Judges’ Award
Sir Lenny Henry
"Lenny’s call for a sea-change in our industry shook us from our complacency, and in the two years since he made that lecture, real action has been taken. Clearly this is still a case of “work-in-progress”, but the journey of change is underway. As a consequence of Lenny’s wake-up call to us all, every major British broadcaster has introduced new initiatives and policies about diversity in front of and behind the camera. And the difference is seen on screen. The cast – and the crew – is changing."
Lifetime Achievement Award
Dame Joan Bakewell
"Through the second half of the 1960s, the black and white image of the fashionably dressed Joan Bakewell interviewing the agenda-setting creative artists of the day became almost emblematic of sixties Britain. Here – at last – was an unintimidated, intelligent woman ready to challenge everyone she spoke to on television, to move the interview format on from the deferential to the truly enquiring, and to do so in her own unique style. And while she wasn’t the only early role model for the women that followed her into television, she was certainly one of the most inspiring."