The Crown’s Claire Foy has won the best actress award for her role in The Crown at the 2018 Broadcasting Press Guild Awards.

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She won the prize in the same week that it was revealed that she earned less than her co-star Matt Smith. Netflix drama The Crown also won the award for Best Online First/Streaming production.

Former Labour leader Ed Miliband was also among the winners at the ceremony at London’s Theatre Royal Drury Lane.

His podcast with Geoff Lloyd, Reasons to be Cheerful, has been named as the BPG Podcast of the Year, a new prize at the awards ceremony that is voted for by journalists who write about TV and radio.

Mark Bonnar was named Best Actor for a string of high-profile roles, including Unforgotten, Eric, Ernie and Me, Catastrophe and Apple Tree Yard. He can currently be seen in the latest series of Shetland on BBC1.

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Line of Duty was named Best Drama Series, while the series' creator Jed Mercurio also won the award for Best Writer. Three Girls, the three-part BBC1 drama based on the true stories of the victims of grooming and sexual abuse in Rochdale, was named Best Single Drama/Mini-series.

Blue Planet II (BBC1) was named Best Documentary Series and Chris Packham: Aspergers and Me (BBC2) won the award for Best Single Documentary.

The Best Entertainment/Factual Entertainment category was won by Channel 4 for its first series of The Great British Bake Off. Detectorists (BBC4) starring Mackenzie Crook and Toby Jones was named Best Comedy.

The annual Harvey Lee Award for an Outstanding Contribution to Broadcasting was given to the children’s television producers Biddy Baxter and Edward Barnes in special recognition of Blue Peter, which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year.

The citation praises the duo “for creating the ‘new’ Blue Peter in the early 1960s alongside the late Rosemary Gill. The involvement of its audience was ground-breaking, giving every child the opportunity to make a valuable contribution to the programme, to become involved in charity fund-raising and win a coveted Blue Peter badge. Blue Peter unleashed the power and potential of children’s television and 60 years on has created some of its most memorable moments.”

Broadcasting Press Guild 2018 Award winners list in full

Best Single Drama/Mini-series

Three Girls, BBC1


Best Drama Series

Line of Duty, BBC1


Best Single Documentary

Chris Packham: Asperger’s and Me, BBC2


Best Documentary Series

Blue Planet II, BBC1


Best Entertainment

The Great British Bake Off, Channel 4


Best Digital First Streaming

The Crown, Netflix


Best Comedy

Detectorists, BBC4


Best Multichannel Programme

The Trip to Spain, Sky Atlantic


Radio Broadcaster of the Year

Emma Barnett, BBC Radio 4


Radio Programme of the Year

BBC Reith Lectures 2017: Hilary Mantel, BBC Radio 4


Podcast of the Year

Reasons to be Cheerful, A Cheerful Thinking production


Best Actor

Mark Bonnar for Eric, Ernie and Me (BBC4), Apple Tree Yard (BBC1, Catastrophe (Channel 4), Unforgotten (ITV)


Best Actress

Claire Foy for The Crown, Netflix


Best Writer

Jed Mercurio for Line of Duty, BBC1


Innovation Award

Channel 4 for new advances in championing diversity, including initiatives such as Spotlight on Directors and diversity throughout its commissioning and in its advertising.


Harvey Lee Award

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Biddy Baxter & Edward Barnes, children’s television producers, in special recognition of Blue Peter.

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