Cast & Crew Celebrates the Best of British Television at the 2026 RTS Programme Awards

Cast & Crew proudly returned for the third time as headline sponsor of the 2026 RTS Programme Awards, held on 24 March 2026 at London’s JW Marriott Grosvenor House Hotel. The ceremony, hosted once again by comedian and presenter Tom Allen, celebrated excellence in storytelling, performance, and production across the UK television industry.

A Night Celebrating Craft, Courage & Creativity

The 2026 ceremony reflected the industry’s ongoing commitment to championing authentic stories, under‑represented voices, and innovative production.

The awards continue to underline television’s power to influence, inform, and inspire – values that resonate strongly with Cast & Crew’s mission to support world‑class creative production.

Sargent-Disc (a Cast & Crew company) Team: Jamika Sutton, Lara Sargent and Laurence Sargent. Credit: RTS/Tim Whitby

BBC leads the awards

The BBC led the awards collected 16 wins across major categories:

  • Entertainment & Reality for The Celebrity Traitors
  • Leading Actor – Male for Bobby Schofield (Unforgivable)
  • Supporting Actor – Female for Anna Friel (Unforgivable)
  • Drama Series win for the acclaimed Blue Lights
  • Presenter Award for Hamza Yassin (Hamza’s Hidden Wild Isles)
  • Sports Presenter, Commentator or Pundit for Gabby Logan (Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025)

The BBC’s broad recognition reflected both its storytelling strength and its continued investment in nurturing standout on‑screen talent.

Netflix Follows with Five Wins

Netflix secured five wins, fours of which went to its breakout limited series Adolescence:

  • Limited Series & Single Drama
  • Writer – Drama
  • Breakthrough Award for Owen Cooper
  • Supporting Actor – Male for Owen Cooper

Adolescence was celebrated for its fresh perspective, bold narrative, and standout performances, with its cast and creators also being central to this year’s Judges’ Award moment.

Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham. Credit: RTS/Tim Whitby

Honouring a Legend: Sir Michael Palin

Founding member of Monty Python, Sir Michael Palin received the Outstanding Achievement Award – a tribute to an incredible career spanning seven decades.

Palin’s work continues to resonate with audiences with an unparalleled influence on British culture.

Sir Michael Palin. Credit: RTS/Tim Whitby

Championing Excellence Across the Industry

Cast & Crew is proud to stand alongside the RTS in celebrating the talent that makes British television a world‑leading creative force. As the industry evolves, our commitment to supporting excellence across all areas of production remains stronger than ever.

2026 NFTS Graduation: Celebrating the Next Generation of Industry Talent

Friday 6 March 2026 marked this year’s National Film and Television School (NFTS) Graduation ceremony, following an incredible four-day showcase at BFI Southbank celebrating the achievements of the graduates and the exceptional body of work they have produced over the past year.

Honouring Industry Leaders

During the graduation ceremony, held at the Odeon Luxe in Leicester Square, esteemed Casting Directors Jina Jay and Shaheen Baig were awarded NFTS Honorary Fellowships in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the screen industry and their long-standing support of the school. Both have played a transformative role in developing the NFTS Casting Certificate course, which they co‑founded in 2020.

The honours were presented by NFTS Chair Sophie Turner Laing, with additional remarks from NFTS President Lord David Puttnam and NFTS Director Jon Wardle, who collectively applauded the graduates’ achievements and the school’s ongoing commitment to nurturing new talent.

Casting Directors Shaheen Baig and Jina Jay

Sargent-Disc: Supporting emerging industry talent

Sargent-Disc is proud to play a part in supporting the next generation of production talent through our long-standing relationship with the NFTS Production Management Diploma.

Our scholarship support helps remove financial barriers for aspiring Production Managers, enabling students to focus fully on developing the essential skills required for careers in film and television. This year’s graduates continue to demonstrate why such support is so critical: their work reflects resilience, innovation and an exceptional standard of professionalism.

