National Television Awards reveals longlist for 2021 ceremony

The longlist has been released for this years’ National Television Awards as the first round of voting gets under way.

The Authored Documentary category – a new addition to the line-up – recognises a year of heart-breaking, headline-making films from the likes of GMB’s Kate Garraway who allowed us to see how the pandemic affected her family in Finding Derek, and Marcus Rashford who spearheaded a national campaign in Feeding Britain’s Children.

This category also sees a contest between brothers Rio and Anton Ferdinand for their programmes on stepfamilies and football racism respectively. The nominations are completed by Little Mix’s Leigh-Anne Pinnock’s documentary about racism.

The New TV Drama category features Channel 5’s reimagining of All Creatures Great and Small, Michaela Cole sexual assault drama I May Destroy You, Russell T Davies’ look at the 1980s aids crisis in It’s a Sin, and Normal People.

Also making the list are true-crime dramatizations such as Des, Quiz, The Serpent, The Pembrokeshire Murders, The Salisbury Poisonings and White House Farm.

This year’s longlist also sees more streamed drama contenders than ever before, with such binged hits as Bridgerton and The Queen’s Gambit both finding favour on Netflix, while Disney+ made a sizeable impact with Star Wars spin-off The Mandalorian and the gleefully inventive WandaVision.

Spitting Image makes the Comedy Category, having been resurrected on Britbox after 24 years away from our screens. Competing for the same award is Staged, which saw David Tennant and Michael Sheen wrestling with video calls and professional jealousies during lockdown, and Netflix hit Emily in Paris.

Established favourites Call the Midwife, Unforgotten and Vera are all vying for votes in the fiercely fought Returning Drama race. But will any of them be able to garner more votes than Line of Duty, which topped the ratings with an audience of 15 million for its most recent series?

AC-12’s lead trio of Adrian Dunbar, Martin Compston and Vicky McClure are all in contention for Drama Performance. They’ll be up against two stars celebrating tenth anniversaries in their respective series: Brenda Blethyn for Vera and Helen George for Call the Midwife. Also in contention is Olly Alexander for It’s a Sin, and Gillian Anderson who transformed herself into Margaret Thatcher for The Crown.

The usual suspects make the serial drama category after finding ways round social distancing guidelines to continue to deliver their usual mix of scandal, drama and love affairs.

Can first-time nominee The Masked Singer or relative newcomer Ru Paul’s Drag Race UK break Strictly Come Dancing’s winning streak in the Talent Show category?

I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! decamped to Wales due to the pandemic, but still managed to entertain huge audiences in the winter. Quiz Game Show formats kept our brains active, with the likes of Michael McIntyre’s The Wheel and Beat the Chasers becoming instant hits.

And the presenters who’ve guided us through a tumultuous 12 months are also recognised for their services including Alison Hammond, Romesh Ranganathan, Michael McIntyre, Jay Blades and current award-holders Ant and Dec.

The headline-making Piers Morgan is also in contention after leaving Good Morning Britain in controversial and dramatic style.

This year’s ceremony is being held in September after being put back due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This year’s evening of gong-giving will be presented by Joel Dommett, ITV recently announced. Voting is now open at www.nationaltvawards.com

The shortlist will be revealed in August when the final round of voting begins.