Groundhog Day at tedious NTAs

IN A surprise twist Ant & Dec won the Best Presenter gong at the NTA for the 197th year running.

That must have disappointed loveable Alison Hammond (or, as Gavin Williamson knows her, Queen Latifah). But that’s showbiz.

Elsewhere Martin Compston and Adrian Dunbar dropped some welcome hints that Line

Of Duty could return.

And Ricky Gervais rightly scooped the comedy gong for his poignant and heart-warming After Life. Ricky, inset, caught the mood when he said: “I’ll keep it short… it’s already interminable.”

Too right.

At a sloppy 160-minutes, this annual Groundhog Day ceremony felt more padded than RuPaul’s bra.

Gervais praised Netflix, calling it “the best broadcaster”. It certainly delivered many of 2020’s most talked-about shows, including Tiger King, Bridgerton, and Cobra Kai. Although ITV had the Meghan/Harry/ Oprah debacle, which the O2 crowd booed.. Unless that was Piers Morgan with a megaphone… Comedy still gets a look-in – just. There’s not much of it on mainstream TV outside of panel shows these days. And if lightweight host Joel Dommett is ITV’s idea of a popular comedian, no wonder.

The bloke is as substantial as an empty suit.

Sex Education (where modern British kids oddly dress like 80s US high school pupils) was an unexpected comedy contender. No sign of Curb Your Enthusiasm or Kate & Koji.

Notable winners included Kate Garraway’s Finding Derek, but there were no gongs for Unforgotten and no mention of Mrs America or The Undoing.

It’s A Sin won Best New Drama. This evocative 80s-set Aids saga rated well for C4, but was it really better than ITV’s brilliantly gripping Des? At least David Tennant won Best Performance.

THOSE missing gongs in full. Best Doc: Once Upon A Time In Iraq. Best Revival: All Creatures Great & Small. Best Sex Technique: The Singapore

Grip.