Guz Khan, Bharti Patel and Talisha Johnson among RTS Midlands Awards nominees

Guz Khan, Bharti Patel, Talisha ‘Tee Cee’ Johnson and Darshna Soni are among the local media names unveiled as nominees for this year’s Royal Television Society awards in the Midlands.

The RTS Midlands centre has announced its full list of nominations for their prestigious annual TV Awards which are sponsored by the BBC, Channel 4, Create Central and Film Birmingham.

Celebrating the TV and broadcasting industry across the Midlands the ceremony will be streamed live on the RTS’s YouTube channel on Wednesday 25 November as gongs are awarded to the best of regional on-screen talent.

The BBC leads the way with 44 nominations including BBC East Midlands Today for News Programme of the Year, as well as Writing, Craft Production and Acting Performance nominations for BBC Three hit, Man Like Mobeen. Whilst the BBC dominates nominations in the Drama category which includes Dark Money and Doctors, ITV has ten nominations with ITV News Central garnering nine of the nominations across multiple categories.

Dorothy Hobson, Chair of Judges, RTS Midlands, says: “In such a tumultuous year, we need to celebrate the industry more than ever. We have received even more entries this year than last year which is a testament to the fantastic talent who are making programmes in and about the Midlands.”

This year’s judges include renowned journalists, broadcasters and programme makers including Mal Young, Louise Sutton, Nina Nannar, Jeremy Howe, Gillian Joseph, Mistajam, Rohit Kachroo, Phil Ford, Trish Adudu, Cat Lawson, Alex Fraser and Mark Linsey.

In addition to the programme awards, the Baird Medal will be presented to someone from the region who has made an outstanding contribution to television. Previous recipients include Sir David Attenborough, Jed Mercurio, Frank Skinner and Barbara Slater, OBE.

So, who’s been nominated this year?

Acting Performance – Female

Bharti Patel – Doctors (BBC Studios for BBC One)
Dúaa Karim – Man Like Mobeen (Tiger Aspect Productions for BBC Three)
Jill Halfpenny – Dark Money (The Forge Entertainment for BBC One)

Acting Performance – Male

Adrian Lewis Morgan – Doctors (BBC Studios for BBC One)
Babou Ceesay – Dark Money (The Forge Entertainment for BBC One)
Guz Khan – Man Like Mobeen (Tiger Aspect Productions for BBC Three)

Animation

A Scribbled Memory (BlueBell Films for Online Platforms)
Da Vinci Learning Channel Idents (Second Home Studios for Da Vinci Learning)
Flesh (Anna Campbell and Rural Media, supported by Arts Council England for BBC Arts, BBC Four and BBC online platforms)
Mirakin: The Picture Pixies (The CharacterShop & 3Megos for YouTube)
Roads from the Past (Rural Media for Travellers Times)

Breakthrough (off screen)

Bhulla Beghal (BlueBell Films for Online Platforms)
Cree-Summer Haughton (ITV News Central for ITV)
Luke Collins (Rural Media for BBC)
Scarlett Kefford (Script Sirens Presents: #GoingViral for Youtube & IGTV)
Talisha ‘Tee Cee’ Johnson (BBC Three for BBC Three)

Breakthrough (on screen)

Dr Angela Moran – A Very British History: Birmingham Irish I Am (BBC Birmingham for BBC One / BBC Four)
Max Fincham – Dark Money (The Forge Entertainment for BBC One)
Oloni – My Mates A Bad Date (BBC Three for BBC Three)
Pablo Taylor (ITV News Central for ITV)
Sideman – Strictly Sideman (BBC Three for BBC Three)

Craft – Post Production

Affixxius Films – Run – Trent Bridge (Affixxius Films for Online)
Chris Polding – Evil Up Close: Kim Edwards & Lewis Markham (FirstLookTV for Crime & Investigation)
Chris Randall – Da Vinci Learning Channel Idents (Second Home Studios for Da Vinci Learning)
Editing Team – My Mate’s A Bad Date (BBC Three for BBC Three)
Paul Farrer – Red Dwarf – The Promised Land (Baby Cow Productions for DAVE)

