The Royal Television Society (RTS) has announced the winners of its Programme Awards 2021, with Michaela Coel picking up three wins for her BBC series I May Destroy You. 

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Michaela Coel: Picked up three wins for I May Destroy You

Source: BBC

Coel’s awards were part of the BBC’s haul of 14 gongs, which also included the coveted Channel of the Year prize.

Chair of the Awards, Kenton Allen, said: “The incredible range of programming we have seen across all genres and categories in this uniquely challenging year has been exceptional and a terrific representation of the thriving and constantly innovating television industry we have in the UK.

In addition to the 29 competitive categories, three further awards were presented on behalf of the judges.

The ‘Judges’ Award’ was presented to Anne Mensah, vice president, Original Series at Netflix, for “her talent and success throughout her career, and her unwavering commitment to reflecting society’s diversity on screen and actively championing diverse production talent to bring new stories and voices to television”.

For 2021, the ‘Outstanding Achievement Award’ was awarded to celebrated screenwriter Russell T Davies OBE, whose work over the last 20 years was described by the judges as taking “television drama to places it’s never been before, explored themes never explored before, and – more than anything - told stories never allowed before.”

Finally, the ‘Special Award’ went to trade association Pact, for its “incredible” contribution and support to the UK television industry throughout 2020.

The full list of winners and nominees:

Actor (Female)

WINNER – Michaela Coel - I May Destroy You (Various Artists/FALKNA for BBC One and HBO)

Nominees:

Daisy Edgar-Jones - Normal People (Element Pictures for BBC Three)

Glenda Jackson - Elizabeth is Missing (STV Studios for BBC One)

Actor (Male)

WINNER – Shaun Parkes - Small Axe (Turbine Studios and Lammas Park for BBC One)

Nominees:

Lennie James - Save Me Too (World Productions for Sky Atlantic)

Paul Mescal - Normal People (Element Pictures for BBC Three)

Arts

WINNER – Grayson’s Art Club (Swan Films for Channel 4)

Nominees:

African Renaissance: When Art Meets Power (ClearStory for BBC Four)

Keith Haring: Street Art Boy (BBC Studios for BBC Two)

Breakthrough Award

WINNER – Mae Martin - Feel Good (Objective Fiction and Objective Media Group Scotland for Channel 4 and Netflix)

Nominees:

Robert Softley Gale - CripTales: Hamish (BBC Studios for BBC Four)

Big Zuu - Big Zuu’s Big Eats (Boomerang for Dave)

Children’s Programme

WINNER – IRL with Team Charlene ( ITN Productions for ITV & CITV)

Nominees:

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)

Comedy Entertainment

WINNER – The Ranganation (Zeppotron for BBC Two)

Nominees:

The Big Narstie Show ( Expectation/Dice Productions for Channel 4)

Charlie Brooker’s Antiviral Wipe (Broke and Bones/Endemol Shine Group for BBC Two)

Comedy Performance (Female)

WINNER – Gbemisola Ikumelo – Famalam ( BBC Studios for BBC Three)

Nominees:

Ruth Jones - Gavin & Stacey Christmas Special (Fulwell 73, Baby Cow and Tidy Productions for BBC One)

Sophie Willan - Alma’s Not Normal (Expectation for BBC Two)

Comedy Performance (Male)

WINNER – Youssef Kerkour - Home (Jantaculum and Channel X for Channel 4)

Nominees:

Paul Chahidi - This Country ( BBC Studios for BBC Three)

O-T Fagbenle – Maxxx (Luti Media for Channel 4)

Daytime Programme

WINNER – Loose Women (ITV Studios - Daytime for ITV)

Nominees:

The Bidding Room (Ricochet for BBC One)

Junior Bake Off (Love Productions for Channel 4)

Documentary Series

WINNER – Once Upon a Time in Iraq (KEO Films for BBC Two)

Nominees:

Hospital: Fighting Covid-19 (Label1 for BBC Two)

The School That Tried to End Racism (Proper Content for Channel 4)

Drama Series

WINNER – In My Skin (Expectation for BBC Three and BBC One Wales)

Nominees:

Save Me Too (World Productions for Sky Atlantic)

