Slow Horses, Baby Reindeer, Men Up claim Drama Awards as BBC proves worth against streaming giants

This year’s winners show off their prizes

CONTENT LONDON: Slow Horses, Baby Reindeer and Men Up were among the big winners at tonight’s C21 International Drama Awards, where the prizes were split equally between traditional players and streamers.

Netflix’s controversial stalker series Baby Reindeer continues to be the talk of the town here at Content London, following its success at Monday night’s Rose d’Or Awards. The show took two prizes this evening, winning best casting and best individual performance in a drama series for Jessica Gunning.

However, the show was beaten in the hotly contested English-language drama category by True Detective: Night Country, from Sky and HBO.

Netflix also won the miniseries prize for One Day, produced by Drama Republic with Universal International Studios and Focus Features.

Elsewhere, the third season of Apple TV+’s Slow Horses won best returning drama series, following star Gary Oldman’s success in the individual performance category at Monday’s Rose d’Ors.

Jessica Gunning accepts her individual performance award

Hearteningly for the traditional players, UK pubcaster BBC stood strong against the mighty spending powers of the tech giants with two awards. Viagra origin story Men Up, produced by Quay Street Productions and Boom for BBC One, beat off stiff competition in the TV movie category, while Reece Shearsmith won best individual performance in a comedy drama series for his role in Inside No. 9.

This year’s pitch awards in the drama and format categories were also announced as Content London came to a close. From Sonic Nursery Creative in Canada, The Quiet Game – a gameshow in which contestants must perform noisy tasks as quietly as possible to avoid elimination – won the Content London Global Entertainment Formats Pitch. Chosen from more than 80 submissions, it will receive a £30,000 (US$37,900) marketing prize from C21Media.

The same reward goes to Blood Red Thread, winner of the Content London Drama Series Pitch. Described as journey into the heart of darkness behind the shimmering façade of style, Blood Red Thread sees a British detective investigate the suspicious death of a French fashion designer. It hails from Germany’s ZDF Studios, Berlin-based prodco Boogie Entertainment, France TV Distribution and Belgium’s Beluga Tree.

The full list of winners is:

Non-English-language Drama Series
In Her Car
Produced by: Starlight Media, Gaumont in coproduction with ZDFneo, France Télévisions and SRF, in association with The Dreaming Sheep Company, SVT, DR, NRK, RUV, YLE
For: ZDFmediathek/ZDFneo, France Télévisions, SRF, STB, SVT, DR, NRK, RUV and YLE
Distributed by: Beta Film

English-language Drama Series
True Detective: Night Country
Produced by: HBO in association with Peligrosa, Neon Black, Anonymous Content, Parliament of Owls and Passenger
For: HBO and Sky Atlantic
Distributed by: HBO/Sky

TV Movie
Men Up
Produced by: Quay Street Productions and Boom
For: BBC
Distributed by: Cineflix Rights

Casting of a Drama Series
Baby Reindeer
Produced by: Clerkenwell Films
For: Netflix
Distributed by: Netflix

Comedy Drama Series
Madam
Produced by: Tavake and XYZ Films
For: ThreeNow (Warner Bros. Discovery)
Distributed by: Fifth Season

Individual Performance in a Comedy Drama Series
Reece Shearsmith (Inside No. 9)
Produced by: BBC Studios Comedy Productions
For: BBC Two
Distributed by: BBC Studios

Individual Performance in a Drama Series
Jessica Gunning (Baby Reindeer)
Produced by: Clerkenwell Films
For: Netflix
Distributed by: Netflix

Newform Drama Series
Good Grief
Produced by: Pumpkin Patch Productions
For: Bell Fibe TV1
Distributed by: Bell Fibe TV1, OUTtv and OMG Media

Miniseries
One Day
Produced by: Drama Republic Production with Universal International Studios and Focus Features
For: Netflix
Distributed by: Universal International Studios

Returning Comedy Drama Series
Acapulco S3
Produced by: Lionsgate Television, 3Pas Studios and The Tannenbaum Company
For: Apple TV+
Distributed by: Apple TV+