Britain’s leading forum for television and related media, the Royal Television Society (RTS), has announced the nominations for the RTS Programme Awards 2026, in partnership with Cast & Crew. Broadcaster, journalist and presenter Charlene White (Loose Women, ITV News) hosted the announcement earlier today from ITN via the RTS website and YouTube channel.
Tom Allen, acclaimed comedian and presenter, will return for the fifth year to host the prestigious ceremony, which will be held on Tuesday 24th March at the JW Marriott Grosvenor House Hotel in London.
Across the 29 competitive categories, the BBC leads the way with 47 nominations. The broadcaster dominated the Comedy categories, receiving all four nominations in Scripted Comedy for Here We Go, Such Brave Girls, How Are You? It’s Alan (Partridge) and Things You Should Have Done, as well as multiple nods across the Comedy Performance and Comedy Drama categories. The BBC also garnered two out of three nominations in Soap and Continuing Drama for Casualtyand EastEnders.
Netflix’s global phenomenon Adolescence received the most nominations for a single show, receiving six across Leading Actor – Male, Limited Series and Single Drama, Supporting Actor – Female, Supporting – Male, Writer – Drama and Breakthrough Award. Erin Doherty notably received a nod not only for Supporting Actor – Femalefor her role in Adolescence, but also in the Leading Actor – Femalecategory for her performance in Disney+’s A Thousand Blows. Apple TV’s hit series Slow Horses, Channel 4’s Big Boys and ITV’s Code of Silence all received three nominations apiece across the scripted categories.
For the newly expanded Entertainment and Reality category, the shortlist included Race Across the World and The Celebrity Traitors, both from Studio Lambert for the BBC, and E4’s Married at First Sight UK. Romesh Ranganathan notably received two nominations in theEntertainment Performance category, one alongside his co-star Rob Beckett for Rob & Romesh Vs, and one for Romesh: Can’t Knock the Hustle – both on Sky Max.
Every year, the RTS recognises the emergence of significant on-screen talent with the Breakthrough Award. For 2026, the nominees are Ellis Howard for What It Feels Like for a Girl, Kaydrah Walker-Wilkie for Just Act Normal, Maximilian Fairley for Unforgotten,and Owen Cooper for Adolescence.
Kenton Allen, Chair of the RTS Programme Awards and CEO of Big Talk Studios, said: “The RTS Programme Awards celebrate the extraordinary depth of creative talent that defines the UK television industry. Across every genre represented in this year’s nominations we see the craft, originality and ambition that continue to make Britain one of the most admired creative markets in the world. From writers and performers to producers, directors and the many brilliant teams on and off camera, these programmes demonstrate the power of British storytelling to inform, entertain and resonate with audiences at home and around the globe. On behalf of the Royal Television Society, I would like to congratulate all of this year’s nominees and thank them for the imagination, skill and sheer hard work that keeps our industry at the very forefront of global television.”
