Stellar performance from the BBC, with more than 50 nominations
The BBC has received a welcome shot in the arm with more than twice as many nominations for the Broadcast Awards 2026 as any other broadcaster or streamer.
The corporation’s performance was particularly strong in the Children’s Programme, and Comedy Drama categories, where it delivered five of the six shortlisted entries; and in the Specialist Factual and Comedy categories, where it was responsible for four out of the six.
By comparison, the next highest number of nominations was Channel 4 with 19 and ITV with 18.
Shortlists for some of the major categories include Best Independent Production Company, which will see 72 Films, Candour Productions, Rogan Productions, Studio Lambert, World Productions and Warp Films go head to head, while Broadcaster of the Year will see SVoD giant Netflix battle PSBs the BBC, Channel 4, ITV1 and 5, as well as UKTV streamer U.
Factual outfits Rogan and 72 will face off again in the Best Documentary Programme with their respective Netflix and BBC films Grenfell: Uncovered and Trump: The Criminal Conspiracy Case. Those shows will compete with Amos Pictures’ One Day in October (C4), Life and Death in Gaza (BBC) from BBC Eye & BBC Storyville, Drum Studios’ Flight 149: Hostage of War for Sky Documentaries, and Undercover: Exposing The Far Right from Tigerlily & Marking Inc in association with HiddenLight & Doc Society for C4.
The 2026 iteration of the awards features several new categories, including Best New Drama. It will be contested by the BBC’s Mr Loverman (Fable Pictures), Disney+ duo Rivals (Happy Prince) and A Thousand Blows (The Story Collective, Matriarch Productions & Water & Power Productions), ITV’s I Fought The Law (Hera Pictures) and Warp Films pair Reunion (BBC) and Adolescence, co-produced with Matriarch Productions and Plan B for Netflix.
Best Returning Drama encompasses the Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light, All Creatures Great and Small, Slow Horses, Y Golau: Dŵr, Malpractice and Showtrial.
Rounding out the new scripted new categories, Best Comedy Drama, will see Death Valley, Am I Being Unreasonable?, Alma’s Not Normal, Gavin & Stacey: The Finale, Big Boys and Boarders compete.
Various indies have multiple nominations including Warp Films and Various Artists Limited (four nominations); 72 Films and Studio Lambert (three nominations); and CPL Productions, DM Productions, Expectation, Fulwell Entertainment, Happy Prince, Tidy Productions, Baby Cow Productions, Hat Trick Productions, Optomen, Passion Pictures and Rockerdale Studios (two apiece).
A quintet of shows won two nominations – Netflix’s smash hit drama Adolescence, comedy trio Juice, Smoggie Queens and Such Brave Girls and entertainment format The Assembly.
After the BBC with 52 nominations, Channel 4 with 19 and ITV with 18, comes Sky with 11 across its operations. Streamers Netflix (four) and Prime Video (two) also feature on the shortlist, while 5 scored three nominations and National Geographic two.
The Special Recognition Award, sponsored by Gravity Media, and the Hall of Fame Award, sponsored by Access Bookings, will be announced on the awards night.
This year’s dock10 TV Moment of the Year shortlist be revelaed on Monday, when the voting period to select the winner will begin.
The awards take place on 4 February at the JW Marriott Grosvenor House on Park Lane.
Tables are now available to purchase – package details can be found here: https://broadcastawards.co.uk/table-packages.
