Double BPG win for Sky Arts

Sky Arts has secured two prizes in the 36th annual Broadcasting Press Guild Awards, voted for by those who write about TV and radio.

The channel has won both the multichannel award, for Sky Arts Theatre Live!, and the innovation award, for its pioneering work in showcasing the best of the contemporary and classical arts, much of it in high definition.

The Awards will be presented at a lunch this afternoon at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane and have been sponsored by Dave, one of the ten UKTV channels.

Political comedy the Thick of It has won the best actor award for Peter Capaldi’s portrayal of spin doctor Peter Capaldi. Armando Iannucci and the writing team have won the Writer’s Award and the series also won the prize for Best Comedy/Entertainment show.

Sir Terry Wogan, who stepped down from his Radio 2 breakfast show in December, will receive the Harvey Lee Award for an Outstanding Contribution to Broadcasting, for his career on radio and TV.

The full list of winners is:

Best Single Drama

Enid

(A Carnival Films and Television production for BBC Four)

Best Drama Series

Occupation

(A Kudos Film & Television production for BBC One)

Best Single Documentary

Man on Wire

(A Wall To Wall production, in association with Red Box Films, for BBC, Discovery Films and the UK Film Council, for BBC Two)

Best Documentary Series

Andrew Marr’s The Making of Modern Britain (A BBC production for BBC Two)

Best Comedy/Entertainment

The Thick of It

(A BBC production for BBC Two)

Best Factual Entertainment

The Choir: Unsung Town

(A Twenty Twenty Television production for BBC Two)

Best Multichannel Programme

Sky Arts Theatre Live!

(A Sky Arts Theatre Live! production for Sky Arts)

Best Actor

Peter Capaldi

(Malcolm Tucker, in The Thick of It for BBC Two)

Best Actress

Maxine Peake

(Juliet Miller in Criminal Justice and Madeleine in The Street, for BBC One)

Best TV Performer in a Non-acting Role

Gareth Malone for The Choir: Unsung Town

(A Twenty Twenty Television production for BBC Two)

Writer’s Award

Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Roger Drew, Will Smith, Sean Gray, Armando Iannucci, Ian Martin, Tony Roche and the cast (The Thick of It, a BBC production for BBC Two)

Radio Broadcaster of the Year

Eddie Mair

(The PM Programme, BBC News for BBC Radio 4)

Radio Programme of the Year

Desert Island Discs

(A BBC Radio production for BBC Radio 4)

Innovation Award

Sky Arts

Harvey Lee Award for Outstanding Contribution to Broadcasting

Sir Terry Wogan