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For the first hour of the National Television Awards, they were as familiar and unsurprising as being given an Easter egg at Easter. And then something happened that must surely be one of the biggest curveballs in awards history. I don’t think that X-Men’s Charles Xavier would have seen that one coming. But more on that later. Let’s see how it all began...
If there was an award for Best Opening to an Awards Show, the NTAs must surely win. While more than a little cheesy, seeing the Doctor taking Dermot O’ (not quite as dreary as he normally is) Dreary to the ceremony was hugely enjoyable, and surprisingly inventive. Then it was business as usual, and the first award of the night was for Comedy, and Benidorm, in a mild surprise, was named the winner. As Miranda wasn’t nominated, though, it didn’t matter who won.
And so they continued. I’m a Celebrity bagged Entertainment Programme, Ricky Norwood won Best Newcomer, Top Gear took Factual Programme, The Inbetweeners triumphed in Digital Choice... Then, the time finally came for the battle between Doctor Who and Sherlock for Best Drama. I don’t think that anyone was more shocked about Waterloo Road’s victory (yes you read that right) in this fight than the cast of the show, who were looking at each other with hilarious expressions of puzzlement.
Having very much turned against the last series of Doctor Who, I would like to think that the reason it didn’t win was because people were dissatisfied. But, deep down, the only reason that this could have happened is because Who and Sherlock attract very similar audiences, therefore splitting the vote and allowing Waterloo to soar past the leaders in a wonderful new version of The Tortoise and the Hare.
While this was undoubtedly the most headline-grabbing shock, there was more to come. Who and Sherlock missed out again in the Drama Performance award, losing to David Jason. However, he was a considerably more worthy winner than Waterloo, being a fantastic actor, and a truly humble, likeable gentleman.
In between these controversies, there were some more expected wins for Ant and Dec (for the 10th consecutive year!), The X Factor and This Morning. But the event organisers were probably clapping with joy when Bruce Forsyth accepted his Special Recognition Award and seemed to announce that he was retiring (which is news that has been expected for the last 70 years). However, he threw it back in their faces quite spectacularly, ensuring that the night’s most impressive acceptance speech concluded with style.
Finally, the end was approaching. The award for Serial Drama (aka. Soap) was here. Despite EastEnders having won two awards already (Lacey Turner’s mantelpiece must surely have collapsed with the amount of awards that now adorn it – there’s certainly no room for a clock), Coronation Street was still the clear favourite.
However, in another shocking outcome, Enders emerged victorious. Before this was announced, clips from each soap were shown, and there was no question about which was stronger. For Street, the spectacular tram crash scenes were used, and for Enders, they used a scene in the pub where they all had a good shout at each other (do they do anything else?). As they awaited the result, the Street cast were smirking, clearly thinking they’d got it in the bag; but, as so often happens, they lost out. David Platt’s disgusted face summarised how I and many others felt: “How did that happen?”
These events resulted in this year’s NTAs being far from the predictable event that was forecast. Instead, it was a hugely enjoyable ceremony that made for compulsive viewing. Bring on next year!
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