Entertainment

British television shows triumph at 60th Rose d’Or awards

The BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing and Horrible Histories were among the eight productions that took home awards.
The BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing and Horrible Histories were among the eight productions that took home awards. The BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing and Horrible Histories were among the eight productions that took home awards.

British programming triumphed at the 60th Rose d’Or awards, beating off competition from streaming giant Netflix.

The BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing and Horrible Histories were among the eight productions that took home awards.

The annual ceremony recognises excellence in entertainment programming and was presented virtually by comedian and broadcaster Sue Perkins.

The 2021 awards introduced a News and Current Affairs category for the first time which was won by the ITV documentary Storming the Capitol: The Inside Story.

Free Guy premiere
Free Guy premiere Channel 4 topped the drama category with Help starring Killing Eve’s Jodie Comer and Line of Duty’s Stephen Graham (Aaron Chown/PA)

The news crew was the only one to gain access to the riots that occurred in Washington DC in January, footage of which shocked the world.

ITV also picked up the Reality and Factual Entertainment award, for the documentary series Long Lost Family: Born Without Trace.

Broadcasting rival Channel 4 topped the Drama Category with Help, starring Killing Eve’s Jodie Comer and Line of Duty’s Stephen Graham.

The hard-hitting drama highlighted the impact that Covid-19 pandemic had on care homes and beat both record-breaking international Netflix shows, Squid Game and Bridgerton.

The BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing was awarded the Studio Entertainment trophy, with judges noting the incredible achievements of the team that managed to keep the show on air during the pandemic.

The corporation also won the Children and Youth category for Horrible Histories Black History Special, charting the contribution of Black people to British life throughout history.

The Shooting Star Ball – London
The Shooting Star Ball – London Vera star Brenda Blethyn was honoured with a lifetime achievement prize at the awards (Dominic Lipsinski/PA)

It also took home the award in the Documentary category for 9/11: Inside the President’s War Room.

Bo Burnham topped the Comedy category for his one-man show Inside, filmed during the pandemic, and French Netflix hit, Call My Agent, was presented with the Comedy Drama & Sitcom award.

Vera star Brenda Blethyn was honoured with a lifetime achievement prize and French actor Omar Sy was given the performance of the year award for the Netflix drama, Lupin.

Writer Nida Manzoor will be given the emerging talent award for the Channel 4 comedy We Are Lady Parts, about a Muslim female punk band.

Mark Rowland, Chair of the Rose d’Or Awards, said: “Huge congratulations to all the winners, our nominees and every producer, broadcaster and platform who entered shows.

“It’s been an incredibly strong year from the breadth of concepts and stories to the great on-screen performances and the production skill we’ve seen, across all genres.

“Given the many challenges the pandemic has thrown at TV production, this is an extraordinary achievement.”