Owen Cooper shines at Adolescence wins big at RTS Programme Awards 2026
Owen Cooper has continued to receive high praise for her breakout role in Adolescence.
Owen Cooper won twice as Adolescence shone at the RTS Programme Awards 2026.
The Royal Television Society's annual ceremony took place at London's JW Marriott Grosvenor House Hotel on Tuesday (24.03.26) with Tom Allen hosting as the RTS honoured the best of UK television across 29 categories.
While the BBC dominated with 16 awards, Adolescence continued to make waves with four of Netflix's five prizes on the night.
Owen, 16, won both the Breakthrough and Support Actor - Male awards, while the show itself was named best Limited Series and Single Drama.
The judges described him as “the real deal, an astounding new talent who gave a performance that will live on in all our memories for many years to come".
Meanwhile, the teen's co-star Stephen Graham won best writer in the drama category alongside collaborator Jack Thorne.
Separately, Adolescence actress Erin Doherty presented the Judges’ Award to Stephen, his wife Hannah Walters, and Matriarch Productions, for providing a platform for under-represented voices and to tell authentic stories, offering opportunities to people from all cultural backgrounds and social classes.
Among the BBC's successes were wins in the Entertainment and Reality categories for The Celebrity Traitors, while Unforgivable stars Bobby Schofield and Anna Friel picked up leading and supporting actor prizes respectively.
Hamza's Hidden Wild Isles earned host Hamza Yassin his first RTS Award in the Presenter category, while Gabby Logan's work on the Women's Rugby World Cup earned her the prize for Sports Presenter, Commentator or Pundit.
The BBC also emerged victorious in the Drama Series category for Blue Lights, and EastEnders as named best Soap and Continuing Drama.
Netflix won five awards, and the non-Adolescence nod was in the Single Documentary category for Grenfell: Uncovered.
Elsewhere, Prime Video's hit show Last One Laughing won Comedy Entertainment, while Channel 4 show Big Boys won Comedy Drama, with Steve Coogan's appearance in How Are You? It's Alan (Partridge) landing him the male Comedy Performance trophy.
The ceremony also honoured Monty Python legend Sir Michael Palin, as the Small Prophets actor received the Outstanding Achievement Award.
Kenton Allen, Chair of the RTS Programme Awards, said: “Tonight’s winners are a powerful reminder that British television remains one of this country’s greatest creative and economic success stories — bold in ambition, world-class in craft, and fearless in the stories it chooses to tell.
"From breakout new talent to national treasures, these awards celebrate the extraordinary range of voices shaping modern television.
"In a fiercely competitive global market, UK producers, writers, actors directors and our phenomenal crews are creating work that moves audiences, starts conversations and travels the world.”
RTS Programme Awards 2026 full winners list
Arts
The Last Musician of Auschwitz (Two Rivers Media in association with Access for BBC)
Breakthrough Award
Owen Cooper - Adolescence (Warp Films, Matriarch Productions and Plan B for Netflix)
Children’s Programme
Crongton (New Pictures for BBC)
Comedy Drama
Big Boys (Roughcut TV for Channel 4)
Comedy Entertainment
Last One Laughing (Zeppotron/Initial for Prime Video)
Comedy Performance – Female
Philippa Dunne - Amandaland (Merman Television for BBC)
Comedy Performance – Male
Steve Coogan - How Are You? It's Alan (Partridge) (Baby Cow Productions for BBC)
Daytime Programme
BBC Breakfast – Our Girls: The Southport Families (BBC Breakfast for BBC)
Documentary Series
Bibaa and Nicole: Murder in the Park (True Vision for Sky Documentaries)
Drama Series
Blue Lights (Two Cities Television/Gallagher Films for BBC)
Entertainment and Reality
The Celebrity Traitors (Studio Lambert for BBC)
Entertainment Performance
Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan - Rob and Romesh Vs (CPL Productions for Sky Max)
Formatted Popular Factual
The Assembly (Rockerdale Studios for ITV1/ITVX)
History
Flight 149: Hostage of War (Drum Studios for Sky Documentaries)
Leading Actor – Female
Narges Rashidi - Prisoner 951 (Dancing Ledge Productions for BBC)
Leading Actor – Male
Bobby Schofield - Unforgivable (LA Productions for BBC)
Limited Series and Single Drama
Adolescence (Warp Films, Matriarch Productions and Plan B for Netflix)
Live Event
Holocaust Memorial Day 2025 (BBC Studios Events for BBC)
Presenter
Hamza Yassin - Hamza’s Hidden Wild Isles (Silverback Films for BBC)
Science and The Natural World
Underdogs (Wildstar Films, a Fremantle company, in partnership with Maximum Effort for National Geographic and Disney+)
Scripted Comedy
Things You Should Have Done (Roughcut TV for BBC)
Single Documentary
Grenfell: Uncovered (Rogan Productions for Netflix)
Soap and Continuing Drama
EastEnders (BBC Studios for BBC)
Sports Presenter, Commentator or Pundit
Gabby Logan - Women's Rugby World Cup 2025 (Whisper Cymru for BBC)
Sports Programme
2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (Sky Sports)
Supporting Actor – Female
Anna Friel - Unforgivable (LA Productions for BBC)
Supporting Actor – Male
Owen Cooper – Adolescence (Warp Films, Matriarch Productions and Plan B for Netflix)
Writer – Comedy
Kat Sadler - Such Brave Girls (Various Artists Limited for BBC)
Writer – Drama
Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham - Adolescence (Warp Films, Matriarch Productions and Plan B for Netflix)
Judges’ Award
Stephen Graham, Hannah Walters and Matriarch Productions
Outstanding Achievement Award
Sir Michael Palin
