From comedy to drama, documentary to entertainment…
The 51st Broadcasting Press Guild Awards celebrated outstanding achievements in television, streaming, and audio, with Mr Bates vs The Post Office, Gavin & Stacey: The Finale, and Rivals emerging as the night’s biggest winners. The prestigious event, held at The Everyman in Broadgate, brought together industry leaders, BPG members, and key figures from the UK entertainment sector for an unforgettable evening.
Mr Bates vs The Post Office (ITV Studios and Little Gem for ITV1) earned top honours in two major categories, securing Best Drama Series and Best Writer for Gwyneth Hughes. The poignant and impactful drama continues to earn recognition for its powerful storytelling and real-world impact. Best Single Drama or Miniseries went to Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (Aardman Animations for BBC One/Netflix), which saw the return of the iconic animated duo, as they faced off against the vengeful Feathers McGraw.
Gavin & Stacey: The Finale (Tidy and Fulwell73 for BBC1) won Best Comedy, for the heartfelt conclusion to one of the UK’s favourite comedies. Creators and stars James Corden and Ruth Jones were present to accept the award for the ratings juggernaut. Best Entertainment went to The Traitors (Studio Lambert for BBC1), with the hit psychological competition series winning for the second consecutive year, showing that BPG members did remain faithful for series two.
In acting, Danny Dyer beat an incredibly strong field to take home the Best Actor trophy for his career-best performance as Freddie Jones in Rivals (Happy Prince for Disney+), the delightfully frisky black comedy drama adapted from Jilly Cooper’s novel set in the competitive world of 1980s British television. Best Actress was awarded to Jessica Gunning for her chilling portrayal of Martha Scott, a dangerously obsessed stalker in Baby Reindeer (Clerkenwell Films for Netflix).
The documentary categories also saw standout performances. Best Documentary Series went to Freddie Flintoff: Field of Dreams on Tour (South Shore Productions for BBC1), following Flintoff’s return to Preston to take his team of unlikely lads on a cricket tour of India. Best Single Documentary or Miniseries was awarded to Boybands Forever (Mindhouse Productions for BBC2), a revealing journey exploring the traumatic truth about life in the biggest boybands of the 1990s.
The evening’s celebrations continued in the audio categories. Ellen E Jones saw off tough competition to win Best Radio Presenter for Screenshot (BBC Radio 4), while Three Million (BBC Radio 4), which uncovered the forgotten story of the Bengal famine in British India during WWII, took home Best Radio Programme. Kill List, a gripping podcast which uncovered the shocking truth of a secret Kill List on the darknet, won Best Podcast.
Each year, the BPG Executive Committee also honours outstanding emerging talent. This year’s BPG Breakthrough Award went to Bella Maclean for her standout performance as Agatha ‘Taggie’ O’Hara in Rivals. The BPG Emerging Creator Award was given to TikTok sensation Big Manny, who has captivated audiences with his entertaining and educational science content. Both awards are sponsored by Prime Video.
Additionally, three previously announced special awards were presented. The BPG Jury Award for Excellence in British Drama was awarded to the team behind Wolf Hall: The Mirror & The Light (Playground and Company Pictures for BBC1) for their captivating drama series.
Honouring their services to the British TV industry, Anne Mensah, Vice President of Content at Netflix, received the BPG Jury Prize for Outstanding TV Executive, and Jane Featherstone, co-founder and executive producer of Sister Pictures, was honoured with the Harvey Lee Award for Outstanding Contribution to Broadcasting, sponsored by Warner Bros. Discovery.
The BPG Awards 2025 full list of winners are on the next page…
