'Emmerdale' was crowned Best Soap at the Royal Television Society Awards 2017 on Tuesday (21.03.17).
John Middleton
The long-running soap has certainly had a year - in the world of television - that will never be forgotten as not only did the cast scoop the top trophies at the National Television Awards, the Broadcast Awards and the Inside Soap Awards but they also managed to bag the impressive gong at the glamorous event yesterday.
Presenting the prize at the ceremony, held at Grosvenor House Hotel in London, Sandi Tosvig said: "It should be said the cast and crew and production team pulled off an ambitious and extraordinary conceit this year with wonderful production values and highly watchable, unpredictable, rewarding storytelling for soap and continuing drama. This year's RTS programme award goes to 'Emmerdale'."
The ITV show, which has been praised for its current dementia storyline involving long-time character Ashley Thomas (John Middleton), beat off stiff competition from 'EastEnders', 'Coronation Street' and 'Hollyoaks'.
Other big winners on the night included 'Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway', which scooped Best Entertainment Show, and 'Happy Valley', which bagged Best Drama Series and Best Writer.
As they collected their award, Ant and Dec said that they're hoping to sign up Adele for the challenge show.
They said: "Adele - we've never quite made it work because of all her tours and albums and stuff, but we could have a lot of fun with her. If you all put the pressure on from your end and we put the pressure on from our end, maybe we can make it happen."
RTS winners for 2017 are as follows;
Best Female Actor - Sophie Okonedo - 'Undercover'
Best Male Actor - Robbie Coltrane - 'National Treasure'
Arts - 'Grayson Perry All Man'
Beakthrough - Phoebe Waller-Bridge - 'Fleabag'
Children's Programme - 'CBeebies A Midsummer Night's Dream'
Comedy Performance - Asim Chaudhry - 'People Just Do Nothing'
Daytime Programme - 'Find it, Fix it, Flog it'
Documentary Series - 'Exodus: Our Journey to Europe'
Drama Series - 'Happy Valley'
Entertainment - 'Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway'
Entertainment Performance - Adam Hills, Alex Brooker & Josh Widdicombe - 'The Last Leg'
History - 'The Aberfan Young Wives' Club'
Live Event - 'Stand Up to Cancer'
Mini-Series - 'National Treasure The Forge'
Presenter - Grayson Perry - 'Grayson Perry All Man'
Popular Factual and Features - 'Employable Me'
Channel of the Year - BBC Three
Science and Natural History - 'First Contact: Lost Tribe of the Amazon'
Scripted Comedy - 'People Just Do Nothing'
Single Documentary - 'The Murder of Sadie Hartley'
Single Drama - 'Murdered By My Father'
Soap and Continuing Drama - 'Emmerdale'
Sports Presenter, Commentator or Pundit - Osi Umenyiora
Sports Programme - 'Rio Paralympics Sunset'
Best Comedy Writer - Phoebe Waller-Bridge - 'Fleabag'
Best Drama Writer - Sally Wainwright - 'Happy Valley'
Judges' Award - Sally Wainwright
Lifetime Achievement Award - Julie Walters
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