Crime series Vera scoops RTS award
A DELIGHTED Brenda Blethyn was in Gateshead on Saturday night to see Vera named among the winners at the Royal Television Society Awards.
The actress, who stars as the dowdy detective in the ITV1 crime series, was the height of glamour at the annual awards night: a red-carpet affair which was held at the Hilton Newcastle Gateshead.
And she was joined by Vera co-star Kenny Doughty, who plays her sidekick DS Aiden Healy in the North Eastset drama, as well as Whitley Baybased author Ann Cleeves who created her character which has become one of the best-loved on the box.
All three were presenting awards on the night but returned to the stage to pick up the prestigious RTS Judges Award for the hugely successful series which has been made in the region now for 10 years.
The win – which follows Vera’s previous RTS successes including the Best Drama accolade – was clearly a popular choice with the cheering audience of around 400 guests who included other familiar faces such as former soap star Bill Ward; newsreader Simon Mccoy and local presenters Chris Jackson; Pam Royle; Jeff Brown and Ian Payne.
This time around it was CBBC children’s favourite The Dumping Ground which won Best Drama while also among the other big winners on the night were BBC2’S The Mighty Redcar, which won Best Broadcast Factual Production, and ITV’S Signpost which took the Rising Star award.
The Royal Television Society Awards for the North East and Border region are a celebration of the best in the industry and the sparkling evening began with a red-carpet champagne reception and included a four-course meal ahead of the announcement of the awards.
Entertainment came from Sunderland’s The Lake Poets, who performed the poignant Shipyards: the theme for Netflix documentary Sunderland Til I Die, which had been a contender in the Broadcast Factual Production award category, won by The Mighty Redcar.
The ceremony, hosted by South Shields comedian and Hebburn writer Jason Cook , saw awards presented in 29 categories ranging from professional to student. The Dumping Ground, the Tyneside-set series about young people in care which has been going strong now since 2013 and is consistently CBBC’S most popular drama, also brought success for one of its stars.
Kia Pegg won Best Drama Performance for her role as Jody Jackson and was presented with a trophy by North East actor Bill Ward who is best known for playing Charlie Stubbs in Coronation Street and James Barton in Emmerdale.
Accepting the Best Broadcast Factual Production award for Teesside documentary The Mighty Redcar, which was produced for BBC2 by 72 Films, was the programme’s Dylan Cartlidge and Madi Cooper, the voice of the series.
The Best Non-broadcast Factual Production award went to Geordie Jazz Man, Film Agogo’s low-budget story about the late Keith Crombie, well-known owner of the Jazz Cafe in Newcastle.
And ITV’S Signpost, which produces signed programmes for a range of broadcasters from studios in Gateshead, won the Rising Star award.
More Teesside success came in the regional student awards when Best Animation and Best Short Feature successes went to the University of Teesside. Sunderland, Northumbria and Newcastle universities also took away awards.
ITV Tyne Tees won Best News Programme for North East Tonight; its weather presenter Ross Hutchinson won Presenter of the Year and Tom Sheldrick won the Outstanding Journalism category.
Simon Mccoy presented Tyne Tees and BBC Look North with special recognition awards, with both broadcasters marking a 60-year anniversary in production.