'Shameless' drama of sink estate life cleans up at television awards
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Your support makes all the difference.Shameless , the colourful Channel 4 comedy drama about a dysfunctional family living on a Manchester sink estate was crowned Best Drama Series at the Royal Television Society Awards last night. Paul Abbott, who wrote the series, also won Best Drama Writer and the judge's special award.
Shameless , the colourful Channel 4 comedy drama about a dysfunctional family living on a Manchester sink estate was crowned Best Drama Series at the Royal Television Society Awards last night. Paul Abbott, who wrote the series, also won Best Drama Writer and the judge's special award.
The judges described Shameless as "exciting, intelligent, mucky, poignant, raw, amusing, involving and always entertaining.''
On receiving the award Mr Abbott said: "I'm so proud to get it. Shameless is not for the obvious reasons about exposing the personal stuff, it was about doing something on television that I had never seen."
The series revolves around dipsomaniac father Frank Gallagher and his sprawling household of children on the Chatsworth Estate in Manchester.
Mr Abbott, who has worked in television for 21 years, writing for Coronation Street and Cracker , as well as creating the drama series Clocking Off and the political thriller State of Play , loosely based Shameless on his own childhood in a large family in Burnley.
ITV's offbeat romantic comedy Dirty Filthy Love starring Michael Sheen won Best Single Drama.
Gerard McSorley won the Best Actor prize for his role in Omagh , the Channel 4 drama about the events of 15 August 1998 when a car bomb planted by the Real IRA claimed 31 lives.
The award for Best Actress went to newcomer Annamaria Marinca for her part in the Channel 4 drama Sex Traffic , which also won the award for Best Drama Serial.
Julia Davis was named Best Comedy Writer for her BBC 3 series Nighty Night , which also won Best Situation Comedy.
The SouthBank Show was awarded the prize for Best Arts Programme for its interview with the 80-year-old photographer Robert Frank, who walked out halfway through.
BBC 1's Strictly Come Dancing won Best Entertainment Show while Channel 4's Supernanny , was named Best Factual Entertainment programme.
Tamsin Greig won Best Comedy Performance for her role as the new surgical registrar in the Channel 4 comedy Green Wing .
Coronation Street beat Eastenders and Emmerdale to the prize for Best Soap. Paul O'Grady won Best Daytime Programme for his early evening ITV show while ITV's Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly won Best Entertainment Performance.
THE RTS WINNERS
Judges Award Paul Abbott
Drama Series Paul Abbott, right - Shameless (C4)
Single Drama Dirty Filthy Love (ITV)
Drama Serial Sex Traffic (C4)
Drama Writer Paul Abbott - Shameless (C4)
Actress Annamaria Marinca - Sex Traffic (C4).
Actor Gerard McSorley - Omagh (C4).
Comedy Writer Julia Davis - Nighty Night (BBC3)
Comedy Performance Tamsin Greig - Green Wing (C4)
Entertainment Performance Ant and Dec - Ant and Dec Saturday Night Takeaway (ITV)
Situation Comedy and Comedy Drama Nighty Night (BBC3)
Entertainment Strictly Come Dancing (BBC1)
Arts SouthBank Show - Robert Frank (ITV1)
Soap Coronation Street (ITV)
Daytime Programme The Paul O'Grady Show (ITV1)
Features and Factual Entertainment Supernanny (C4)
Documentary Series General The Power of Nightmares (BBC2)
Science and Natural History Your Life In Their Hands (BBC1)
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