2018 National Television Award winners include Emmerdale, Strictly and Ant & Dec

The gongs have been given and the NTA’s are over for another year.

The viewers have spoken. The votes are in and the awards have been given to some of Britain’s best-loved TV programmes and performers at the 23rd National Television Awards. The star-studded ceremony was broadcast live on ITV, STV and UTV earlier this everning from The O2 London and hosted by the man with the X Factor, Dermot O’Leary.

The NTAs paid tribute to the late, great Sir Bruce Forsyth by naming a major prize after him with the inaugural Bruce Forsyth Entertainment Award. There was also a brand new category, Crime Drama which recognises a year when primetime mysteries became our favourite TV genre.

2018 Gong Winners:

The ‘Challenge Show’ Award was bestowed to ITV’s I’m A Celebrity series which sees Z-list stars try and live in the Australian outback with no luxuries, but plenty of creepy crawlies to keep them occupied in the ‘bush tucker’ trials.

Channel 4’s show that sees us viewers watching other viewers watching television shows, and critically casting their eyes over proceedings, Gogglebox, won the ‘Factual Entertainment’ gong.

The 2017 I’m a Celebrity star line-up

It might be grim up north recently with many mourning the loss of the comedy from Coronation Street, but the dark dramas in Weatherfield have reaped their rewards as Lucky Fallon – Bethany Platt in the ITV Granada saga, picked up ‘Serial Drama Performance’. The prize saw Lucy become emotional over her well deserved win.

Other people who make talent cry are of course telly judges on shows such as Strictly Come Dancing, The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent. It was the latter show that saw a win this year as David Walliams – is their no end to his talents – picked up the ‘TV Judge’ prize. 

David Walliam’s is 2017’s Telly Judge of the year.

The gong for ‘Drama Performance’ went to BBC One’s Doctor Foster actress Suranne Jones, while the show itself picked up the ‘Drama Programme’ award. While the new for NTA 2018 the ‘Crime Drama’ award was bestowed upon ITV’s Broadchurch series.

It was nice to see it, to see it nice, as another new adition to this years proceedings saw the introduction of ‘The Bruce Forsyth Entertainment Award’, with the gong given out on its debut night by Bruce’s widow Wilnelia. The prize was picked up by NTA stalwarts Ant and Dec for their ITV entertainment extravaganza, Saturday Night Takeaway.

Didn’t they do well? Ant and Dec picked up the Brucie bonus for their Saturday Night Takeaway series.

Ant and Dec also took home the ‘TV Presenter’ of the year award while the ‘Impact Award’ was gifted to BBC One’s Blue Planet II.

Celebrating 30 years on air later this year, This Morning once more carried off the gong for best ‘Daytime Series’ while the laughs were valued from Peter Kay as his Car Share series took home the ‘Comedy Show’ award.

The ‘Newcomer Award’ was issued to Danny Walters, who has been seen in ITV’s Benidorm previously, but was bestowed this gong for his role of Keanu Taylor in BBC One’s EastEnders soap opera. 

Paul O’Grady hosts Channel 5’s reboot of classic LWT series Blind Date.

The ‘Special Recognition’ award was gifted to the talented Paul O’Grady who burst onto television screens in the 1990s as ‘drag act’ Lily Savage having spent years horning his comedy art in the pub and club circut across the UK in the 1980s.

As Lily he hosted shows such as Channel 4’s Viva Cabaret, a series on international porn and even Late Licence Channel 4 continuity. Lily then bust into the mainstream first as a chat show host on Channel 4’s The Big Breakfast later hosting shows for the BBC and ITV including game show Blankety Blank, The Lily Savage Show and Lily Live. However of the course of the past fifteen years Paul has become a star in his own right hosting his own chat slot with The Paul O’Grady Show for both Channel 4 and ITV, For the Love of Dogs for ITV and Blind Date for Channel 5. He is also heard weekly on BBC Radio 2 with his own Sunday two hour music show.

Strictly has been trumping The X Factor in the ratings for the past few years, and the award just adds to the beeb’s success.

The ‘Talent Show’ gong went to BBC One Saturday night celebrity ballroom battle Strictly Come Dancing while the ‘Serial Drama’ award was given to ITV Yorkshire production Emmerdale for another dramatic twelve months down in the Yorkshire Dales.

The village formerly known as Beckindale has seen a fair share of laughs and sorrows over the past year with plots including the on-off relationship between Robert and Arron capturing viewers imaginations, the death of  Finn Barton, the barn fire with warped Emma Barton and her later demise as well as the recent arrival of Joe Tate and the turbulent mind of Lachlan White.

Emmerdale is the UK’s best loved soap.