The BBC has dominated the Broadcasting Guild Press Awards, which took place today at Banking Hall in the City of London.
Dramas A Very English Scandal and Killing Eve bagged three awards each. Hugh Grant won best actor for his portrayal of former Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe in A Very English Scandal, which also won best single drama/miniseries and best writer for Russell T Davies.
Jodie Comer was named best actress for her performance as assassin Villanelle in Killing Eve, which also took best drama series and best online first/streaming, having debuted as a BBC Three boxset on iPlayer.
Other BBC shows to win included Grenfell (best single documentary), Stephen: the Murder that Changed a Nation (best documentary series) and Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing (best entertainment).
The few awards going to other media owners included best comedy for Channel 4’s Derry Girls; best of multichannel, which went to Sky Atlantic and Showtime’s Patrick Melrose; the innovation award for Netflix’s Black Mirror: Bandersnatch and the BPG chairman’s award for Big Brother, which came to an end in 2018 after 19 years on Channel 4 and Channel 5.
But there were no awards for ITV after the UK’s largest commercial broadcaster picked up only a single nomination for Vanity Fair in the best drama series category.
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."
