Benidorm, I'm A Celeb and Inbetweeners win at NTAs

Benidorm, I'm A Celeb and Inbetweeners win at NTAs (Image credit: PA Wire/Press Association Images)

Dermot O'Leary hitched a ride in Doctor Who's TARDIS to start proceedings at the 2011 National Television Awards. The host was joined by Matt Smith, Bruce Forsyth and Ant & Dec in an opening sketch at the ceremony, screened live on ITV1. His arrival was followed by a performance from I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! queen of the jungle Stacey Solomon. She was joined on stage by the show's runner-up Shaun Ryder for an unlikely duet of his Happy Mondays' hit Step On. The first winner of the night, in the awards voted for by viewers, was Benidorm. The ITV show won the award for Most Popular Comedy Programme. Accepting the award, Steve Pemberton said: "They'll be dancing in the streets of Benidorm tonight." Stacey and Shaun were soon back on stage to accept a gong for I'm A Celebrity as it was named Most Popular Entertainment Programme. They were followed by EastEnders' actor Ricky Norwood, who was named Most Popular Newcomer. Next on stage was the cast of The Inbetweeners who picked up the Digital Choice award, beating competition from Peter Andre: The Next Chapter and the hit US show Glee.

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.