Drama Series sees two new series with a supernatural bent take on two returning series with their feet firmly planted in reality.
The nominees are Being Human, about three twenty-somethings who also happen to be a werewolf, a vampire and a ghost; Misfits, about five outsiders on community service who get struck by a flash storm and lumbered with special powers; two-time BAFTA winner The Street which follows the individual stories of the residents of an ordinary Manchester street; and the saga of Harry Pearce’s team of Spooks, which won the 2002 Drama Series award.
The nominees for Drama Serial are Occupation, which follows three soldiers over four years as they each choose to return to Iraq; Unforgiven, the story of a woman newly released from prison after serving 15 years for killing two policemen; Small Island, based on Andrea Levy’s novel about immigration and prejudice during World War II; and Red Riding, the adaptation of David Peace’s quartet of novels set in Yorkshire in the late ’70s and early ’80s.
Last year’s winner Mad Men returns to take on animated comedy series Family Guy, Nurse Jackie and FX’s True Blood in the International category.
There are two nominations each for the BBC and ITV in the Sport category, with the BBC’s F1 - The Brazilian Grand Prix and World Athletics Championship up against ITV’s Chelsea vs Everton FA Cup Final and Liverpool vs Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League Live. It is the first time that coverage of athletics has been nominated in this category.
Challenges abound in the Features category, where Gareth Malone attempts to turn a sprawling housing estate into a centre of choral excellence in The Choir: Unsung Town; James May celebrates classic toys on a grand scale in James May’s Toy Story; young chefs compete for the title of Masterchef: The Professionals; and Heston Blumenthal creates fantastic historical and fictional food in Heston’s Feasts.
Nominees in the Specialist Factual category cover art, science and nature this year, with nominations for The Art of Russia, Chemistry: A Volatile History, Inside Nature’s Giants and Yellowstone.
New hit series One Born Every Minute is up against Blood, Sweat and Takeaways, The Family and Who Do You Think You Are? in the Factual Series category.
Reporting of the Haiti earthquake dominates the News Coverage category, with ITV News at Ten, Channel 4 News and the BBC News Channel all nominated for their coverage with Sky News nominated for Pakistan: Terror’s Frontline.
Channel 4’s long running Dispatches series receives two nominations in the Current Affairs category, for Afghanistan: Behind Enemy Lines and Terror in Mumbai. Gypsy Child Thieves, part of BBC 2’s This World strand is also nominated, as is BBC 2’s Generation Jihad.
Four sensitive and moving films compete in the Single Documentary category: Katie: My Beautiful Face, about a young woman rebuilding her life after a vicious acid attack left her scarred; Wounded, a two-part film following the journey to rehabilitation of two injured soldiers; Tsunami: Caught on Camera uses the amateur footage of those who were actually there to tell the story of the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami; and Louis Theroux: A Place for Paedophiles sees him examine the inflammatory issue of rehabilitation for convicted offenders.
The New Media category rewards excellence and innovation in offering users a multi-platform TV experience. The nominees are Sky Arts’ Antony Gormley’s One and Other, Channel 4’s Life Begins (One Born Every Minute), ITV1’s Primeval Evolved and BBC Two’s Virtual Revolution.
The nominations for the publicly-voted YouTube Audience Award will be announced on Monday 17 May.
Tagged in John Hurt JULIE WALTERS