Ant and Dec kept a tight hold of their crown at the Royal Television Society Programme Awards as they took home the prize for best entertainment performance.
The pair were rewarded for I’m A Celebrity, Britain’s Got Talent and Saturday Night Takeaway, 21 years after they were first recognised at the awards.
"Our whole lives have changed since we won our 1st RTS Award in '95" @antanddec discuss their latest win #RTSawards pic.twitter.com/TgGVU0pQIh
— RTS (@RTS_media) March 22, 2016
Sir Lenny Henry was awarded a surprise fellowship of the RTS for his work raising awareness of diversity in the industry.
The comedian and actor was also presented with the Judges’ Award in recognition of his commitment to increasing minority representation in the industry with particular praise for his 2014 Bafta Television lecture on the topic.
@RTS_media I had no idea about the Fellowship award. I'm absolutely chuffed to little meatballs. Thank you to all the judges /panels. Wow.
— Lenny Henry (@LennyHenry) March 22, 2016
Accepting the two awards, Sir Lenny said: “I’m so truly humbled by this, thank you so much for the fellowship.
“I’m truly hopeful that this award is a pan-industry acknowledgement that diversity must be at the heart of our industry now and most importantly in the future.”
“I’m happy the RTS acknowledges the importance of diversity and I hope the BBC and the Government accept the fundamental role of diversity by writing it into the charter.”
Lenny Henry calls upon government and BBC to write diversity into charter #rtsawards pic.twitter.com/W0DEHdwZC3
— Alex Connock (@MrAlexConnock) March 22, 2016
Channel 4 swept the board in several categories, winning best drama series for comedy No Offence and single drama for Coalition, which starred Mark Dexter and Bertie Carvel as David Cameron and Nick Clegg respectively in the political drama.
Its hit comedy Catastrophe claimed two of its three nominations, bagging scripted comedy and writer – comedy for Rob Delaney and Sharon Horgan, while Michaela Coel, creator and star of E4′s Chewing Gum, won the inaugural breakthrough prize.
Rob Delaney (Dominic Lipinski/PA)
Suranne Jones fought off stiff competition for the best female actor trophy for Doctor Foster, which was accepted on behalf of the new mother by her on-screen son Tom Taylor, while Sir Anthony Hopkins won best actor for his role in BBC Two’s The Dresser.
The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies followed up its Bafta success with two awards, scooping the prize for drama serial and the writer – drama award for Peter Morgan, the man behind Rush and The Queen.
In the ultimate soap showdown, Emmerdale beat rivals EastEnders and Coronation Street for the soap and continuing drama award.
The @emmerdale team say that having a range of storylines was key #RTSawards pic.twitter.com/4pfy4WGEgX
— RTS (@RTS_media) March 22, 2016
Other winners included David Coulthard, Reggie Yates, Joan Bakewell and Judge Rinder as the best of British TV was celebrated by the industry.
