The shortlist for the 2017 National TV Awards has been released and it features a new Period Drama category as well as Ant & Dec bidding for their 16th straight TV Presenter award
The National TV Awards shortlist has been decided by the public and the stand-out features included Victoria, Peaky Blinders, Call the Midwife and Netflix drama Stranger Things and Poldark in the new Period Drama category.
The public can now vote for all the categories, which also includes Ant & Dec bidding for their 16th consecutive TV Presenter award. Their fellow nominees are Bake Off's Mel & Sue, Gary Lineker, James Corden and Rylan Clark-Neal.
TV Judge pits Strictly’s head judge Len Goodman and Bake-Off’s Mary Berry against BGT’s David Walliams and The X Factor's Nicole Scherzinger and Simon Cowell.
The Live Magazine Show contenders include BBC Breakfast, This Morning, Sunday Brunch, Loose Women and The One Show.
Who will win the closely contested Talent Show category? Nominees include Britain’s Got Talent, The X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing.
The Challenge Show award acknowledges the addictive nature and talking point appeal of reality elimination series and includes I'm A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!, Love Island, MasterChef, The Apprentice and The Great British Bake-Off.
EastEnders has won Serial Drama for the past two years, but can the resurgent Coronation Street, explosive Emmerdale or Hollyoaks secure the award?
The Drama Category includes Casualty, which celebrated its 30th birthday in 2016, the revived Cold Feet, espionage thriller The Night Manager, Happy Valley’ and Game of Thrones.
An intriguing battle of the sexes in Drama Performance includes The Night Manager’s Tom Hiddleston and Peaky Blinders’ Cillian Murphy up against Happy Valley’s Sarah Lancashire and Victoria's Jenna Coleman.
The Entertainment Programme award will go to one of Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, Celebrity Juice, The Graham Norton Show or The Last Leg.
The contenders for Serial Drama Performance have all been through the emotional wringer this year. Lacey Turner delivered a devastating portrayal of Stacey Slater’s postpartum psychosis in EastEnders, while Coronation Street’s Jack P Shepherd went from grieving widower to vengeful vigilante as David Platt. Two Emmerdale stars complete the shortlist: Danny Miller, who endured Aaron’s abuse story, and Natalie J Robb, playing grieving mum Moria Dingle.
Best Newcomer to serial drama includes Blue singer Duncan James, who debuted as cop-under-suspicion Ryan Knight in Hollyoaks, Faye Brookes was a feisty arrival on the Coronation Street cobbles, Lloyd Everitt wasted no time when it came to saving lives as Casualty’s new paramedic Jez Andrews and Tilly Keeper as Louise Mitchell in EastEnders.
It’s Britain vs America for the Comedy crown, with home-grown hits Benidorm and Mrs Brown’s Boys up against The Big Bang Theory and Netflix’s Orange Is The New Black.
Public service came to the fore in Factual Entertainment as DIY SOS: the Big Build changed lives at Great Ormond Street Hospital, while the Tattoo Fixers helped people transform extreme inking disasters. Making a Murderer gripped on-demand fans, while a new series of Paul O’Grady: For the Love of Dogs and Gogglebox maintained their popularity.
The Daytime award will be won by one of The Chase, Pointless, The Jeremy Kyle Show and Come Dine With Me.
Voting on the shortlist is open now for the awards which will be broadcast live on ITV on January 25 from The O2 London. Dermot O’Leary will host once again.
You can vote at www.nationaltvawards.com OR by phone 0905 647 2017.
Calls cost 25p per minute, plus your network access charge, and should last no longer than seven minutes.
Book your tickets now for the most exciting, glamorous night in the TV calendar! Go to: www.nationaltvawards.com/tickets
