It’s that time of year again. Although the British people quite clearly gave their verdict on which are the best TV programmes at the 2018 National Television Awards, tonight that result will, disgracefully, be overturned. Welcome to the 2019 National Television Awards!
On the other hand, the British public – remember, this is the only TV gong show decided entirely by ordinary viewers’ votes – will assuredly fail to pick the correct winner in several categories. So we’ve put them straight, in advance. What will win, and why is that wrong? Mark your card now. The fun, or at least the National Television Awards, starts at 7.30pm on ITV.
Drama
Will win: Doctor Who
Should win: Call the Midwife
Doctor Who was a regular winner in the David Tennant and Matt Smith eras, and last year it not only overcame worries that Britain might reject the new season on account of Jodie Whittaker being a lady – it found new fans. No complaints if it wins, but perennial NTA bridesmaid Call the Midwife (excellent again just this week, which technically doesn’t count for these awards but surely can’t hurt) deserves a long service nod.
Also nominated: Casualty, Our Girl, Peaky Blinders
Comedy
Will win: Peter Kay’s Car Share
Should win: Peter Kay’s Car Share
For years the rule here has been that Mrs Brown’s Boys wins … unless Car Share is eligible. Can Peter Kay and Sian Gibson maintain their perfect record purely on the strength of two standalone farewell episodes? Probably: the joyous finale corrected the mistake of finishing the series proper on a downer. Meanwhile, did you know? Benidorm and The Big Bang Theory were still being broadcast in 2018. They’re shortlisted!
Also nominated: Jack Whitehall: Travels with My Father
TV presenter
Will win: Ant and Dec
Should win: Holly Willoughby
The big talking point. Ant and Dec have won their category at the NTAs every year since 1926, but Ant very publicly stopped presenting television in March, so this would be purely a case of residual goodwill. The fans will doubtless want to send Ant a message of support, which will be a bit harsh on the honorary third Ant/Dec, Holly Willoughby, who stood in for Ant on I’m a Celebrity and might just have been an improvement.
Also nominated: Bradley Walsh, Graham Norton, Phillip Schofield
New drama
Will win: Bodyguard
Should win: Bodyguard
Back comes new drama as a category after two years off, giving Jed Mercurio’s ratings-buster a clear run without Call the Midwife or Casualty sniping at it from a nearby rooftop. As Guardian critics’ number one show of the year, Killing Eve feels like a “should win”, but … should it? It’s years since anything hypnotised the nation like Bodyguard did, and quality mainstream fare is what tonight is all about.
Also nominated: A Discovery of Witches, Girlfriends, The Cry
Drama performance
Will win: Richard Madden, Bodyguard
Should win: Jodie Comer, Killing Eve
Richard Madden was a solid, reliable plank taking Bodyguard’s weight, but that show was about plot not acting. Meanwhile, Jodie Comer burned through Killing Eve like sulphuric acid through meringue and deserves every award available. Strong category, though, with Jodie Whittaker having masterfully overcome the pressure of expectation in her first season of Doctor Who: good in the weak episodes, terrific in the strong ones.
Also nominated: Cillian Murphy, Peaky Blinders; Michelle Keegan, Our Girl
TV judge
Will win: Louis Tomlinson
Should win: Robert Rinder
The nomination for the actually legally qualified Judge Rinder shakes up a category that otherwise feels pointless: who did you think was the best at saying who was the best, on shows where you then voted for the winner yourself anyway? Louis Tomlinson brought the odd gush of humble emotion to his debut X Factor stint, which will be enough the see off the other, leathery contenders.
Also nominated: David Walliams, Robbie Williams, Simon Cowell
Bruce Forsyth entertainment award
Will win: I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here!
Should win: Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway
ITV’s two big guns go up against each other for the first time since 2016: recently IACGMOOH! has hoovered up the challenge show rosette, but that’s not up for grabs this year. Dec’s brave work finishing off the latest series of Saturday Night Takeaway without Ant probably won’t override the lure of the jungle. The dark horse is Love Island, even if fans only vote for it to see if Dani and Jack accept the award together.
Also nominated: All Round to Mrs Brown’s, The Graham Norton Show
Talent show
Will win: Strictly Come Dancing
Should win: Strictly Come Dancing
Strictly is generally unstoppable, and this year it dealt effortlessly with the rare setback of a proper tabloid scandal by simply keeping love rat Seann Walsh in the competition and daring people to stop watching. They didn’t, the final was a dazzler, and if you can remember anything that happened in any of the other shortlisted shows this year, award yourself another glass of wine as a prize.
Also nominated: Britain’s Got Talent, Dancing on Ice, The Voice UK, The X Factor
Serial drama
Will win: Coronation Street
Should win: Coronation Street
Until 2017 the soaps prize was only about Corrie and Easties, with the pair listlessly trading punches like a lovechild’s two possible fathers. Then Emmerdale upped its game and won – twice. It dipped in the past 12 months, though, while Corrie nailed several difficult subjects, rape and suicide among them. EastEnders’ knife-crime story scored acclaim, but probably not enough.
Also nominated: Hollyoaks
Quiz show
Will win: The Chase
Should win: The Chase
New category! In years gone by the contenders here have competed for the daytime gong, which has meant being massacred by This Morning. The tweak lets in late-night bad boys 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown and A League of Their Own, but this is surely The Chase v Pointless. The Chase deserves it, if only for the recent edition that asked: “Uranus is thought to smell like what?”
Also nominated: Catchphrase
Factual entertainment
Will win: The Great British Bake Off
Should win: Paul O’Grady: For the Love of Dogs
Another refugee from the absent challenge show category, Bake Off has NTAs form and will see off Gogglebox, which normally wins this but has been fading for years. But these are harsh times, during which both dogs and avuncular Liverpudlian comedians are precious relief. Give them an award, they’re good boys. Alternatively, Britain could do worse than reward DIY SOS: the Big Build for its Grenfell special.
Also nominated: Ambulance
Daytime
Will win: This Morning
Should win: This Morning
No reason why This Morning shouldn’t chalk up nine wins on the spin: it kicked off 2018 by making Theresa May squirm, broke new ground when Rylan and Dan Clark-Neal became the show’s first husband-and-husband guest presenters, then celebrated its 30th birthday. Loose Women’s highlight was a genuinely horrible shouting match between Kim Woodburn and a Nolan sister. No contest.
Also nominated: Good Morning Britain, Sunday Brunch, The Jeremy Kyle Show