Recognising Outstanding Student Achievement

At the graduation ceremony, students were honoured for their accomplishments across multiple disciplines. Amongst these, Sargent-Disc was delighted to present two awards, recognising excellence in budgeting, cost control and reporting: core skills for any successful production professional.

The Best All-Round Production Management Award went to Shannon de Kempe – a PM who consistently worked above and beyond her remit, across a wide range of productions and genres, including the Science & Natural History film ‘Ghost in your Eyes‘ shot in the USA across a wide geographical area.

Her Fiction film, ‘Rice‘ was complicated and involved significant location challenges, including taking a large crew to North Wales on a residential shoot where she resolved some complex problems whilst staying calm and focussed to keep the production on track.

Shreya Desai was presented with the Best Budgeting award, having shown an exceptional standard in her budgeting and cost reporting work as Production Manager on the beautiful Documentary film ‘Corps à Coeur‘. She worked closely with her director throughout pre-production and was instrumental in setting up a complicated film shoot in France with sensitive contributor access. Her fiction film ‘Small One’ involved taking a full crew to Denmark shooting over a wide area with multiple locations and unit moves. 

From an early stage Shreya’s budget breakdowns showed an informed and detailed approach; she worked closely with her Producers and Directors to fully embrace the budget’s limitations of filming overseas. She was critical to her team’s established strong communication and maintained an accurate cost report, allowing them plenty of flexibility to maximise filming opportunities and make the best possible films on tight budgets.

Both graduates received £500 and Final Draft software as part of the awards – congratulations Shreya and Shannon!

Sargent-Disc Director, Dr. Laurence Sargent commented:

“This year’s Best Budgeting Skills Award and Best All-Round Production Management Award went to two exceptional Production Management students who went above and beyond, demonstrating outstanding work. Sargent-Disc, a Cast & Crew company, is delighted to support them and our Production Management scholars and to recognise their hard work and success.”

Left to right: Bex Hopkins, Head of the NFTS Production Management diploma; Shreya Desai; Dr Laurence Sargent; Shannon de Kempe; Emma Wilford, Sales and Marketing Manager at Sargent-Disc

Looking Ahead

The NFTS Graduate Showcase 2026 stands as a testament to the creativity, dedication and talent emerging from the school each year. Sargent-Disc is proud to champion these graduates through our scholarship support and ongoing partnership with the NFTS, encouraging the next generation of behind‑the‑camera professionals as they begin their careers across the screen industries.

Photo copyright: National Film and Television School

Celebrating Talent – Production Guild Awards 2024!

The 2024 PGGB Awards are a celebration of the depth and breadth of talent working within the UK production industry. Launching the evening in style, sponsors Cast & Crew, Sargent-Disc’s parent company, was delighted to welcome guests to the pre-Awards reception.

 

Award nominees across the six categories were a roll call of the best talent working within our industry.  The winners all stressed the importance of the production team to deliver the very best work, and the quality of the talent they work alongside.

 

Producer, David Heyman (Barbie, Wonka and Paddington) was presented with the ‘Contribution to the Industry Award’ for his incredible body of work which includes all eight Harry Potter features, the three Fantastic Beasts movies, Paddington, Barbie and Wonka.  He thanked the Guild and said, “This has been a really challenging period for the film and television industries in the UK – we’ve had COVID, we’ve had the strikes, and the economy in general has been struggling, to put it mildly. But I feel we’re turning a corner.”

 

“Next year, I think more productions will start up and more will come to the UK because it’s the best place in the world to make films and TV shows.”

 

Cast & Crew with Sargent-Disc hosted a table, and with our guests, we toasted the nominees and winners.  We were delighted that Sargent-Disc founder Marija Sargent was able to join us, whom with the late John Sargent, won the 2018 PGGB ‘Contribution to the Industry’ Award.

Courtesy of The Production Guild of Great Britain

Congratulations to all the nominees and winners!

