IFTA televison awards shortlist revealed

Chris O’Dowd, Sharon Horgan, Brendan O’Carroll and Imelda May are among the names shortlisted for this year’s Irish Film and Television Academy Gala television awards, alongside programmes as diverse as a documentary on Brendan Behan, a live Vincent Browne broadcast from The George bar in Dublin, and a Gay Byrne interview with Stephen Fry.

The shortlist features nominees in 23 categories from entertainment, comedy, soap and performance to factual, current affairs and news across all Irish broadcasters. The winners will be revealed during a ceremony at the Double Tree hotel in Dublin on October 22nd. TV3 will broadcast highlights of the event on October 25th.

The academy announced earlier this year that the annual IFTA ceremony would be split into two smaller award ceremonies, film & drama and television.

The entertainment category features two music-based series – RTÉ's The Imelda May Show and ShinAwil's The Voice of Ireland, Sky's adventure series 50 Ways to Kill Your Mammy and TV3's flagship breakfast show Ireland AM.

The new comedy award category sees two sketch shows, Irish Pictorial Weekly and The Savage Eye from Blinder Films for RTÉ, alongside two sitcoms, BBC/RTÉ's Mrs Brown's Boys and Sky's Moone Boy.

There is also a new soap & continuing drama award category with Red Rock and Fair City competing for the prize of Ireland's best TV soap. Other new categories include the award for the stand-out female performance in a soap or comedy. Shortlisted are Martina Stanley for her moving performance battling breast cancer as Dolores Molloy in Fair City; Cathy Belton as the matriarch in TV3's Red Rock; Sharon Horgan for her comedic performance in Catastrophe, shot in the UK and airing on Channel 4; Jane McGrath as rule-abiding Garda Sharon Cleere in Red Rock; and Deirdre O Kane in Moone Boy.

Then the Boys
The male performance in a soap or comedy shortlist features Chris O Dowd in Moone Boy and Brendan O Carroll in Mrs Brown's Boys. There are also first nominations for Enda Oates for his performance as Pete Ferguson in Fair City; and Andrew Quirke for playing both characters in Parallel Pictures' Damo & Ivor. This category also sees newcomer Sean Mahon nominated for his villainous performance as Garda Brian McGonigle in Red Rock.

Shortlisted reality programmes include Animo TV's self-shot series Connected and Stirling's Irish language travel series WWOOFáil California, and two series that were shot in Limerick, Motive Television's A Sporting Chance and ShinAwil's Bressie's Teenage Kicks where both endeavour to turn young teenagers' lives around – one using sport and the other music.

The documentary series shortlist includes Motive TV's Darndale – The Edge of Town, which gives insight into the Dublin neighbourhood. Tyrone's The High Hopes Choir follows the journey of Ireland's first homeless choir; the grandeur of The Shelbourne hotel also features along with TG4's Bliain in Inis Mór from Power Pictures, a year of island life on the smallest of the Aran Islands.

The documentary single category nominees include Man On Bridge telling the story of one of Dublin's most iconic street photographers; along with It Came From Connemara!!, in which filmmaker Brian Reddin examines Roger Corman's involvement in the Irish film industry; Dolores Keane - A Storm in the Heart chronicles the life one of Ireland's most recognisable female vocalists; and Close To Evil, the story of Holocaust survivor Tomi Reichental.

The news category features BBC Newsline: The Death of Ian Paisley; RTÉ Six One News: Graham Dwyer; Nuacht TG4; TV3 5.30 News: The Resignation of Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan along with UTV Ireland Live.

Current Affairs nominees include TV3's A Secret Buried: The Mother and Baby Scandal, a documentary revealing the story behind the shocking discovery of a mass grave in Tuam; Above the Law, an investigation into paramilitary activity in Northern Ireland; Inside Bungalow 3 - RTÉ Investigation Unit; and Panorama: Britain's Secret Terror Deal.

In the factual category, Mind The Gap Films lifestyle series Lords and Ladles, which was recently acquired by Fremantle Media, is nominated alongside RTÉ's Nationwide, Big Mountain Productions travel series Wild Ireland and Moondance Productions The Zoo, which centres on the staff and animals at Dublin Zoo. Specialist Factual nominees include Brendan Behan – The Roaring Boy; The Meaning of Life with Gay Byrne; Cumann na mBan; Aille an Uafais / A Terrible Beauty and A Parting Gift.

Nominated in the animation category this year is Brown Bag Films' adventure series Bing, which celebrates the noisy, joyful, messy reality of life when you're a pre-schooler; Sixteen South's Lily's Driftwood Bay, which centres on five-year-old Lily and her imagination about what might be happening across the way on Driftwood Bay; Geronimo's Nelly and Nora, an animation which follows two sisters determined to have fun, no matter what the weather; and Cartoon Saloon's Puffin Rock which is narrated by Chris O'Dowd and follows the adventures of a family of puffins who live on a beautiful Irish island.

