Miranda Hart among Comedy Awards winners

Miranda Hart among Comedy Awards winners
Miranda Hart among Comedy Awards winners (Image credit: PA Wire/Press Association Images)

Miranda Hart triumphed once again at the British Comedy Awards on Friday night, winning the best TV comedy actress award for the second year running. The comedienne, who stars in the BBC series Miranda, triumphed at a star-studded ceremony which also saw victories for Stewart Lee, Sarah Millican and comedy show The Inbetweeners. And she admitted she was shocked to have taken the prize for a second year, adding, "I want to get home quickly, put the kettle on and get in my onesie." Stewart Lee was one of the main winners of the night, picking up trophies for best male television comic and best comedy entertainment programme for his show Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle. And Sarah Millican was voted the new Queen of Comedy in the viewers choice award. The comedienne was not able to attend the ceremony but said on a live link-up that she was "thrilled" to have received the award. Other winners included the cast of The Inbetweeners, who were presented with the British Comedy Academy award for outstanding achievement by Kylie Minogue, while Have I Got News For You was the recipient of the lifetime achievement prize. Victoria Wood, meanwhile, was voted the best female TV comic, and the recently axed Shooting Stars took home the prize for best comedy show. The awards, hosted by Jonathan Ross, took place at the Fountain Studios in Wembley, North London.

Patrick McLennan

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.