The 2024 winners were:

Contribution to the Industry – David Heyman

Production Team of the Year, Film – Wonka

Production Team of the Year, HETV – Supacell

Inspiration Award – Georgette Turner

Diversity and Inclusion – Valeria Bullo

Spotlight on New Talent – Marc Ronnie

Courtesy of The Production Guild of Great Britain

Congratulations to the Edinburgh TV Festival 2024!

Patrick Spence – Producer AC Chapter One; Monica Dolan – actress; Sarah McKenzie, Business Development Sargent-Disc

Cast & Crew was delighted to be the headline sponsor of the Edinburgh TV Awards 2024 for the third year running at the Edinburgh TV Festival.

Another inspiring Festival, the 2024 edition shone the spotlight on several key issues including the social make-up of the work force and reduced production budgets. It also celebrated the incredible depth of talent, creative and crew, within the British industry.

The pain felt by company closures was clearly acknowledged. However, many industry insiders such as Patrick Holland (Banijay UK), Charlotte Moore (BBC), Nicola Shindler (Quay Street) and Ian Katz (C4) expressed a long held view that there were just too many indies to be sustainable.

This ‘resizing’ of the workforce is likely to make it harder for working class people to enter the industry and build their careers. Both James Graham during his McTaggart Memorial Lecture and Carol Vorderman in her Alternative McTaggart Lecture highlighted how serious an issue this is for the future of the industry. They spoke about the detrimental impact of only 8% of those working in television coming from a working-class background – in terms of content, representation and workplace role models. Several participants feel that the TV Access Project (TAP) is making a difference. It’s importance was also flagged up by Julie Clark, ITV Studios, Director of Production Drama during her Sargent-Disc International Women’s Day In Conversation. With the support of the broadcasters and streamers it is having a real impact, but more work needs to be done.

The extent of talent and creativity within the UK television industry along with the current financial challenges were clearly evidenced in so many of the festival sessions. For instance, ‘Back From the Brink: Reimagining The Future of Television’, the ‘Spotlight On …….’ series with ITV, BBC, Netflix, C4, Warner Brothers;  ‘Will.I.Am: AI and The Future of Creativity’ supported by his AI assistant, ‘Saving Mr Bates: The Future of Factual Drama’ and many more.

The Festival’s major celebration of this creativity was the 90 minute 2024 Edinburgh TV Awards which showcased the best of the previous year’s British and international productions. Cast & Crew was honoured to support the event. Sargent-Disc, Cast & Crew’s UK company, was proud to Chair the ‘Best Drama’ and ‘Best International Drama’ judging panels and to present the best Drama Award to the very deserving winner ‘Mr Bates v the Post Office’. It was a thrill to realise Sargent-Disc had provided payroll, production accounting and Digital Production Office services to so many of the nominated productions

Congratulations to all the nominees and winners!

Patrick Spence and Monica Dolan accepting Best Drama Award for Mr Bates v the Post Office.

The 2024 winners were:

Outstanding Achievement Award:
Martin Lewis

 

Channel of the Year:
ITV1

 

Production Company of the Year:
Studio Lambert

 

Best Drama:
‘Mr Bates vs The Post Office’ – ITV Studios and Little Gem for ITV1

 

Best International Drama:
‘The Bear’ – FX Productions for Disney+

 

Best TV Actor – Comedy:
Bridget Christie in ‘The Change’

 

Best TV Actor – Drama:
Monica Dolan in ‘Mr Bates vs The Post Office’

 

Climate Impact Award:
‘The Great Climate Fight’ – Keo Films Ltd for Channel 4

 

Best Comedy Series:
‘Big Boys’ – Roughcut TV for Channel 4

 

Small Indie of the Year:
Hardcash Productions

 

Best TV Presenter Entertainment:
Graham Norton – ‘The Graham Norton Show’

 

Best TV Presenter Factual: Nadifa Mohamed – ‘Britain’s Human Zoos’

 