I Hate Suzie (Bad Wolf for Sky Atlantic)

Entertainment

WINNER – The Masked Singer (Bandicoot Scotland for ITV)

Nominees:

Beat the Chasers (Potato for ITV)

Big Zuu’s Big Eats (Boomerang for Dave)

Entertainment Performance

WINNER – Big Narstie & Mo Gilligan - The Big Narstie Show (Expectation/Dice Productions for Channel 4)

Nominees:

Rob Beckett & Romesh Ranganathan - Rob & Romesh Vs (CPL Productions for Sky One)

Yung Filly - Hot Property (BBC Three In-House Productions for BBC Three)

WINNER – Joe Lycett’s Got Your Back (Rumpus Media for Channel 4)

Nominees:

Long Lost Family: Born Without Trace (Wall to Wall Media for ITV)

The Rap Game UK ( Naked (A Fremantle Label) for BBC Three)

History

WINNER – Damilola: The Boy Next Door (Acme Films for Channel 4)

Nominees:

Lost Home Movies of Nazi Germany ( Bright Button Productions for BBC Four)

The World’s Biggest Murder Trial: Nuremberg (Middlechild Productions for Channel 5)

Live Event

WINNER – The Third Day: Autumn (Sky Studios, Plan B Entertainment and Punchdrunk Entertainment for Sky Arts)

Nominees:

ENO’s Drive & Live: La Bohème ( Somethin’ Else for Sky Arts)

Election 2019 Live: The Results (ITV News for ITV)

Mini-Series

WINNER – I May Destroy You (Various Artists/FALKNA for BBC One and HBO)

Nominees:

Adult Material (Fifty Fathoms for Channel 4)

Small Axe (Turbine Studios and Lammas Park for BBC One)

Presenter

WINNER – Joe Lycett - The Great British Sewing Bee (Love Productions for BBC One)

Nominees:

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

WINNER – BBC One

Nominees:

ITV

Sky Arts

Science & Natural History

WINNER – The Surgeon’s Cut (BBC Studios Production for Netflix)

Nominees:

Surviving the Virus: My Brother & Me ( Little Gem for BBC One)

Brain Surgeons: Between Life and Death (Blast! Films for Channel 4)

Scripted Comedy

WINNER – The Young Offenders (Vico Films for BBC Three)

Nominees:

Brassic (Calamity Films for Sky One)

Sex Education (Eleven Film for Netflix)

Single Documentary

WINNER – Anton Ferdinand: Football, Racism & Me (Wonder and New Era Global Productions for BBC One)

Nominees:

Surviving Covid (Sandpaper Films for Channel 4)

The Family Secret (Candour Productions for Channel 4)

Single Drama

WINNER – Elizabeth is Missing (STV Studios for BBC One)

Nominees:

Anthony (LA Productions for BBC One)

Sitting in Limbo (Left Bank Pictures for BBC One)

Soap and Continuing Drama

WINNER – Casualty (BBC Studios for BBC One)

Nominees:

Coronation Street (ITV Studios for ITV)

Holby City (BBC Studios for BBC One

Sports Presenter, Commentator or Pundit

WINNER – Michael Holding - England v West Indies (Sky Sports for Sky Sports Cricket)

Nominees:

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

WINNER – England v West Indies 1st Test - Black Lives Matter (Sky Sports for Sky Sports Cricket)

Nominees:

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

WINNER – Mae Martin and Joe Hampson - Feel Good (Objective Fiction and Objective Media Group Scotland for Channel 4 and Netflix)

Nominees:

Peter Foott - The Young Offenders (Vico Films for BBC Three)

Writing Team – Ghosts (Monumental Television for BBC One)

Writer – Drama

WINNER – Michaela Coel - I May Destroy You (Various Artists/FALKNA for BBC One and HBO)

Nominees:

Steve McQueen and Alastair Siddons - Small Axe (Turbine Studios and Lammas Park for BBC One)

Lucy Prebble - I Hate Suzie (Bad Wolf for Sky Atlantic)

Judges’ Award

WINNER – Anne Mensah

Outstanding Achievement Award

WINNER – Russell T Davies OBE

Special Award

WINNER – PACT