Surprises among the National TV Awards winners
Some of the small screen's biggest stars were on show at this year's National Television Awards. Among the familiar faces on the red carpet at the 02 in Greenwich, south-east London were X Factor judge Tulisa Contostavlos, Downton Abbey's Hugh Bonneville and Olympian Sir Chris Hoy. Host Dermot O'Leary kicked off the show, which was shown on ITV1, with a spoof of Daniel Craig's appearance as James Bond in the Olympic opening ceremony - complete with David Walliams as Javier Bardem's Bond villain from Skyfall. The first award, for entertainment programme, was presented by The Great British Bake Off stars Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry to I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! Two of the contestants who survived last year's stint in the jungle, Helen Flanagan and Ashley Roberts, picked up the award and explained the show's winner Charlie Brooks could not make the awards because she was with a friend who was giving birth. The second award went to Sir David Attenborough's BBC show Frozen Planet which won best documentary series. Professor Brian Cox presented the gong to Joanne Lumley who accepted the award on behalf of Sir David, who is filming in China. She said: "To me he is, as I guess he is to most of you, a complete hero". QI was named the best comedy panel show, beating competition including Have I Got News For You and Mock The Week. The first big surprise of the night saw Merlin star Colin Morgan (pictured, with Darcey Bussell) win the award for the best male drama performance, beating much-fancied rivals in Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch and Doctor Who's Matt Smith. Colin said he had a 'fantastic time' making the programme, which was axed by the BBC last year. This Morning was named best daytime programme, with hosts Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby accepting the award. Phillip thanked Holly, who he called 'the lady I love getting up with and for in the morning', and said this year's win was 'certainly the most emotional'. Asked if the Prime Minister would come back on the show following the storm of controversy caused when he ambushed David Cameron with a list of alleged paedophiles, Phillip said: "Yes, absolutely. He's already said he would. There's no question. Absolutely." Other winners included Miranda Hart, best female drama performance for Call the Midwife; EastEnders' David Witts, best newcomer; Corrie's Alan Halsall, best serial drama performance; Downton Abbey, best drama; and Coronation Street, best serial drama.
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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.