Notcied at the National (ITV – ahem) Television Awards last night was how one particular channel seemed to do better than all the others. Indeed I would be hard pushed to think of anyone who worked on a BBC show who won an award. That is fine however, ITV may well have been the better channel over the last year, certainly in terms of soaps, or serial drama as it likes to be known so it does not get picked on by reality TV*.
However when one looks at the “Special Recognition Award” winners in its history, a trend is very clear:
1995: Julie Goodyear
1996: David Jason
1997: Robson Green
1998: John Thaw
1999: Michael Barrymore
2000: Chris Tarrant
2001: Des O’Connor
2002: Ant & Dec (!!!!)
2003: Sir Trevor McDonald
2004: Caroline Quentin
An odd list, notable for containing people who seem to have big ITV hits at the time, or people who have just been wooed on big contracts who need a sweetner (Robson Green and this years winner Caroline Quentin fit that bill). As this award is not nominated by the public, it is at the behest of the ITV boardroom to see who they need buttering up this year.
*Which is a seperate section by itself, won again by Big Brother. Question was put though why Wife Swap was not in the Reality Show catagory and instead was allowed to win the best Factual Show award.