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Last night saw the best of UK television celebrated at the 2015 National Television Awards.
Voted for by the British public, there was a wide variety of winners with London-based soap EastEnders landing three awards, including the coveted Best Drama Serial gong.
Danny Dyer won Best Serial Drama Performance for his role as Mick Carter with co-star Maddy Hill named Best Newcomer for playing Mick’s daughter Nancy.
Upon collecting the Drama Serial accolade, star Adam Woodyat (Ian Beale) paid an emotional tribute to Coronation Street actress Anne Kirkbride, who died from cancer on Monday.
“I’d also like to say a big thank you to Coronation Street, because without you there’d be no EastEnders,” he said. “There’d be no Phil and Ian. There’d be no Mick and Linda, no Kat and Alfie – without your enduring characters like Ken and Deirdre. So if you don’t mind, we’d like to accept this for the Weatherfield One.”
The speech received a standing ovation from the Coronation Street cast and was praised on Twitter afterwards.
60-year-old Kirkbride, who played Deirdre Barlow for over forty years, was given her own special segment earlier in the ceremony with her long-term co-star William Roache (Ken Barlow) also paying tribute to her.
“The nation took Deirdre into their hearts,” he said. “I feel blessed and honoured and privileged to have had those years working with Anne. We’ve been deeply touched by the outpouring of love for her. We share your grief for losing such a beautiful person. I love you Anne.”
Elsewhere on the night, Downton Abbey overcame stiff competition from Cilla, Doctor Who and Sherlock to win Best Drama while Mrs Brown’s Boys beat off Benidorm and The Big Bang Theory to clinch Best Comedy.
Sheridan Smith won the Best Drama performance for her portrayal of real-life Liverpudlian singer Cilla Black but was stuck in traffic when her triumph was announced.
Other television programmes to celebrate success on the night were This Morning (Daytime), I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! (Entertainment Programme), Gogglebox (Factual), Celebrity Juice (Multichannel), The Great British Bakeoff (Skills Challenge Show) and The X Factor (Talent Show).
Individual winners included Alan Carr (Chat Show Host), Ant & Dec (Entertainment Presenter) and David Walliams (TV Judge).
Finally, David Tennant received the Special Recognition Award for his television work over the past twenty years which included his acclaimed roles in Doctor Who and current ITV series Broadchurch.
The full list of winners are below:
CHAT SHOW HOST
Alan Carr
COMEDY
Mrs Brown’s Boys
DAYTIME
This Morning
DRAMA
Downton Abbey
DRAMA PERFORMANCE
Sheridan Smith – Cilla
ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAMME
I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!
ENTERTAINMENT PRESENTER
Ant & Dec
FACTUAL
Gogglebox
MULTICHANNEL
Celebrity Juice
NEWCOMER
Maddy Hill – EastEnders
SERIAL DRAMA
EastEnders
SERIAL DRAMA PERFORMANCE
Danny Dyer – EastEnders
SKILLS CHALLENGE SHOW
The Great British Bake Off
TALENT SHOW
The X Factor
TV JUDGE
David Walliams – Britain’s Got Talent
SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARD
David Tennant