Paul O’Grady and Dame Deborah James programmes longlisted at 2023 NTAs
The National Television Awards longlists were revealed on Tuesday and saw a mix of nominations for rising stars and household names.
Dame Deborah James and Paul O’Grady have been posthumously recognised by the National Television Awards, after both making the 2023 longlists.
Dame Deborah, who set up the Bowelbabe cancer research fund, who died last year at the age of 40 after suffering from bowel cancer, was named in the category of authored documentary.
Bowelbabe In Her Own Words was listed alongside other hard-hitting documentaries including The Real Mo Farah, which shed fresh light on the Olympic athlete’s early years, and Lewis Capaldi: How I’m Feeling Now.
The NTA longlists were revealed on Tuesday and saw a mix of nominations for rising stars and household names.
O’Grady’s For the Love of Dogs was listed in the factual entertainment category following the death of the TV presenter and comedian earlier this year.
The programme was joined in the category by Jay Blades’ The Repair Shop and The Martin Lewis Money Show Live.
Also included in the category were sporting programmes Save Our Squad with David Beckham and Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney’s Welcome To Wrexham series.
The Hollywood stars have won wide acclaim for their investment and support of the club, as well as their efforts to promote Welsh language and culture.
In the TV presenter category, This Morning’s Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary are longlisted alongside Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby.
It comes after Schofield announced he would be stepping down from the ITV show with “immediate effect” after more than 20 years on the programme.
Willoughby, who has hosted alongside Schofield since 2009, will remain on the show but is taking early half-term leave with Hammond and O’Leary filling in on Monday.
All four are joined in the category by NTA powerhouses Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, who took home the award for the 21st year in a row in 2022.
Also longlisted is Ted Lasso star Hannah Waddingham, who has been widely acclaimed for her hosting duties at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest.
Eurovision is also longlisted for the Bruce Forsyth Entertainment Award, as are two shows presented by McPartlin and Donnelly – I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! and Saturday Night Takeaway.
It comes as the duo announced they would be taking a break from the latter show following its 20th series in 2024.
Also longlisted in the category is the The Coronation Concert and US reality show The Kardashians.
In the NTA new drama category Sharon Horgan’s Bad Sisters takes on popular HBO zombie-thriller The Last Of Us and Game Of Thrones prequel House Of The Dragon.
Horgan is also longlisted in the drama performance category for her role of Eva Garvey in the show, alongside Happy Valley stars Sarah Lancashire and James Norton.
Jeremy Paxman’s farewell series of University Challenge competes in the quiz game show category, alongside more recent hits such as The 1% Club, Bridge Of Lies and In With A Shout.
Paxman has stepped down from the role of question master after 28 years and is due to be replaced by Amol Rajan.
The 2023 NTA talent show category sees the return of popular contenders Britain’s Got Talent, RuPaul’s Drag Race UK and Strictly Come Dancing.
The 28th annual ceremony will also feature two new categories of reality competition and TV interview.
Voting for the NTAs is open now, and will close at 11pm on Friday June 2 2023.
The NTA shortlists will be revealed in August when the final round of voting begins.
Winners will be announced at the star-studded ceremony on ITV on September 5 2023, with host Joel Dommett returning to lead the celebrations at London’s OVO Arena, Wembley.
