Royal Television Society announces winners for the RTS Programme Awards 2023

The Royal Television Society (RTS), Britain’s leading forum for television and related media, unveiled the winners this evening for the RTS Programme Awards 2023, in partnership with Audio Network. The winners were crowned at the prestigious awards ceremony hosted by comedian Tom Allen at London’s JW Marriott Grosvenor House.

Guests in attendance included Kate Winslet, Billie Piper, Sarah Lancashire, Charlie Brooker, Sharon Horgan, Huw Edwards, Gaby Roslin, Claudia Winkleman, Stephen Merchant, Susan Wokoma, Gabby Logan, Ade Adepitan, Kit Connor, Alex Scott, Maxine Peake, Diane Morgan and many other incredible names from the world of UK television.

Across the 30 categories, the BBC reigned with 17wins, three of which were for the hit comedy series Am I Being Unreasonable? and Channel 4 followed with six wins, with Derry Girls recognised across two of the categories: Scripted Comedy and Writer - Comedy. Other series that received wins across multiple categories included BBC’s The Traitors for Entertainment and Entertainment Performance, BBC’s Sherwood for Drama Series and Adeel Akhtar for the brand-new Supporting Actor – Male category.

New for 2023, the Supporting Actor – Femaleaward was presented to Ambika Mod for BBC and AMC’s This Is Going to Hurt, and the inaugural Comedy Drama award was given to Sky’s Brassic. In addition, BET UK celebrated its first ever RTS award, taking home the win in the Arts category for The Evolution of Black British Music.

In addition to the 30 competitive categories, Charlotte Moore, Chief Content Officer at the BBC was presented with the prestigious Judges’ Award, for leading the BBC through one of the most momentous years in history with what the judges described as, “an exceptional combination of steadfast level headedness, confidence and creative flair”. For the Outstanding Achievement Award, actor and producer Sarah Lancashire OBE (Happy Valley, Last Tango in Halifax) was celebrated this evening for not only her outstanding talent and intelligence, but her total commitment and dedication to the television industry.

Chair of the Awards, Kenton Allen, said: '2022 was a phenomenal year on and off screen. We introduced new categories for Comedy Drama and Supporting Actors to further reflect the incredible range and diversity in the scripted world and I'm thrilled to say that we saw a sensational response, with all of the nominees and winners reflecting an incredible range of creative excellence. As we come together to honour the genre-defining programming from the past year, I am also delighted to celebrate the outstanding achievements of the sensational Sarah Lancashire and reveal that the Judges’ Award goes to Charlotte Moore for the incredible leadership she has provided the BBC in a remarkable year for innovation, creativity and seismic current affairs. Congratulations to all of the nominees and winners this evening, you are the best of the best and we salute you'.

LC