Democracy! Everyone loves a bit of that at the moment, don’t they? If people have voted for something, it must be the best. Perfect timing, then, for the National Television Awards – the only TV gongs decided purely by the discerning public – to roll around for its 22nd year. So who’s likely to pick up an award? And for us snowflakes who insist on defying the will of the people, who ought to get one instead?
Comedy
Will win: Mrs Brown’s Boys
Should win: Orange Is the New Black
In August, Mrs Brown’s Boys won an online public vote to decide the best British sitcom of the century so far. If it can’t win an online public vote about the top comedy merely of 2016, something weird has happened. Brendan O’Carroll’s crude panto has won three times before, crushing those fragile nerds from The Big Bang Theory – nominated again here – every time. Orange Is the New Black is another hopeless outsider, although discerning Netflix bingers will tell you it had an outstanding fourth season.
Also nominated: Benidorm
Drama
Will win: Cold Feet
Should win: The Night Manager
One of the night’s biggest prizes is wide open. Game of Thrones didn’t win last year’s International category, so it’s not got the form for this step up in class. Happy Valley and The Night Manager might split the BBC quality-thriller vote, although both deserve garlands galore. ITV’s Cold Feet revival was both affectionately anticipated, and acclaimed as better than expected when it arrived, so it’s worth a sneaky bet.
Also nominated: Casualty
Drama performance
Will win: Jenna Coleman, Victoria
Should win: Sarah Lancashire, Happy Valley
The superb performances throughout Happy Valley season two were all just support acts to Sarah Lancashire, whose steadfast police sergeant Catherine Cawood became an even more compelling mix of courage, snark, vulnerability and cool. But Lancashire was also the outstanding candidate two years ago, and was pipped by Sheridan Smith in Cilla. This time, Jenna Coleman is another high-profile contender with enthused fans on her side – as, for that matter, is Tom Hiddleston.
Also nominated: Cillian Murphy (Peaky Blinders)
Period drama
Will win: Victoria
Should win: Poldark
This new category is hard to call. Up against rivals that either don’t score big enough ratings to win, or didn’t have a standout year, the public may well go for the newest programme and reward Victoria for a solid first season, although Poldarkmania was also strong in 2016. It’s good to see Stranger Things make the list, too: it may only have been set 30-odd years ago, but it was even more reliant on delightful period detail than the other nominees.
Also nominated: Peaky Blinders, Call the Midwife
Serial drama
Will win: EastEnders
Should win: Emmerdale
EastEnders is the defending champion, and Coronation Street probably didn’t do enough in 2016 to knock its crown off. One of those two has taken the soaps prize every year since the NTAs began, so Emmerdale is a long-shot to sneak in between them – but if it’s ever going to, this is the year. In 2016, the tales from the Dales pulled off both a memorable car-crash set piece and moving, serious storylines dealing with dementia and child abuse.
Also nominated: Hollyoaks
Talent show
Will win: Strictly Come Dancing
Should win: Strictly Come Dancing
Strictly romped through a series that fans agreed was one of its finest ever, with the emotional pull of head judge Len Goodman’s departure matched by the increasingly fleet feet of winner Ore Oduba. Even Strictly’s novelty contestant, Ed Balls, was funny and inspiring in contrast to the annoying X Factor equivalent, Honey G. But despite having given its judging panel a greatest-hits revamp with the restoration of Nicole Scherzinger, Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh, the ITV song contest looked lost once the Honey monster was slain.
Also nominated: Britain’s Got Talent
Challenge show
Will win: I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!
Should win: The Great British Bake Off
Exciting category rejig! The offal-snaffling behemoth I’m A Celebrity… usually beats all-comers in Entertainment Programme, but has now been forced into a heavyweight smackdown against the rather more palatable foodie fun of Bake Off. Can MasterChef or The Apprentice possibly compete?
Also nominated: Love Island
Entertainment programme
Will win: Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway
Should win: Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway
Now that the invincible Ant-&-Dec-fronted I’m a Celebrity… competes in the Challenge category, there’s a rare chance for the public to show some love to, er, one of Ant & Dec’s other programmes. Their Takeaway remains a reliable source of cross-generational fun in a way that the impressively starry Graham Norton Show and Channel 4’s exemplary satire The Last Leg simply aren’t, for all their merits.
Also nominated: Celebrity Juice
Daytime
Will win: The Chase
Should win: Come Dine With Me
Three of the four nominees here were shortlisted last year, and The Chase will probably win again – although 2016 was arguably the year in which the world really embraced the moral values and intellectual precision of The Jeremy Kyle Show. The most worthy champion would be Come Dine with Me, purely for that one where the puffy posh bloke told his opponent to “take your money and get off my property”, which was a slice of television worthy of a Bafta, Pulitzer and Nobel prize.
Also nominated: Pointless
TV presenter
Will win: Ant & Dec
Should win: Mel & Sue
Ant & Dec always win, and they carried on last year when their previous domain, Entertainment Presenter, became simply TV Presenter, which means it’s also got Mel & Sue in it. The Bake Off hosts’ flawless helming of the show’s final BBC series demands recognition, but you bet against Ant & Dec at your peril. The wild card is Gary Lineker, who presented Match of the Day in his undershorts, then unleashed a series of devastatingly woke tweets. Will Britain reward his compassion for immigrants and disdain for tabloids? It’s a nice dream.
Also nominated: James Corden, Rylan Clark-Neal
TV judge
Will win: Mary Berry
Should win: Mary Berry
Mary Berry’s regal authority and impeccable niceness always made Bake Off, and will be the biggest loss when it moves over to Channel 4. Jokes about her imagined heavy drinking, and Berry’s own way with a classic GBBO innuendo (in 2016: “I’ll eat a bit of carpet”), turned her into a real TV treasure. There’s hot competition, though, from fellow retiree Len Goodman and returning champion David Walliams.
Also nominated: Simon Cowell, Nicole Scherzinger
Factual entertainment
Will win: Gogglebox
Should win: Gogglebox
Making a Murderer continues one of the themes of this year’s NTAs by being a Netflix nominee that’s done well to get this far, but almost certainly won’t win. Gogglebox is the queen here, and its star Scarlett Moffatt is the new backstage co-presenter.
Also nominated: Tattoo Fixers, DIY SOS: The Big Build, Paul O’Grady: For the Love of Dogs
Live magazine show
Will win: This Morning
Should win: This Morning
Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby are virtually guaranteed to be presenting tomorrow’s show with winners’ hangovers. Their mix of celebrity exclusives and semi-deliberate bloopers still make the BBC’s Breakfast and The One Show look dull. In recognition of its enormous contribution to human banter, Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch is shortlisted for the first time.
Also nominated: Loose Women
