BBC2 documentary series Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland and BBC1 dramas The Sixth Commandment and Time were among the big winners at this year’s RTS Programme Awards.
Keo Films/Walk on Air’s factual series was named best documentary series at last night’s event, with judges hailing it as “a gold standard masterclass in telling a complex story through the words of the people who experienced it”.
The Sixth Commandment (Wild Mercury/True Vision) won the limited series award, with Sarah Phelps picking up the writer – drama prize and Éanna Hardwicke taking home a supporting actor award.
All three of the main actors in series two of BBC Studios’ prison drama Time were nominated, with Tamara Lawrance and Bella Ramsey both winning awards.
Other factual winners included Story Films/Archface Films’ Sky doc Otto Baxter: Not a F***ing Horror Story; arts winner Fight the Power: How Hip Hop Changed the World (BBC Studios Specialist Factual Productions for BBC); science and the natural world winner Chimp Empire (Keo Films and Underdog Films for Netflix); and history series White Nanny, Black Child (Doc Hearts/Tigerlily Productions for Channel 5).
The formatted popular factual prize went to Optomen’s BBC1 series Sort Your Life Out, while Studio Lambert and The Garden scooped the entertainment prize for their Netflix show Squid Game: the Challenge.
Studio Lambert founder Stephen Lambert was bestowed an outstanding achievement award for a career that has spanned BBC strands Modern Times and Forty Minutes, the creation of the popular factual entertainment format with RDF’s Wife Swap and Faking It, and his recent string of hits from Gogglebox to Race Across the World and The Traitors.
Lambert was described as “one of our industry’s great innovators, a true visionary who has pushed boundaries and challenged conventions and brought us some of the most talked-about shows of our times”.
Meanwhile, veteran broadcaster and Childline founder Esther Rantzen received the RTS Gold Medal for a career in television and as a campaigner. “As a strong female producer and presenter, Esther was a trailblazer,” judges declared.
For a full list of winners, click here