Craft – Production

Affixxius Films – Sedbergh School – The Spirit of Sedbergh (Affixxius Films for Online)
Bhulla Beghal – Home Time and A Scribbled Memory (BlueBell Films for Online Platforms)
Lewis Arnold – Dark Money (The Forge Entertainment for BBC One)
Lina Hashweh (BBC Three for BBC Three)
Man Like Mobeen (Tiger Aspect Productions for BBC Three)

Digital Creativity

BBC Three Edit Hub (BBC Three for BBC Three)
Home Time (BlueBell Films and Multistory for Online Platforms)
ITV News Central (ITV News Central for ITV)
People Just Do Nothing Watching People Just Do Nothing. Kurupt FM: LIVE (BBC Three for BBC Three)
Strictly Sideman (BBC Three for BBC Three)

Documentary

A Very British History: Birmingham Irish I Am (BBC England for BBC One / BBC Four)
A Very British History: Whatever Happened to the Boat People? (BBC England / BBC Birmingham / BBC Four)
Cops Like Us (Dragonfly Film & TV for BBC Two)
Life & Birth (Dragonfly Film & TV for BBC One)
Return to Auschwitz (Vyka for Birmingham Hebrew Congregation)

Drama

Dark Money (The Forge Entertainment for BBC One)
Doctors (BBC Studios for BBC One)
Father Brown (BBC Studios for BBC One)
Shakespeare and Hathaway – Private Investigators (BBC Studios for BBC One)

Factual and Specialist Factual

A Very British History: Birmingham Irish I Am (BBC England for BBC One / BBC Four)
Cops Like Us (Dragonfly Film & TV for BBC Two)
GPs Behind Closed Doors (Knickerbockerglory TV for Channel 5)
Soul Boy (BBC East Midlands for BBC One)
The Lady Killers (FirstLookTV for Quest Red)

Factual Entertainment / Popular Factual Series

Canal Boat Diaries (BBC East Midlands for BBC)
Houseshare (Youngest Media for BBC Three)
Paul Hollywood Eats Japan (North One for Channel 4)
The Rap Game UK (Naked for BBC Three)
Travel Man: 48 Hours in Krakow (North One for Channel 4)

Journalist of the Year

Charlotte Cross (ITV News Central for ITV)
Darshna Soni (ITN for Channel 4 News)
Jonathan Gibson (BBC Birmingham for BBC)
Simon Ward (BBC for BBC Inside Out)
Yasmin Bodalbhai (ITV News Central for ITV)

News Programme of the Year

BBC East Midlands Today 1830 programme – Leicester Lockdown (BBC East Midlands Today for BBC)
BBC Midlands Today / Covid 2 (BBC Midlands Today for BBC)
Floods 2020: Uncharted Territory (ITV News Central (West) for ITV)
HS2 – Still on Track? (ITV News Central for ITV)
Nottinghamshire Child Abuse Scandal (ITV News Central (East) for ITV)

On Screen Personality

Craig Charles – The Gadget Show (North One for Channel 5)
Guy Martin (North One for Channel 4)
Nick Owen – BBC Midlands Today (BBC Midlands Today for BBC)
Oloni – My Mates A Bad Date (BBC Three for BBC Three)
Sameena Ali-Khan – ITV News Central (ITV News Central for ITV)

Promotional

Confetti Fields (Conteur for The Real Flower Petal Confetti Company)
Formula One Autocentres (CharacterShop & M3 Agency for Really & Home, ESPN, Channel 4 and Sky)
Contraption (Big Button for Segro)
Sky – Step up, Speak Up (Second Home Studios for Sky)
The Comeback (Spark Media for Facebook / Twitter)

Short Form

BBC New Creatives (Rural Media supported by Arts Council England for BBC Arts, BBC Four and BBC online platforms)
Legacy (Pictureshed for Channel 4 Random Acts)
Poet off the Ends (Luke Radford for BBC East Midlands)
The Comeback (Spark Media for Facebook / Twitter)
Unbreakable (DRPG and Springboard Charity)

Writer

Guz Khan and Andy Milligan – Man Like Mobeen (Tiger Aspect Productions for BBC)
James Graham – Quiz (Left Bank Pictures for ITV)
Kit Lambert – Father Brown (BBC Studios for BBC One)
Will Hanrahan – Kids Who Kill: Aaron Campbell (FirstLookTV for Crime & Investigation)

To watch the RTS Midlands Awards live on 25 November, visit the RTS YouTube here.