Breakthrough Performance:
Dylan Thomas Smith in ‘G’wed’

 

Best Documentary:
‘Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland’ – Keo Films & Walk on Air Films for BBC Two & BBC Northern Ireland

 

Best On Demand Service:
BBC iPlayer

 

Best Entertainment Series:
‘The Traitors’ – Studio Lambert for BBC One

 

Best Popular Factual Series:
‘Sort Your Life Out’ – Optomen for BBC One

 

Production Group of The Year:
Banijay UK

 

TV Moment of the Year:
‘Hairy Bikers Coming Home for Christmas’

 

What a fantastic year it’s been!

Cast & Crew backs British TV excellence at 2024 RTS Programme Awards

It was a glittering evening for the Sargent-Disc team on 26th March at the 2024 RTS Programme Awards, the first edition of the prestigious event to be presented in partnership with Cast & Crew, its new headline sponsor.

Hosted by comedian Tom Allen, the illustrious ceremony took place at the JW Marriott Grosvenor House Hotel in London. A host of notable screen talent was in attendance including Hannah Waddingham, Bella Ramsey, Jodie Whittaker, Gabby Roslin, Noel Fielding, Chris Packham, Stacey Solomon, Joe Swash, Mark Gatiss, Susanna Reid, Romesh Ranganathan, Kane Robinson and Siobhán McSweeney.

Laurence and Lara Sargent (Co Heads of International and Co Directors Sargent-Disc), John Berkley (CEO, Cast & Crew), Jeff Caruso (SVP and Head of Sales & Marketing FTVS, Cast & Crew) and Andrew Jablonski (VP East Coast and International Sales, Cast & Crew) were joined on the Cast & Crew table by a number of close colleagues and partners from across the UK industry.

Yet again the Awards showcased the world-class talent evident across all genres in British television. The BBC took home the most accolades overall, scoring 21 wins across the 30 categories. Hard-hitting drama The Sixth Commandment (Wild Mercury Productions and True Vision) was the most successful programme of the night, taking home awards for Limited Series, Supporting Actor – Male (Éanna Hardwicke) and Writer – Drama (Sarah Phelps). Judges describe the series as “pitch perfect, with exquisite performances and first-class writing.”

The team behind The Sixth Commandment
Photo credit: RTS/Richard Kendal

In the Drama series category, Happy Valley (Lookout Point/AMC for BBC) took home the award with Judges describing it as “game changing, top-of-the-class drama…sometimes operatic in scale, but attentive to the tiniest detail.” Meanwhile, Partygate(Halcyons Heart Films for Channel 4) took home the award for Single Drama.

Leading Actor awards went to Tamara Lawrance for the BBC’s Time and Kane Robinson for Netflix’s Top Boy. Elsewhere Netflix also picked up the Entertainment award for Squid Game: The Challenge and the Science & the Natural World award for Chimp Empire. Disney+ won its first RTS Programme Award in the Scripted Comedy category for Extraordinary, produced by Sid Gentle Films.

The 2024 Judges’ Award went to ITV’s ground-breaking series Mr Bates vs The Post Office, “for shining a light on the human stories of the real people caught in a living nightmare, and the incredible audience reaction to the series which provoked the government to take action.” Earlier this month, ITV Studios’ Director of Production, Drama, Julie Clark spoke about the success of the show in a special interview with Sargent-Disc to mark International Women’s Day (add link).

The team behind Mr Bates vs The Post Office - winners of the 2024 Judges' Award
Photo credit: RTS/Richard Kendal

The 2024 Outstanding Achievement Award went to renowned producer Stephen Lambert, whose career was recognised for “creating genre-defining formats that have travelled and been reproduced all over the world”. 

Stephen Lambert, winner of the Outstanding Achievement Award
Photo credit: RTS/Richard Kendal

Finally, the RTS also presented the Gold Medal, one of its most prestigious accolades, to broadcaster and producer Dame Esther Rantzen, whose daughter collected the award on her behalf, relaying Dame Rantzen’s words of acceptance that were delivered in her distinctive, inimitable style.

