I Fought the Law leads the way at the region's Royal Television Society Awards
ITV drama about Ann Ming’s fight for justice claims three prizes as regional production is celebrated at Tyneside ceremony
The campaign to change Britain’s double jeopardy law took centre stage in Gateshead on Saturday night (Feb 28) as I Fought the Law emerged the big winner at the Royal Television Society North East and the Borders annual TV awards.
The four-part ITV drama, which chronicles Teesside campaigner Ann Ming’s long fight to bring her daughter Julie’s killer to justice, picked up three prizes at the ceremony at the Hilton Newcastle Gateshead.
Sheridan Smith was named Best Performance for her portrayal of Ann, while Ben Wilson won Best Photography and the production itself secured Best Drama.
Sheridan, currently wrapping up a West End run in A Woman in Mind at the Duke of York’s Theatre (ahead of bringing the Alan Ayckborn play to Sunderland Empire on Wednesday), sent a video message to the 400+ guests who had gathered for the event.
“I’m absolutely delighted and honoured to receive this award,” she said from her dressing room. “Thank you to everyone up in the North East for making us so welcome. And thank you to Ann – my absolute hero.”
Ann Ming joined Hera Pictures executives and cast members on stage to collect the award on Sheridan’s behalf. Producer Liza Marshall, whose company Hera Pictures made the drama with support from the North East Production Fund - administered by North East Screen - now awaits the outcome of the Oscars, where her film Hamnet is nominated in eight categories including Best Picture.
Elsewhere, the prestigious Centre Award was presented to drama producer Lesley Douglas, co-founder of Lonesome Pine Productions, recognising her work in bringing series including The Feud and The Fortune to the region… with the promise of lots more to come.
Production Company of the Year went to Film Nova for a slate spanning The Great North Run, Boxing for 5, The Women’s FA Cup for Channel 4 and Torvill and Dean: The Last Dance for ITV.
Children’s television was also celebrated, with The Dumping Ground – now in its 14th season on CBBC – winning Best Children’s. Weekend Escapes, fronted by Robson Green and produced by Signpost Productions for BBC Two, claimed Best Entertainment.
Newcastle-based Wildcat Films secured Best Factual for Arming the Arctic, an hour-long documentary examining rising military tensions in the region.
ITV Tyne Tees and Border celebrated five awards: Best News Programme (ITV Tyne Tees), TV Personality of the Year (Ian Payne), On Screen Journalism (Rachel Bullock), Post Production (Steffi Orme) and the Breakthrough Award for Border trainee cameraman and reporter Tom Scott.
The Sports Programme prize went to South Shields-based Red Stamp Productions for Sand Dancers, following quadriplegic thrill-seeker Jimmy Simpson as he trained in the North Sea for an international surfing competition.
Further honours included the Non-Broadcast award for Morning Sir Productions’ Gan Canny, Broadcast Short Form for Stories of Colour (Sharuna Sagar, BBC North East), Best Commercial for Third Aspect’s When Storms Rage and Shadows Fall, and the Crew Award for first assistant director Graham Jackson for his work on The Feud.
Hosting the ceremony was broadcast journalist and presenter, John Foster, who did an excellent job standing in for his wife, BBC correspondent and Today programme presenter Anna Foster. Anna found out at 8.30am on Saturday morning that she’d actually landing in Egypt to report on the dramatic developments in the Middle East as the awards were getting underway.
Among the guests were Oscar-winning producer David Parfitt, presenters Jeff Brown and Ian Payne, and Lindisfarne’s Ray Laidlaw.
Chair of the RTS North East and Borders Centre Joanna Makepeace-Woods said: “This year’s awards reflect the increasing volume of production from this part of the world and the impact of the North East Production Fund in bringing productions to the region.
“The ceremony celebrated the growing impact of drama, documentaries and other programming being produced here and the skilled workforce and creative talent that exists in our region.”
***Live photos from the evening will be added to this article on Sunday morning.***