So the British Comedy Awards 2011 have been and gone; it was a pleasure to see some different names thrown about this time around, and better still to see Sarah Millican recognised for her hard work and easy Geordie charm.
We covered some of the nominated categories last week, in which we made a few predictions. I’m delighted to say we made some good calls:
- Best comedy panel show: Shooting Stars, BBC
(We called it!)
- Best sitcom: Twenty Twelve, BBC
(We said: Peep Show)
- Best TV comedy actor: Darren Boyd, Spy, Sky
(We called it!)
- Best TV comedy actress: Miranda Hart, Miranda, BBC
(We said Dawn French. We were right, regardless)
- King or Queen of Comedy: Sarah Millican
(Wye aye man, we called it reeght!)
So what about the rest of the winners and losers? It’s an odd bunch with HIGNFY being rightly rewarded but in the oddly named The British Comedy Academy lifetime achievement award, as if the show itself is the performer. One can’t help but feel that they should have put a bit more work into that.
- Best new comedy programme: Fresh Meat, Channel 4
- Best comedy entertainment programme: Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle, BBC
- Best sketch show: Horrible Histories, CBBC
- Best comedy drama: Psychoville, BBC
- Best comedy entertainment personality: Graham Norton, The Graham Norton Show, BBC
- Best comedy breakthrough artist: Dan Skinner, Shooting Stars, BBC
- Best male television comic: Stewart Lee, Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle, BBC
- Best female television comic: Victoria Wood, Victoria Wood’s Angina Monologues, Sky
- The Writers’ Guild of Great Britain award: Armando Iannucci
- The British Comedy Academy outstanding achievement award: The Inbetweeners
- The British Comedy Academy lifetime achievement award: Have I Got News For You
- The Channel 4 award for special contribution to comedy: Lee Evans
All in all, a jolly night’s entertainment, exactly what you might expect from the event.
However, we’re concerned that this is the second year on the trot not to feature the Ronnie Barker award for writing. Disappointing.