The lucky winners were announced at the London Hilton on Park Lane on Monday 14 November.
A roundup of your winners and pictures from the evening will be featured in TVChoice magazine, on sale Tuesday 22 November.
BEST DRAMA SERIES: BRIDGERTON
There must have been some who doubted whether Netflix’s period romp – based on Julia’s Quinn’s books – could repeat the success of series 1, without original leading man Rege-Jean Page. But series 2 of Shondaland’s smash overtook its predecessor and in its first 28 days of release 656.16 million hours were spent by fans catching up with the Bridgerton clan, in a series that focused on Jonathan Bailey’s Anthony. And the good news is that series 3 has been confirmed.
BEST FAMILY DRAMA: CALL THE MIDWIFE
Heidi Thomas’ nostalgic Sunday night treat has undoubtedly made this award its own since the Neal Street production debuted in 2012. That year it won our Best New Drama prize (with Miranda Hart scooping Best Actress that year and in 2013.) Since then it’s been named the nation’s Best Family Drama a whopping seven times, with this year taking that tally to eight. It’s been confirmed that the show will stay on air until 2024.
BEST NEW DRAMA: HEARTSTOPPER
Kit Connor and Joe Locke are the stars of Netflix’s romantic comedy series, based on the webcomic and graphic novel by Alice Oseman. The tale of two schoolboys – Nick and Charlie - finding love with each other, it was an immediate hit and has been renewed for a second and third series. In the main the show’s cast are newcomers, but Stephen Fry lends his voice to the school’s headmaster, while TV Choice award winner Olivia Colman plays Nick’s mum.
BEST ENTERTAINMENT SHOW: GOGGLEBOX/CELEBRITY GOOGLEBOX
Studio Lambert’s ever-popular Friday night staple wins its fourth TV Choice Award. The 19th series of Gogglebox welcomed newcomers in the form of young Glasgow couple Roisin and Joe, while Brighton hairdresser Stephen Webb and Derby’s Siddiqui clan are the longest serving sofa critics, having been with the show since series 1 in 2013. International versions have launched in America, Australia, Canada, Ireland, Poland, Finland and Russia.
BEST REALITY SHOW: I’M A CELEBRITY… GET ME OUT OF HERE!
There really is no stopping I’m A Celebrity, when it comes to this category. And the show hosted by Ant and Dec triumphs again for the second series which saw camp dwellers at Wales’ Gwyrch Castle, after Covid vetoed the usual location of Australia’s New South Wales. Highlights of the 2021 run included Naughty Boy’s friendship with a robin, Simon Gregson and Adam Woodyatt’s double act and winner Danny Miller’s man crush on David Ginola.
BEST COMEDY PERFORMANCE: RICKY GERVAIS, AFTER LIFE
There’s been a TV Choice win for every series of Ricky Gervais’ After Life, in which he plays journalist and grieving widower, Tony Johnson. And he scoops the Comedy Performance gong this year having stated that the third series which launched in January would be the last. The series has led to Netflix collaborating with mental health charity CALM, to install a number of benches around the country, inspired by the bench where Tony shares chats with Penelope Wilton’s Anne.
BEST TALENT SHOW: STRICTLY COME DANCING
While series 20 airs, the Strictly team celebrate a win for 2021’s 19th series of the Saturday night smash which shows no sign of running out of steam. That run saw the show’s first deaf contestant – Rose Ayling-Eliis – triumph after she paired up with popular pro Giovanni Pernice, to give him his first victory. It was the first full series for which Anton du Beke became a judge, replacing Bruno Tonioli. The series also featured the first male pairing, as John Whaite teamed up with Johannes Radebe and won viewers’ hearts, finishing as Runners Up.
BEST LIFESTYLE SHOW: LONG LOST FAMILY/LONG LOST FAMILY: BORN WITHOUT TRACE
Viewers need tissues at the ready when tuning in for Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell’s heart-tugging hit shows which debuted in 2011 and is based on a Dutch hit. There have been 12 series of Wall To Wall’s original show, which aimed to reunite close relatives after years of separation. We’ve also seen equally successful spin-offs revisiting stories, focussing on babies abandoned soon after being born and one on babies switched at birth.
