Lenny Rush cleans up at Royal Television Society awards

Am I Being Unreasonable? led the winners at the Royal Television Society awards last night, with Lenny Rush alone winning two gongs.

The 14-year-old won the best male comedy performance gong as well as the breakout award.

Judges said was an ‘exhilarating’ and a ‘standout talent with comedic timing and style that’s spot on in this piece’, adding: ‘We can’t wait to see what’s next for this exciting new star.’

Co-star – and co-writer –  Daisy May Cooper won the female comedy performance category, with judges saying: ‘No doubt about it, she’s got funny bones.’

Derry Girls  was named best scripted comedy, with its citation reading: ‘What an incredible show, so brilliantly done. It was thrilling to see it produced so perfectly.’ Creator Lisa McGee won the comedy writing award for her scripts  that were ‘absolutely extraordinary – laugh-out-loud funny, but awe-inspiring too’.

Channel 4’s one-off revival of Friday Night Live, hosted by Ben Elton and featuring a memorable performance by Jordan Gray, won the best comedy entertainment category. Judges called it ‘bold, courageous, perfectly balanced and above all very funny’.

Sky’s Brassic – hailed as ‘both funny and moving, with great performances from a supremely authentic cast’ - won the comedy-drama category.

Dodger, the new comic take on the Dickens street gang written by Rhys Thomas and Lucy Montgomery, won the children’s prize. Judges said it was ‘enjoyable and spectacularly well produced – in fact, a great all-round production’. 

The Traitors won best entertainment programme after producers ‘captured lightning in a bottle’, edging out fellow nominees Joe Lycett's Big Pride Party and The Lateish Show with Mo Gilligan. Host Claudia Winkleman won the  entertainment performance award.

Ambika Mod won best supporting female actor for her role as Shruti ‘a woman operating under extraordinary strain laced with humour and charm’ in Adam Kay’s This Is Going to Hurt – going some way to compensate for the fact she was overlooked by judges at the Bafta awards, where she failed to secure a nomination.

Published: 29 Mar 2023