Dame Esther Rantzen, winner of the Gold Medal
Photo credit: RTS/Richard Kendal

Lara Sargent, Co-Head International at Cast & Crew and Sargent-Disc Co-Director says: “What an incredible evening! To see such sensitively made and powerful dramas as Mr Bates Versus the Post Office and The Sixth Commandment recognised by the Judges particularly underlines the power of programme-making, in terms of accountability and creating change in today’s society.

“We are delighted that our parent company Cast & Crew is the new headline sponsor for the RTS Programme Awards. Sargent-Disc is proud to play its part in this increased support for the UK television sector. Congratulations to all the winners and nominees who had a hand in producing the world-class content showcased tonight.”

Kenton Allen, Chair of the RTS Programme Awards, said: “Amidst rigorous deliberations by the juries, the winners stand as testament to their unwavering merit. Here’s to acknowledging the achievements of all involved – a reflection of an industry poised for continued innovation and impact in the UK and around the world.”

View the full list of winners and awards gallery here

Header image photo credit: Photo credit: RTS/Richard Kendal

BBC and Channel 4 Reign Supreme at Edinburgh TV Awards

The Edinburgh TV Awards, sponsored by Cast & Crew, took place yesterday on the final evening of the 2023 Edinburgh TV Festival with the BBC and Channel 4 leading the wins. Hosted by stand-up comedian, actor, writer and musician Jordan Gray, the awards celebrated the incredible range of creativity and excellence of the UK and international TV industry. In a year that saw huge drama launches, big farewells and welcomed genre busting non-scripted formats, it has definitely been a year of TV to remember and the awards last night reflected that.

Dr Laurence Sargent, Co Head International, Cast & Cast and Director Sargent-Disc, presented the Best Drama Award to the BBC for Happy Valley, created, written and directed by the phenomenally talented Sally Wainright.

Dr Laurence Sargent presents the Best Drama Award
Sally Wainwright received the Best Drama Award

BBC COO, Charlotte Moore, was presented with the Channel of the Year award by Jury President, Mobeen Azhar. The BBC had a successful night with additional wins including Best Entertainment Series which went to The Traitors, Breakthrough Presenter to Ellie Simmonds (Ellie Simmonds: A World Without Dwarfism?), and Best Entertainment TV Presenter for Graham Norton (The Graham Norton Show).

Claudia Winkleman was presented with this year’s Outstanding Achievement Award for her contribution to some of the most popular TV shows. These include non-scripted hits The Piano from Channel 4 and the BBC’s The Traitors alongside the hugely popular Strictly Come Dancing from the BBC.

Claudia Winkleman receives the Outstanding Achievement Award

2023 Edinburgh TV Awards Winners:

CATEGORY
WINNER
Best TV Actor – Comedy
Jamie Demetriou
Best TV Actor – Drama
Kate Winslet
Best TV Presenter – Factual
Ramita Navai
Best TV Presenter – Entertainment
Graham Norton
Breakthrough Actor
Lewis Gribben
Breakthrough Presenter
Ellie Simmonds
Best Comedy Series
Derry Girls
Best Documentary
Children of the Taliban
Best Drama
Happy Valley
Best Entertainment Series
The Traitors
Best International Drama
Succession
Best Popular Factual Series
Rosie Jones’ Trip Hazard
Climate Impact Award
Guy Martin’s Great British Power Trip
Production Company of the Year
Dancing Ledge Productions
Production Group of the Year
STV Studios
Small Indie of the Year
Afro-Mic Production
Best On Demand Service
ITVX
Channel of the Year
BBC One
Ones to Watch Random Acts Live Pitch
TBC
Outstanding Achievement Award
Claudia Winkleman
TV Moment of the Year
Dr Who Regenerates

 For the full list of nominees and more information about the awards, visit the Edinburgh TV Festival website.