BEST DAYTIME SHOW: THE CHASE
There’ll be celebrations at production company Potato, as Bradley Walsh and his team of brainboxes wrestle this award away from regular winners This Morning to land their first TV Choice win. Since the show debuted in 2009 – with only Mark ‘The Beast’ Labbett and Shaun ‘The Dark Destoyer’ Wallace featuring in the first series, we’ve also enjoyed spin-off Beat The Chasers, which sees the quiz champs compete as a team, and this year welcomed Issa ‘The Supernerd’ Schultz from Australia’s Chase show.
BEST ACTOR: CILLIAN MURPHY
Peaky Blinders fans were bereft as the series bowed out earlier this year, although there is a prequel film to look forward to. Cillian played the role of Tommy Shelby from 2013 – after Jason Statham was originally the front-runner for the central role of the Birmingham gang leader. This is the fourth TV Choice award for the show, after it won Best Drama and Cillian was named Best Actor in 2018 and the show won again in 2020.
BEST ACTRESS: JENNY AGUTTER
She’s been a much-loved British star since making her name as The Railway Children’s Roberta in 1970 – a role she has returned to this year for The Railway Children Return. Jenny, whose other prominent credits include Spooks, has an Emmy and a BAFTA to her name. But this is her first TV Choice Best Actress award, for the role of Nonnatus House’ beloved Sister Julienne, a stalwart of the Sunday night smash hit since it first our screens in 2012.
BEST FACTUAL SHOW: THIS WEEK ON THE FARM/SPRINGTIME ON THE FARM/SUMMER ON THE FARM/WINTER ON THE FARM
It’s a first TV Choice award for the show – and its spin-offs - presented by Helen Skelton and Jules Hudson from Cannon Hall Farm, near Barnsley in South Yorkshire. The Nicholson family farm first featured on Springtime on the Farm in 2018, and returned in 2020 with This Week on the Farm, featuring brothers Dave and Rob Nicholson, who are the TV faces of the business but work alongside dad Roger and brother Richard.
BEST FOOD SHOW: JAMES MARTIN’S SATURDAY MORNING
After a decade fronting Saturday Kitchen on BBC1, host James Martin switched to ITV to front his own show in a similar timeslot. Michelin-starred chefs who’ve joined him on the show have included the likes of Tom Kerridge, Sat Bains and Clare Smyth, while he’s also welcomed old Ready, Steady, Cook pals like Nick Nairn, Paul Rankin, Tony Tobin and Brian Turner into his kitchen. May 2022 saw the 200th episode of the run air.
BEST SOAP ACTOR: MARK CHARNOCK
Mark - whose previous credits include playing Brother Oswin in Derek Jacobi’s Cadfael - made his Emmerdale debut back in 1996, as the gangly latest member of Emmerdale’s most wayward clan. Since then Marlon’s made his name as the village chef and tied the knot with five different women, including new wife Rhona, after a protracted on-off romance. But it’s his storyline this year, which saw Marlon suffer a stroke, that has really touched viewers’ hearts and won Mark his first TV Choice Award.
BEST SOAP ACTRESS: GILLIAN WRIGHT
It’s 18 years since Gillian joined the EastEnders, as Stacey and Sean’s troubled mum, who suffers from bi-polar. Actress Gillian, whose other credits include The Bill, Spooks and Silent Witness, is known for the research she’s done to do Jean and her storylines justice. While the character came and went for several years, since her return in 2018 fans have seen Jean battle ovarian cancer and mental health issues as well as face heartache in her relationship with newcomer Harvey.
BEST SOAP: EMMERDALE
A month after the Yorkshire soap celebrated its 50th anniversary it bags another TV Choice Best Soap award. It’s certainly been a cracking year for the programme, thanks to storylines including the end of serial killer Meena’s reign of terror and Marlon’s stroke. The show first scooped this award at our 20th ceremony in 2017, and this year’s victory in their landmark year follows triumphs in both 2018 and 2019.