James R | On 21, Jan 2016

EastEnders and Doctor Foster both enjoyed double wins at the 2016 National Television Awards.

The BBC’s marital drama picked up by Best New Drama, with Suranne Jones also winning Best Drama Performance. The BBC’s success wasn’t over there, though, as the corporation also beat rivals Coronation Street, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks to win the much-contested Best Serial Drama award – and, to top it off, earned Best Serial Drama Performance for Danny Dayer, whose role as Mick Carter in Albert Square has now earned him the accolade for two years in a row.

“I’m so honoured to be part of such a sublime and depressing programme,” he joked, when collecting the award.

The Great British Bake Off also cooked up a storm with a win for Best Challenge Show, while Peter Kay’s Car Share, which premiered on BBC iPlayer last year, won Best Comedy. ITV, though, was far from the loser on the night, winning Best Drama one final time for Downton Abbey, Best Entertainment Programme for I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! and Best TV Presenter for serial award winners Ant & Dec.

While the rise of streaming services has become more and more evident at awards ceremonies in recent years, apart from Car Share, VOD entries were largely absent from the glitzy affair – Amazon was nowhere to be seen, despite its Golden Globe glory, while Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black, which was up for Best International Show (alongside HBO’s Game of Thrones), was beaten by The Big Bang Theory.

Things got even more glamorous when Dustin Hoffman flew in from LA to present the Special Recognition Award to Billy Connolly, but this was a night for celebrating the familiar and old of British TV – and audiences, who vote for the prizes, wouldn’t have it any other way.

Here’s the full list of winners from the 2016 National Television Awards:

CHALLENGE SHOW

The Great British Bake Off

DRAMA

Downton Abbey

ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAMME
I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!

SERIAL DRAMA PERFORMANCE

Danny Dyer

COMEDY

Peter Kay’s Car Share

IMPACT AWARD

Aiden Turner

LIVE MAGAZINE SHOW

This Morning

NEWCOMER

Shayne Ward

NEW DRAMA

Doctor Foster

DAYTIME

The Chase

TV PRESENTER

Ant & Dec

INTERNATIONAL

The Big Bang Theory

DRAMA PERFORMANCE

Suranne Jones

FACTUAL ENTERTAINMENT

Gogglebox

SERIAL DRAMA

EastEnders

TALENT SHOW

Strictly Come Dancing

SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARD

Billy Connolly

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