The National Television Awards has unveiled its 31st annual ceremony shortlist, featuring a historic first all-female lineup for the drama performance award.
Voting opened on August 18 to decide who will win the trophies at the star-studded ceremony held at London's O2 Arena on September 8. The event will be hosted by Joel Dommett and broadcast live on ITV and ITVX from 8pm.
This year's drama performance contenders mark a milestone for female representation after male stars including Cillian Murphy, David Tennant and Matt Smith previously lifted the gong. The nominees include Ruth Jones for her role as Elena Ravenscroft in the Netflix thriller Run Away, Sheridan Smith as Ann Ming in ITV's true-crime drama I Fought The Law, and Vicky McClure as Lana Washington in Trigger Point. Ella Bruccoleri is shortlisted as Mary Bennet in The Other Bennet Sister, alongside Judy Parfitt as Sister Monica Joan in Call The Midwife.
The winner will join Sheridan Smith, Suranne Jones and Sarah Lancashire as the only women to have won the award since 2015. Smith previously won in 2015 playing Cilla Black, while McClure achieves her third overall nomination and second for Trigger Point.
Drama contenders and reality clashes
In the reality competition category, major television franchises compete directly against each other following double nominations for I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! and The Traitors.
I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! takes on its spin-off I'm A Celebrity... South Africa, while The Celebrity Traitors is pitted against the original civilian version of The Traitors. BBC series Race Across the World completes the category, seeking to weave between the rival franchises.
In the TV Presenter category, Ant & Dec are aiming to claim their 24th consecutive victory. They face competition from Sir David Attenborough in his 100th year, as well as fellow nominees Alison Hammond, Claudia Winkleman and Stacey Solomon.
New docuseries category and drama arrivals
The 2026 awards introduce the Reality Docuseries category to recognise the popularity of star-led access television. The inaugural shortlist pits BBC series Stacey & Joe, which follows Stacey Solomon and husband Joe Swash at Pickle Cottage, against Jeremy Clarkson's agricultural saga Clarkson's Farm at Diddly Squat.
The category also features domestic access series At Home With The Furys and Fletchers' Family Farm, alongside fishing show Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing.
Five smash-hit series are competing for the New Drama trophy. Jane Austen adaptation The Other Bennet Sister and Barbara Taylor Bradford's classic retelling A Woman of Substance face off against hard-hitting true-crime dramas Believe Me and I Fought The Law, as well as ice hockey melodrama Heated Rivalry.
The Authored Documentary category highlights powerful personal stories. Nominees include Caroline Flack: Search for the Truth, Jesy Nelson: Life After Little Mix, Our Girls: The Southport Families, Sharon & Ozzy Osbourne: Coming Home, and Sir Chris Hoy: Cancer, Courage and Me, which follows the Olympic champion after a devastating medical diagnosis.
Soap milestones and comedy nominations
The Returning Drama shortlist honours returning favourites, including Blue Lights, Bridgerton, Call the Midwife, Stranger Things and Trigger Point.
In Comedy, new show Amandaland competes against Alan Carr's coming-of-age series Changing Ends, comedy format Last One Laughing, and long-running sitcoms Mrs Brown's Boys and Not Going Out.
Defending champion EastEnders attempts to retain its crown in the Serial Drama category against Coronation Street, Emmerdale, Hollyoaks and Casualty. The shortlist follows a prominent year for ITV soaps Coronation Street and Emmerdale, which joined forces for the Corriedale crossover event, while Hollyoaks marked its milestone birthday by returning to Brookside Close. Medical drama Casualty enters the race during its 40th anniversary year.
The Serial Drama Performance shortlist features five distinct actor nominations. EastEnders earned two nods: Paul Bradley for Nigel Bates' tragic goodbye story and Aaron Thiara for Ravi Gulati's mental health crisis storyline.
Coronation Street is represented by Sue Devaney for depicting Debbie Webster's sad decline and Gareth Pierce for portraying Todd Grimshaw's experience of coercive control. Jeff Hordley receives a nomination for Emmerdale after bringing new-found vulnerability to Cain Dingle.
Entertainment formats and daytime favourites
The Bruce Forsyth Entertainment Award is a closely fought contest between Gladiators, Michael McIntyre's Big Show, The Graham Norton Show, The Masked Singer and Would I Lie to You?.
The Quiz Show category highlights a range of popular gameshows, featuring Ant & Dec's Limitless Win, Michael McIntyre's The Wheel, Richard Osman's House of Games, The 1% Club and The Chase.
Daytime television contenders include ITV flagship shows Good Morning Britain, This Morning and Loose Women, along with weekend culinary series James Martin's Saturday Morning and fraud awareness show Scam Interceptors.
Factual entertainment and talent shows
In Factual Entertainment, consumer advice show The Martin Lewis Money Show Live and home organisation series Sort Your Life Out compete against Sir David Attenborough's nature series Secret Garden, true-crime series 24 Hours in Police Custody and viewing reaction hit Gogglebox.
The Talent Show category features weekend entertainment staples Britain's Got Talent, Strictly Come Dancing, The Great British Bake Off and The Great Pottery Throw Down. The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up To Cancer joins the category for the first time.
Organisers also confirmed that a Special Recognition Award will be presented during the evening to honour a television star's long-term contribution to British viewing, with the recipient announced live on stage.
