James Corden & Ruth Jones win RTS Judges' Award
- Royal Television Society Judges' Award 2025: James Corden and Ruth Jones for Gavin & Stacey
- Sophie Willan won in the Comedy Drama, Comedy Performance and Writing categories for Alma's Not Normal
- Other winners included Things You Should Have Done, Junior Taskmaster, My Sexual Abuse: The Sitcom, Oliver Savell and Josh Tedeku
The winners of the RTS Programme Awards 2025 were announced last night (25th March) at a ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel hosted by Tom Allen.
The Royal Television Society awarded their prestigious Judges' Award to James Corden and Ruth Jones, in recognition of their roles as creators and writers of beloved BBC sitcom Gavin & Stacey, which saw its final episode premiere on Christmas Day to "exceptional ratings".
The duo were presented the award by Richard Curtis, who said: "This is the best job in the world. It is real honour to present the Judges Award for an outstanding contribution to British television with a particular focus on the impact made during the year. And to present it - for their extraordinary work on Gavin & Stacey this year - to Ruth Jones & James Corden.
"Gavin & Stacey is one of the great British sitcoms, and it reached its epic climax on Christmas Day last year. The received wisdom is that when sitcoms stray from their normal, gorgeous half hour length, they can get very woolly indeed - often featuring a holiday to Ibiza - but this Christmas Special kept and ratcheted up everything that has been wonderful about the show that the public have loved since 2007 - ever funnier, deeper, more intense.
"Ruth & James - what a thing you have made. Always so many funny lines - big chunky comedy set-pieces - and such an epic range of characters, all funny and true and utterly memorable - and this Christmas you completed everyone's long, satisfying emotional story curve - even Chinese Alan got his moment. It's one of the best acted and cast shows I've ever seen - and two of the most brilliant performances were yours. But you also wrote the whole damn thing - and it feels like the work of really funny friends. James from London, Ruth from Wales - you combined those two cultures so perfectly, so adversarially, so comically. I think you love each other - and make each other laugh - and what has been on screen is a real reflection of the perfect combination of you.
"I like comedies with romance at their hearts - and Gavin & Stacey is not only a great British sitcom - it is the greatest British romantic comedy of all time. And it's an education in acceptance, kindness, loyalty, and the importance of Indian takeaways.
"It's also lasted 17 years - how did you do that, stay friends, stay funny and end up with such a blissful bang?
"The thing I most want to say is this - in the competitive world we live in, a lot of us sometimes forget to celebrate our basic job - which is to make people interested or exhilarated or just plain happy. TV is such an amazing filler of our time. Even the least watched TV programmes probably entertain more people than have ever watched the plays of Harold Pinter. We're a mass media - and most of you all here tonight do a massively good job. In obsessing about viewing figures and competitive platforms and awards - although I love awards, obviously - we forget there are no real winners or losers - there's just creative people giving people things to laugh at, be moved by, be educated by, be comforted by - morning, afternoon and night. So when the Gavin & Stacey finale went out - millions of us looked forward to it, and watched it - and by very simple maths - you and your team gave people in the UK 27 and three-quarter million happy hours. That's a huge thing - that's so much happiness - so many merry Christmas days hyper-charged and so many ghastly Christmas Day fixed right at the end."
The other comedy-related winners were:
Things You Should Have Done - Scripted Comedy
The judges were drawn to what they called "a piece which felt fresh, distinctive and very funny."
Also nominated: Gavin & Stacey, We Are Lady Parts.
Alma's Not Normal - Comedy Drama
The judges noted Sophie Willan's programme "navigates between the drama and comedy effortlessly, doing so with a refreshing and unique voice."
Also nominated: Boarders, Ludwig.
Junior Taskmaster - Comedy Entertainment
The spin-off was described as "slick, fun and produced with great confidence and flair."
Also nominated: Have I Got News For You, Sorry, I Didn't Know.
Sophie Willan - Comedy Performance, Female
Willan was recognised for playing the central role in Alma's Not Normal, "a triumphant performance that succeeds on so many levels...she has true star quality".
Also nominated: Aimee Lou Wood (Daddy Issues), Michelle de Swarte (Spent)
Oliver Savell - Comedy Performance, Male
Savell's role as Alan in Changing Ends was described by the judges as "a perfect performance of real nuance...and he has really great timing!"
Also nominated: Jim Howick (Here We Go), Nabhaan Rizwan (Kaos).
Sophie Willan - Writer, Comedy
Willan picked up her third Alma's Not Normal trophy for writing. The judges described this work as "laugh-out-loud funny and richly written, where comedy was found in the smallest details."
Also nominated: Cunk On Life team, Nida Manzoor (We Are Lady Parts)
My Sexual Abuse: The Sitcom - Arts
Judges described Mark O'Sullivan's Channel 4 special as "a profoundly compelling, challenging and genuinely innovative piece of work".
Josh Tedeku - Breakthrough Award
Tedeku, who plays Jaheim in Boarders, was described as "displaying all the characteristic hallmarks of a huge future star - a talent with a brilliant range that instantly draws the viewer in".
Other winners at the ceremony included The Traitors, Ant & Dec and Jessica Gunning. A full list of winners across all genres can be seen via rts.org.uk
Kenton Allen, Chair of the RTS Programme Awards, says: "Year after year we are astounded by the level of talent within the UK television industry - across the scripted and unscripted categories, this year's programming exemplifies the ongoing success of British content in the UK and beyond. As we come together to celebrate the most memorable moments from across the year on-screen, we congratulate all of the nominees and winners for their incredible achievements in creating the fantastic television we're lucky enough to share in."