Mr Bates Vs The Post Office picks up two gongs at Edinburgh TV Festival awards
The ITV show, which dramatised the wrongful prosecution of subpostmasters, took home best drama, with Monica Dolan named best actress.
Mr Bates Vs The Post Office has triumphed at the Edinburgh TV Awards with two gongs for the series which sparked a national conversation about the Horizon IT scandal.
The ITV show, which dramatised the wrongful prosecution of Post Office workers, took home best drama, and Monica Dolan was named best actress for her role as wrongly accused former sub-postmaster Jo Hamilton.
The team behind the series dedicated it to Sir Alan Bates and all those caught up in one of the biggest miscarriage of justice scandals.
Accepting her gong, Dolan thanked the public, saying she would not be there “without their outrage” on the issue.
Hosted by actor, writer and comedian Kiell Smith-Bynoe at the Edinburgh TV Festival, The Traitors picked up the best entertainment series award for the second year running, while Irish comedian Graham Norton was named best presenter for entertainment again.
The BBC festive programme Hairy Bikers – Coming Home For Christmas won the TV moment of the year award, which is the only prize to be voted for by the public.
One half of the biking cooking team, Dave Myers died at the age of 66 earlier this year, following a battle with cancer.
Channel 4 collected the award for best comedy series for comedy show Big Boys, Bridget Christie was named best actor, comedy for her performance in menopause show The Change and Booker Prize shortlisted author Nadifa Mohamed was named best presenter, factual for the historical documentary Britain’s Human Zoos.
Big Boys creator Jack Rooke said “long live public service broadcasting and Channel 4”, as he accepted the prize.
The Edinburgh TV Festival’s head of awards Bianca Newby said: “It’s such an honour to celebrate the outstanding creativity and exceptional quality of work this year.
“Despite the challenges faced by our industry, the resilience and innovation showcased in every entry are truly inspiring.
“This year’s nominees and winners exemplify the power of storytelling and the unwavering commitment to pushing boundaries, even in the toughest of times.
“A special thanks to our juries, jury president Big Zuu and Kiell Smith-Bynoe who delivered such a brilliant ceremony.”
Rapper Big Zuu, who was the jury president for this year, presented the channel of the year gong to ITV managing director Kevin Lygo and the channel’s head of factual entertainment Sue Murphy.
Best international drama went to hit Disney+ restaurant-set series The Bear, and the best documentary was given to Once Upon A Time In Northern Ireland, which marked a quarter of a century since the Good Friday agreement.
Studio Lambert, which makes BBC shows The Traitors and Race Across The World as well as Netflix series Squid Game: The Challenge, was named Production Company of the Year.
The small indie of the year award went to Hardcash, which worked on Russell Brand: In Plain Sight, while Big Brother producer Banijay UK was named production group of the year.
The outstanding achievement award was previously announced and went to money saving guru and consumer rights champion, Martin Lewis.
