National Television Awards, NTAs 2018 – Nominees, predictions & winners
The National Television
Awards 2018: who will win – and who should
The
British public are going to give their verdict on the last 12 months of TV, so
will hardy perennials like Ant & Dec be weeded out? Here are our
predictions
The
British public: give them a vote and you can rely on them to return a solid, sensible result.
That’s the ethos behind The National Television Awards, the only gong show of
its kind decided entirely by viewer opinion. So who’s going to go home with the
top prizes from tonight’s celebratory ceremony at London’s O2 Arena? Our form
guide for the nominated programmes and performers most likely to win is below,
along with – heretical saboteurs that we are – some suggestions for what the TV
electorate should have chosen instead…
CHALLENGE SHOW
Will win: I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!
Should win: Love Island
Defending champ I’m a Celebrity ought to have too much for the
competition here, with series 17 memorable for a compelling and even moving
narrative centring on alleged bullying victim Iain Lee. The glossy, muscly,
steaming dark horse is Love Island: ITV2’s deceptively wholesome sex olympics
fully penetrated the national conversation last summer.
CRIME DRAMA
Will win: Broadchurch
Should win: Line of Duty
Line of Duty feels
like a critically acclaimed, Guardian-y show, of the kind that normally gets
trampled and spat on at the NTAs – but the move to BBC1, the ten million
viewers for the finale and the fact that season four was insanely exciting give
it a shot. It doesn’t have the fanbase to beat a resurgent Broadchurch, though.
Sherlock is nommed but has never won an NTA: it airs in January, so a whole 12
months later, everyone’s either forgotten it or is still trying.
Also nominated: Little Boy Blue
TALENT SHOW
Will win: Strictly Come Dancing
Should win: Strictly
Come Dancing
Increasingly this category is a sparkly shoe-in for Strictly, since
Simon Cowell’s ITV showcases both imploded some time ago: this year’s Britain’s
Got Talent was notable mainly for the state-of-the-nation moment when an
eight-year-old comedian came on and said something misogynist, while The X
Factor finally slid completely into tone-deaf irrelevance.
Also nominated: The Voice UK
DRAMA
Will win: Doctor Foster
Should win: Doctor
Foster
The NTAs love a category shake-up, and a rejig’s left this one wide
open. Of course Drama isn’t a new category, but with no Period Drama this time
round, Call the Midwife is here to face off against last year’s surprise Drama
winner, Casualty. Panting in the shadows with a sharpened hairbrush up its
sleeve is Doctor Foster, a previous winner (of New Drama, which it obviously
couldn’t win again even if that category still existed, which it doesn’t – hope
you’re keeping up with this) that caused even more theorising, gossiping and
live-tweeting in 2017 with its triumphantly doolally second season.
TV PRESENTER
Will win: Ant & Dec
Should win: Ant &
Dec
It simply isn’t the NTAs if Ant & Dec don’t win – the only ceremony
for the past 18 years when they’ve not had to do their humble-surprise routine
was 2009, when they narrowly missed out due to the NTAs not taking place. (ITV
had run out of money.) Unless the voting public take a harsh view of Ant
McPartlin’s heavily tabloid-documented personal woes, which seems unlikely, up
the pair toddle again.
Also nominated: Phillip Schofield, Bradley Walsh, Holly Willoughby
FACTUAL
ENTERTAINMENT
Will win: Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and
Legacy
Should win: Ambulance
An epochal fight between us down there and them up there: regular winner
Gogglebox, which long since lost the element of surprise its citizen critics
used to have, is under fire. Princes William and Harry are currently popular
with the proletariat thanks to their inspirational children and/or
lady-friends, and they melted even republican hearts back in July with a
one-off, warmly emotional memoir of life as Princess Di’s sons. Just imagine,
though, if Ambulance – BBC2’s heartbreaking portrait of NHS heroes – roared up
and won. No chance.
Also nominated: Paul O’Grady: For the Love of Dogs
DRAMA PERFORMANCE
Will win: Suranne Jones (Doctor Foster)
Should win: Suranne
Jones (Doctor Foster)
Jones has form over course and distance: in 2016 she won this category
against David Tennant’s turn in Broadchurch, which earns
him another nom now, and even the mighty Sheridan Smith, who’s also here again.
This time Smith gets a nod for The Moorside, a stronger vehicle than 2016’s
Black Work. On the other hand, her unwatchably oozy song-and-chat showcase
Sheridan ought to have caused instant disqualification, if not deportation.
Suranne it is.
Also nominated: Tom Hardy – Taboo, Jenna Coleman – Victoria
THE BRUCE FORSYTH
ENTERTAINMENT AWARD
Will win: All Round to Mrs Brown’s
Should win: Ant &
Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway
The Entertainment category has cutely been renamed after the late Sir
Brucie, but for rune-readers the interest is in two NTA titans suddenly landing
in the same pool: All Round to Mrs Brown’s, the variety showcase that made the
original Mrs Brown’s Boys look slick and cerebral, qualifies here and might
topple the ordinarily invincible Saturday Night Takeaway. As always, Celebrity
Juice is in the running, but is as likely to win as it is to feature a special
round on Valerie Solanas.
Also nominated: The Graham Norton Show
SERIAL DRAMA
Will win: Emmerdale
Should win: Emmerdale
Last year Emmerdale shocked
some, but not all, observers by finally edging out the big two soaps. There’s
no reason why it can’t defend its title: it’s had another strong, solid year,
and its digitally engaged fans will vote just as keenly. Meanwhile, Coronation
Street and EastEnders have both overreached, with the too-horrible Pat Phelan
storyline and the too-crap New Year heist respectively.
Also nominated: Hollyoaks
COMEDY
Will win: Peter Kay’s Car Share
Should win: Peter Kay’s
Car Share
Often a depressingly weak category at the NTAs, and this year is no
exception. Thank goodness for Peter Kay, whose sublimely romantic sitcom should
make it two wins out of two with its second season. Rival nominees The Big Bang
Theory and (2011 winner) Benidorm have been bridesmaids here for years – it
would be weird if either of them beat Kay this time.
Also nominated: Still Open All Hours
DAYTIME
Will win: The Chase
Should win: This Morning
A weird one, in that if the NTAs had only just started you might assume
This Morning would walk it. Yet The Chase is going for its third win in
succession and, after a year in which none of the nominees made a particular
impact, it might do it again. Last time This Morning had the consolation of the
Live Magazine Show category, which might as well have been renamed Best Show
Called This Morning, but that’s gone now.
Also nominated: Loose Women, The Jeremy Kyle Show
TV JUDGE
Will win: David Walliams
Should win: Paul
Hollywood
The 2017 super-heavyweight champion Mary Berry doesn’t qualify because
she didn’t do the Channel 4 version of Bake Off. Paul Hollywood did, and it
would be nice for the new GBBO to win something after it so graciously coped
with a tricky change of personnel and channel. But were NTA voters backing
Berry because they love Bake Off, or because they love Mary? If it was the
latter, David Walliamsmight sneak
up behind Paul Hollywood and surprise him.
