Leicestershire stars and stories nominated for National Television Awards

Sir David Attenborough and Richard Armitage lead Leicestershire’s nominations for this year’s National Television Awards (NTAs). The tale of the county’s historical royal seducers is also shortlisted for this year’s glitzy ceremony which is voted for by the public.

Sir David, who grew up in Leicester, has the joint most nominations of all, with four to his name. The broadcasting icon is shortlisted for the ‘Expert’ award for a trio of documentaries, but he faces competition from Leicester City legend Gary Lineker and his work on the BBC’s Match of the Day.

Three of Sir David’s epic documentaries are also shortlisted for NTAs in the ‘Factual Entertainment’ category. Here, Sir David’s work on Planet Earth III, Mammals and Secret World of Sound has earned him a clutch of nominations.

READ MORE: The Leicestershire history behind Sky Atlantic’s royal drama Mary and George

Huncote-born Richard Armitage has also bagged four NTA shortlistings. The actor is nominated twice in the ‘Drama Performance’ category for his roles in Netflix’s epic thriller Fool Me Once, while his current role in ITV’s Red Eye has also seen him shortlisted. Fool Me Once and Red Eye are also both shortlisted in the ‘New Drama’ category.

Leicestershire is well represented in the ‘New Drama’ category, with The Sixth Commandment, which is the true life story of Market Harborough killer Ben Field also getting nominated. ITV’s acclaimed and much-talked about Mr Bates vs The Post Office, which included the story of Ibstock’s Michael and Susan Rudkin is also shortlisted.

Sky Atlantic’s Mary & George, which told the sexy story of Glenfield’s Mary Villiers and her attempts to woo King James VI via her son Brooksy-born son George also makes the ‘New Drama’ shortlist. The historical drama also sees its leading stars, Julianne Moore and Nicholas Galiztine, bag nominations in the ‘Drama Performance’ category for their portrayals of the titular mother and son duo.

Elsewhere, Leicestershire’s soap stars have also been honoured. Loughborough’s David Neilson, who plays Roy Cropper in Coronation Street, is up for ‘Serial Drama Performance’ as is Leicester’s Charlie Clapham who plays Freddie Roscoe in Hollyoaks.

The UK’s ‘Fittest Man’ from Leicester and a Loughborough University-trained Commonwealth champ both became Gladiators for the iconic show’s reboot earlier this year. It appeared to pay off with Zack George (aka Steel) and Harry Aikines-Aryeetey (aka Nitro) helping get the show a nomination in the ‘Bruce Forsyth Entertainment Award’ category.

Coleen Rooney’s Disney+ documentary on the Wagatha Christie saga involving her and Rebekah Vardy is shortlisted in the ‘Authored Documentary’ category, while Leicester DJ and businessman Virdi Singh Mazaria helped secure The Apprentice a nomination in the ‘Reality Competition’ award as did Whetstone’s Chris Taylor for Love Island’s All Stars series.

Voting is now open across all 15 NTA categories, with the nominees set to be whittled down further ahead of the next round of votes. People can have their say on the current Leicestershire-filled line-up until 11pm on Friday, May 31.

More information on the voting can be found on the NTA website. The ceremony, hosted by Joel Dommett, will take place live on ITV1 on Wednesday, September 11.