The full shortlist is available below and can also be found on the awards website: https://broadcastawards.co.uk/shortlist-2026
For table enquiries please contact Shane.Murphy@mb-insight.com. For sponsorship enquiries please contact: Francesca.verdusco@mbi.london
Best Children’s Programme
- Crongton, New Pictures for BBC iPlayer
- Horrible Science, Lion Television for BBC iPlayer
- My Life: Me, My Horse and My Spear, Salt Street for BBC iPlayer
- Super Happy Magic Forest, Tiger Aspect Kids & Family, Zodiak Kids, Family France, Movimenti Productions & Monello Productions for CBBC & BBC iPlayer
- The Night Before Christmas in Wonderland, Lupus Films, Islington Films & Universal Content Group for Sky
- The Primrose Railway Children, BBC Studios Kids & Family for BBC
Best Comedy Drama Programme
- Alma’s Not Normal, Expectation TV for BBC
- Am I Being Unreasonable, Boffola Pictures for BBC
- Big Boys, Roughcut TV for Channel 4
- Boarders, Studio Lambert for BBC
- Death Valley, BBC Studios Comedy for BBC
- Gavin & Stacey: The Finale, Fulwell Entertainment, Tidy Productions & Baby Cow Productions for BBC
Best Comedy Programme
(Sponsored by Riverside TV Studios)
- Here We Go, BBC Studios Comedy for BBC
- Juice, Various Artists Limited for BBC
- Mr Bigstuff, Water & Power Productions & Sky Studios for Sky Max
- Pushers, Merman Television & 2LE Media for C4
- Smoggie Queens, Hat Trick Productions for BBC
- Such Brave Girls, Various Artists Limited for BBC
Best Current Affairs Programme
- America’s Veterans: The War Within (Exposure), Fuuse Films for ITV1
- Blood Parliament, BBC World Service for YouTube
- Gaza: Doctors Under Attack, Basement Films for Channel 4
- Kill List: Hunted By Putin’s Spies, Passion Pictures & Bellingcat Productions for Channel 4
- Lucy Letby: Beyond Reasonable Doubt? (Exposure), DM Productions for ITV1
- State of Rage, Duskwater for Channel 4
Best Daytime Programme
- Doorbell Detectives, Purple Productions for BBC
- Help! We Bought a Village, True North Productions for Channel 4
- Lost and Found in the Lakes, Ty’r Ddraig for BBC
- Narrow Escapes, Bowled Over Media with Motion Content Group for Channel 4
- Richard Osman’s House of Games, Remarkable Entertainment for BBC
- Scam Interceptors, BBC Studios for BBC
Best Documentary Programme
- Flight 149: Hostage of War, Drum Studios for Sky Documentaries
- Grenfell: Uncovered, Rogan Productions for Netflix
- Life and Death in Gaza, BBC Eye & BBC Storyville for BBC
- One Day in October, Amos Pictures for Channel 4
- Trump: The Criminal Conspiracy Case, 72 Films for BBC
- UNDERCOVER: Exposing The Far Right, Tigerlily & Marking Inc in assoc with Hidden Light & Doc Society for Channel 4
Best Documentary Series
(Sponsored by The Complete Camera Company)
- Ambulance, Dragonfly Film & TV for BBC
- Bibaa & Nicole: Murder in the Park, True Vision TV for Sky Documentaries
- Life and Death Row, BBC Studios for BBC
- Operation Dark Phone: Murder by Text, The Garden for Channel 4
- The Undercover Police Scandal: Love and Lies Exposed, RAW for ITV1 & ITVX
- Tsunami: Race Against Time, Blast Films for National Geographic
Best Entertainment Programme
(Sponsored by BBC Studioworks)
- A League of Their Own, CPL Productions for Sky Max
- Last One Laughing, Zeppotron & Initial for Prime Video
- Michael McIntyre’s Big Show, Hungry McBear for BBC
- Strictly Come Dancing, BBC Studios for BBC
- The Assembly, Rockerdale Studios for ITV1
- The Great British Bake Off, Love Productions for Channel 4
Best Factual Entertainment Programme
- Clarkson’s Farm, Expectation TV & Con Dao for Prime Video
- Extraordinary Portraits, Chatterbox Media for BBC
- Pete Wicks: For Dogs’ Sake, BBC Studios Entertainment for U&W
- Sort Your Life Out, Optomen Television for BBC
- The Piano, Love Productions for Channel 4
- Virgin Island, Double Act for Channel 4
Best Multichannel Programme
- Juice, Various Artists Limited for BBC
- Kursk: 10 Days That Shaped Putin, HiddenLight for Sky HISTORY
- Married at First Sight UK, CPL Productions for E4