In the Children's category, GMarsh TV Productions series Our Farm is nominated alongside Meangadh Fibin's pre-school puppet series Saol faoi Shráid, Crossing The Line's wildlife show Shutterbugs and RTÉ's teen-news show Two Tube.

Sport nominees which include RTÉ's Second Captains Live; The Notorious – about Conor McGregor as Ireland's most successful mixed martial artist; Arkle – The Legend Lives, which marked the 50th anniversary of the iconic gold cup clash between Arkle and Mill House in 1964; and TG4's GAA USA which chronicles the extraordinary and largely unknown history of Gaelic games in the United States.

Another new category for television this year is Live Event where the nominees include RTÉ's Referendum – Live Results; TV3's Vincent Browne in the George, BBC NI's St Patrick's Day Concert and TG4's Fleadh TV.

Documentaries chronicling stars past and present are a theme in the director television category. Maurice Sweeney is nominated for Below The Radar TV's poignant documentary Brendan Behan: A Roaring Boy; Liam McGrath for Scratch Films Dolores Keane: A Storm in the Heart; Patrick Timmons Ward for Motive Television's Conor McGregor documentary series The Notorious; and Darragh Byrne for RTÉ's O Sé: A Legacy which looks at the late GAA sports man and personality Paidí O Sé.

Academy cheif executive Áine Moriarty said the nominees showcase “the very best of Irish television and acknowledge the hard work, creativity and spirit that goes into producing hundreds of hours of television production each year.”

Next week the academy will announce details of the IFTA Gala People’s Choice Award.

The shortlist...

COMEDY
Irish Pictorial Weekly (RTÉ)
Mrs Browns Boys (RTÉ/BBC)
Moone Boy (Sky)
The Savage Eye (RTÉ)

ENTERTAINMENT
50 Ways to Kill Your Mammy (Sky)
The Imelda May Show (RTÉ)
Ireland AM (TV3)
The Voice Of Ireland (RTÉ)

MALE PERFORMANCE IN SOAP OR COMEDY
Sean Mahon, Red Rock (TV3)
Brendan O'Carroll Mrs Browns Boys (RTÉ/BBC)
Chris O'Dowd, Moone Boy (Sky)
Enda Oates, Fair City (RTÉ)
Andy Quirke, Damo & Ivor (RTÉ)

FEMALE PERFORMANCE IN SOAP OR COMEDY
Cathy Belton, Red Rock (TV3)
Sharon Horgan, Catastrophe (Channel 4)
Jane McGrath, Red Rock (TV3)
Deirdre O'Kane, Moone Boy (Sky)
Martina Stanley, Fair City (RTÉ)

SOAP & CONTINUING DRAMA
Fair City (RTÉ)
Red Rock (TV3)

FACTUAL
Lords and Ladles (RTÉ)
Nationwide: Fr. Browne's Forgotten War (RTÉ)
Wild Ireland (RTÉ)
The Zoo (RTÉ)

REALITY
A Sporting Chance (RTÉ)
Bressies Teenage Kicks (RTÉ)
Connected (RTÉ)
WWoofáil California (TG4)

DOCUMENTARY SERIES
Bliain in Inish Mór (TG4)
Darndale - The Edge of Town (TV3)
The High Hopes Choir (RTÉ)
The Shelbourne (RTÉ)

DOCUMENTARY SINGLE
Close to Evil (RTÉ)
Dolores Keane - A Storm in the Heart (RTÉ)
It Came From Connemara!! (TG4)
Man on Bridge (RTÉ)

NEWS
BBC Newsline: The Death of Ian Paisley
RTE Six One News: Graham Dwyer
Nuacht TG4
TV3 530 News: The Resignation of Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan
UTV Ireland Live

CURRENT AFFAIRS
A Secret Buried: The Mother and Baby Scandal (TV3)
Above the Law (RTÉ)
Inside Bungalow 3 - RTÉ Investigations Unit (RTÉ)
Panorama: Britain's Secret Terror Deal (BBCNI)

SPECIALIST FACTUAL
A Parting Gift (RTÉ)
Áille an Uafáis/A Terrible Beauty (TG4)
Brendan Behan - The Roaring Boy (RTÉ)
Cumann na mBan - Mná na Réabhlóide (RTÉ)
The Meaning of Life with Gay Byrne: Stephen Fry (RTÉ)

SPORTS
Arkle - The Legend Lives On (RTÉ)
GAA USA (TG4)
The Notorious (Conor McGregor) (RTÉ)
Second Captains Live (RTÉ)

LIVE EVENT
Fleadh TV (TG4)
Referendum 2015: RTÉ Live Results Coverage (RTÉ)
St Patrick's Day Concert (BBCNI)
Vincent Browne in the George (TV3)

CHILDRENS/YOUNG PEOPLES - LIVE ACTION
Our Farm (RTÉ)
Shutterbugs (RTÉ)
Saol Faoi Shráid (TG4)
Two Tube (RTÉ)

ANIMATION - CHILDRENS/YOUNG PEOPLES
Bing
Lily's Driftwood Bay
Nelly and Nora
Puffin Rock