The Broadcasting Press Guild (BPG) has announced the nominations for its annual BPG Awards across Television, Streaming and Audio.
Mr Bates vs The Post Office leads the way in this year’s awards – with nominations for Best Drama Series, Best Actress for Monica Dolan, Best Actor for Toby Jones and Best Writer for Gwyneth Hughes. Meanwhile, Wolf Hall, Baby Reindeer, Rivals and Gavin & Stacey are all acknowledged three times by the BPG’s members.
The BPG’s two drama categories are once again among the most hotly contested. Rivals (Disney+), Day of the Jackal (Peacock / Sky Atlantic) and Baby Reindeer (Netflix) are joined on the Best Drama Series (4+ episodes) shortlist by the final series of Wolf Hall (BBC1) and ITV1’s Mr Bates vs The Post Office – the first time the streaming giants have outnumbered terrestrial shows in this category.
The breadth of British drama, across the full range of streamers and channels, is also reflected in the Single Drama or Mini-Series (1-3 episodes) category. Two shows depicting the Newsnight interview between Emily Maitlis and Prince Andrew – Scoop (Netflix) and A Very Royal Scandal(Prime) – go head-to-head, with Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (BBC1/Netflix) and ITV1’s Covid drama Breathtaking offering contrasting alternative nominees.
There was a BBC clean sweep in the Best Documentary Series category – with Asia, Freddie Flintoff: Field of Dreams on Tour and Mammals (BBC1) plusOn Thin Ice: Putin v Greenpeace (BBC2) winning BPG members’ votes.
BPG members remain faithful to last year’s winner The Traitors(BBC1), as it receives its second successive nomination alongside The Piano (Channel 4) in the Best Entertainment category. Clarkson’s Farm (Prime) and four-time BPG Award-winner Mortimer and Whitehouse: Gone Fishing (BBC2) complete a competitive category.
A strong year for drama on Netflix is recognised in the Best Actress category with Jessica Gunning, whose performance in Baby Reindeer won worldwide acclaim and Ambika Mod’s starring role in One Day making the shortlist alongside Katherine Parkinson for Disney+’s Rivals. Monica Dolan showcased her range in contrasting roles in BBC1’s Sherwood and Mr Bates vs the Post Office on ITV, while Anna Maxwell Martin did likewise in BBC1 hit Ludwig, ITV’s true-life drama Until I Kill You and Gavin and Stacey: The Finale.
A strong Best Actor category features Danny Dyer’s performance in Rivals (Disney+) alongside Mark Rylance reprising his role as Thomas Cromwell in Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light (BBC1), plus Lennie James’s starring role in Mr Loverman(BBC1), Toby Jones’s heroic depiction of Alan Bates in Mr Bates vs The Post Office (ITV) and Eddie Redmayne’s return to television in Peacock/Sky Atlantic’s Day of the Jackal.
Inside No 9 (BBC2) has been a regular a contender for BPG Best Comedy (this time for its final series) and this year takes on another classic that is coming to an end, BBC1’s Gavin and Stacey: The Finale. Ghosts (BBC1) for its final series; superhero show The Franchise (HBO/Sky) and BBC Three’s Boarders complete a strong category.
In the Best Writer category, Sophie Willan, whose series Alma’s Not Normal won Best Comedy in 2022, is nominated for its second series, while Joe Barton (Black Doves, Netflix), Richard Gadd (Baby Reindeer, Netflix), Gwyneth Hughes (Mr Bates vs The Post Office, ITV1) and Peter Straughan (Wolf Hall, BBC1) also did well with BPG members.
Every year two TV awards are given out by the BPG Executive Committee. The annual BPG Breakthrough Talent Award features outstanding young acting stars Levi Brown (This Town) and Bella Maclean (Rivals) alongside writer-actors Kyla Harris (We Might Regret This), Michelle de Swarte (Spent) and Richard Gadd(Baby Reindeer), while the BPG Emerging Creators Award nominees for 2025 are social media science creator Big Manny and influencer and podcaster Ash Holme, who also fronted ITV1’s series Ash Holme: What Not To Do With Dad last year.
BPG Chair Manori Ravindran said: “Celebrating the bold, the brilliant, and the unforgettable, the 2025 BPG Awards nominations highlight the power of storytelling across television, streaming, and audio. Coveted by the industry, these awards stand apart as they are chosen independently by the experts who cover TV and audio for a living—the critics, correspondents, and writers of the UK media. We’re delighted to bring back the BPG Awards as a newly imagined evening event this year and look forward to toasting the bright lights of the industry on March 20.”