- Murder Case: The Vanishing Cyclist, Firecrest Films for BBC Scotland
- Olivia Attwood: The Price of Perfection, Optomen Television for ITVX
- Such Brave Girls, Various Artists Limited for BBC
Best New Drama
- A Thousand Blows, The Story Collective, Matriarch Productions & Water & Power Productions for Disney+
- Adolescence, Warp Films, Matriarch Productions & Plan B for Netflix
- I Fought The Law, Hera Pictures for ITV1 & ITVX
- Mr Loverman, Fable Pictures for BBC
- Reunion, Warp Films for BBC
- Rivals, Happy Prince, part of ITV Studios for Disney+
Best News Programme
- BBC Breakfast: Southport and Social Media – From Heartbreak to Hope, BBC Breakfast for BBC
- BBC Newsnight: Grooming Survivors Speak, BBC News for BBC
- Good Morning Britain Southport Special: Giving Voice to the Victims, ITV Studios for ITV
- Inside Sednaya: The Fall of Assad, Channel 4 News for Channel 4
- Sky News: Assad Downfall, Sky News for Sky News
- The Case Against the Archbishop, Channel 4 News for Channel 4
Best Original Programme
- Adolescence, Warp Films, Matriarch Productions & Plan B for Netflix
- Code of Silence, Mammoth Screen for ITV1
- Smoggie Queens, Hat Trick Productions for BBC
- The Assembly, Rockerdale Studios for ITV1
- The Donald Trump Show, 72 Films for Channel 4
- Underdogs, Maximum Effort & Wildstar Films for National Geographic
Best Pre-School Programme
- Big Lizard, Beakus, Je Suis Bien Content, Watch Next Media & Bardaf! Productions for CBeebies
- Dodge’s Pup School, Brilliant Trees Media for BBC iPlayer
- Jaime’s Yoga Adventures, Zodiak Kids & Cosmic Kids for Sky Kids
- Mixmups, Mackinnon & Saunders for Channel 5 Milkshake!
- Mojo Swoptops, Blue Zoo for BBC
- Tiddler, Magic Light Pictures for BBC
Best Reality Programme
(Sponsored by Versa Studios)
- I Kissed a Boy, Twofour for BBC
- I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here!, Lifted Entertainment, part of ITV Studios for ITV1
- Love Is Blind: UK, The Garden Productions for Netflix
- Tempting Fortune, Voltage TV Productions for Channel 4
- The Fortune Hotel, Tuesday’s Child for ITV1
- The Traitors, Studio Lambert for BBC
Best Returning Drama
- All Creatures Great and Small, Playground Television for 5
- Malpractice, World Productions for ITV1
- Showtrial, World Productions for BBC
- Slow Horses, See-Saw Films for Apple TV
- Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light, Playground & Company Pictures, Masterpiece in assoc Banijay Rights Limited for BBC
- Y Golau: Dŵr, The Light, Y Golau Cyf, Triongl & Channel 4 for S4C
Best Soap/Continuing Drama
- Casualty, BBC Studios for BBC
- Coronation Street, ITV Studios for ITVX & ITV1
- EastEnders, BBC Studios for BBC
- Emmerdale, ITV Studios for ITV1
- Hollyoaks, Lime Pictures for E4
- Waterloo Road, Rope Ladder Fiction & Wall to Wall North for BBC
Best Specialist Factual Programme
- 7/7: The London Bombings, The Slate Works for BBC
- Children of the Cult (Exposure), DM Productions for ITV1
- Helmand: Tour of Duty, Passion Pictures & Kailash Films for BBC
- Simon Schama: The Road to Auschwitz, Oxford Films for BBC
- The Lost Music of Auschwitz, Windfall Films for Sky Arts
- Unforgotten: The Bradford City Fire, Acme for BBC & BBC iPlayer
Best Sports Programme
(Sponsored by NEP)
- Cheltenham Festival - Day One, ITV Sport for ITV1
- England v India Test Cricket, Sky Sports for Sky Sports Cricket
- Euro 2025, ITV Sport for ITV1
- Tour De France, ITV Sport for ITV4
- UEFA Women’s Euro 2025, Sunset+Vine for BBC
- Women’s Rugby World Cup, Whisper for BBC
Best Post-Production House
- dock10
- ENVY
- runVT
- Serious Facilities
- Sky Post Production
- Suite
Emerging Indie of the Year
- Binocular
- Happy Prince
- Love Monday
- Sandpaper Films
- Walk on Air Films
- ZANDLAND
Best Independent Production Company
(Sponsored by Barclays)
- 72 Films
- Candour Productions
- Rogan Productions
- Studio Lambert
- Warp Films
- World Productions
Broadcaster of the Year
(Sponsored by BMC TV & Racetech)
- 5
- BBC
- Channel 4
- ITV1
- Netflix
- U
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