Crown
- Jed Mercurio has started writing Line of Duty series five
His podcast with Geoff Lloyd, Reasons to be Cheerful, has been named as the BPG Podcast of the Year, a new prize at the awards ceremony that is voted for by journalists who write about TV and radio.
Mark Bonnar was named Best Actor for a string of high-profile roles, including Unforgotten, Eric, Ernie and Me, Catastrophe and Apple Tree Yard. He can currently be seen in the latest series of Shetland on BBC1.
Line of Duty was named Best Drama Series, while the series' creator Jed Mercurio also won the award for Best Writer. Three Girls, the three-part BBC1 drama based on the true stories of the victims of grooming and sexual abuse in Rochdale, was named Best Single Drama/Mini-series.
Blue Planet II (BBC1) was named Best Documentary Series and Chris Packham: Aspergers and Me (BBC2) won the award for Best Single Documentary.
The Best Entertainment/Factual Entertainment category was won by Channel 4 for its first series of The Great British Bake Off. Detectorists (BBC4) starring Mackenzie Crook and Toby Jones was named Best Comedy.
The annual Harvey Lee Award for an Outstanding Contribution to Broadcasting was given to the children’s television producers Biddy Baxter and Edward Barnes in special recognition of Blue Peter, which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year.
The citation praises the duo “for creating the ‘new’ Blue Peter in the early 1960s alongside the late Rosemary Gill. The involvement of its audience was ground-breaking, giving every child the opportunity to make a valuable contribution to the programme, to become involved in charity fund-raising and win a coveted Blue Peter badge. Blue Peter unleashed the power and potential of children’s television and 60 years on has created some of its most memorable moments.”
Broadcasting Press Guild 2018 Award winners list in full
Best Single Drama/Mini-series
Three Girls, BBC1
Best Drama Series
Line of Duty, BBC1
Best Single Documentary
Chris Packham: Asperger’s and Me, BBC2
Best Documentary Series
Blue Planet II, BBC1
Best Entertainment
The Great British Bake Off, Channel 4
Best Digital First Streaming
The Crown, Netflix
Best Comedy
Detectorists, BBC4
Best Multichannel Programme
The Trip to Spain, Sky Atlantic
Radio Broadcaster of the Year
Emma Barnett, BBC Radio 4
Radio Programme of the Year
BBC Reith Lectures 2017: Hilary Mantel, BBC Radio 4
Podcast of the Year
Reasons to be Cheerful, A Cheerful Thinking production
Best Actor
Mark Bonnar for Eric, Ernie and Me (BBC4), Apple Tree Yard (BBC1, Catastrophe (Channel 4), Unforgotten (ITV)
Best Actress
Claire Foy for The Crown, Netflix
Best Writer
Jed Mercurio for Line of Duty, BBC1
Innovation Award
Channel 4 for new advances in championing diversity, including initiatives such as Spotlight on Directors and diversity throughout its commissioning and in its advertising.
Harvey Lee Award
Biddy Baxter & Edward Barnes, children’s television producers, in special recognition of Blue Peter.