The Harvey Lee Award and other Special Awards will be announced in the coming weeks.
THE BPG AWARDS 2025 NOMINATIONS IN FULL
BEST SINGLE DRAMA / MINI-SERIES
- Breathtaking (ITV1)
- Scoop (Netflix)
- A Very Royal Scandal (Prime Video)
- Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (BBC1, Netflix)
BEST DRAMA SERIES
- Baby Reindeer (Netflix)
- Day of the Jackal (Peacock/Sky Atlantic)
- Mr Bates vs The Post Office (ITV1)
- Rivals (Disney+)
- Wolf Hall (BBC1)
BEST SINGLE DOC / MINI-SERIES
- Boybands Forever (BBC2)
- Michael Palin: Into Nigeria (C5)
- Strike: The Uncivil War (Netflix)
- Surviving Oct 7th: We Will Dance Again (BB2)
BEST DOC SERIES
- Asia (BBC1)
- Freddie Flintoff: Field of Dreams on Tour (BBC1)
- Mammals (BBC1)
- On Thin Ice: Putin v Greenpeace (BBC2)
BEST COMEDY
- Boarders (BBC Three)
- The Franchise (HBO/Sky)
- Gavin and Stacey: The Finale (BBC1)
- Inside No 9 (BBC2)
BEST ENTERTAINMENT
- Clarkson’s Farm (Prime Video)
- Mortimer and Whitehouse: Gone Fishing (BBC2)
- The Piano series 2 (C4)
- The Traitors series 2 (BBC1)
BEST WRITER
- Joe Barton (Black Doves, Netflix)
- Richard Gadd (Baby Reindeer, Netflix)
- Gwyneth Hughes (Mr Bates vs The Post Office, ITV1)
- Peter Straughan (Wolf Hall, BBC1)
- Sophie Willan (Alma’s Not Normal, BBC2)
BEST ACTRESS
- Monica Dolan (A Ghost Story for Christmas, Sherwood, BBC; Mr Bates vs the Post Office, ITV)
- Jessica Gunning (Baby Reindeer, Netflix)
- Anna Maxwell Martin (Gavin and Stacey: The Finale, BBC; Ludwig, BBC; Until I Kill You – ITV)
- Ambika Mod (One Day, Netflix)
- Katherine Parkinson (Rivals, Disney+)
BEST ACTOR
- Danny Dyer (Rivals, Disney+)
- Lennie James (Mr Loverman, BBC1)
- Toby Jones (Mr Bates vs the Post Office, ITV)
- Eddie Redmayne (Day of the Jackal, Peacock/Sky Atlantic)
- Mark Rylance (Wolf Hall, BBC1)
SPECIAL AWARDS
BPG BREAKTHROUGH AWARD
- Levi Brown (This Town)
- Richard Gadd (Baby Reindeer)
- Kyla Harris (We Might Regret This)
- Bella Maclean (Rivals)
- Michelle de Swarte (Spent)
BPG EMERGING CREATOR AWARD
- Ash Holme
- Big Manny
AUDIO AWARDS
BEST RADIO PRESENTER
- Sara Cox for Drive-time show (BBC Radio 2)
- Paula Harriott for The Secret Life of Prisons (Prison Radio Association)
- Ellen E Jones for Screenshot (BBC Radio 4)
- Jenny Kleeman for The Gift (BBC Radio 4)
- Kate Molleson for Composer of the Week (Radio 3), live Radio 3 concerts, Front Row (BBC Radio 4)
BEST PODCAST
- How to Write a Book (Sara Collins, Sharmaine Lovegrove and Nelle Andrew, Daylight Productions)
- Kill List (Wondery)
- The Rest is Classified (David McCloskey and Gordon Corera, Goalhanger)
- To Catch a Scorpion (BBC Sounds)
- 1984 (Audible)
BEST RADIO PROGRAMME
- The Ballad of Scout and the Alcohol Tag (BBC Radio 4)
- Short Cuts (BBC Radio 4)
- Sport’s Strangest Crimes: Confessions of a Match Fixer (BBC Radio 5 Live)
- Three Million (BBC Radio 4)
Jon Creamer
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