Two S4C programmes have been shortlisted for the prestigious Royal Television Society Programme Awards to be held in London in March.
Con Passionate, a past winner of the highly regarded Rose d’Or European TV award, has been nominated in the Drama Series category, while nursery programme ABC, broadcast on S4C’s dedicated service for younger viewers, Cyw, has been nominated in the Children’s Programme category.
Con Passionate, starring opera singer Shân Cothi and a host of other top names, charts the trials and tribulations of a Welsh male voice choir and its feisty female conductor, Davina.
Written by Siwan Jones and produced by Paul Jones of Teledu Apollo, part of the Boomerang Plus Plc company, it is facing competition at the awards from ITV’s The Fixer and Channel 4’s City of Vice.
ABC, produced for S4C by Boomerang Plus Plc, uses a mixture of live action puppetry and animation to introduce children to the Welsh alphabet in a fun and innovative way.
The series is produced by Angharad Garlick and Helen Davies and presented by Gareth Delve. ABC is up against Channel 4’s Lifeproof and the BBC’s Get Squiddling in its category.
S4C’s Director of Commissioning, Rhian Gibson said: “S4C is delighted to be recognised for its programming in this way by an organisation which sets the highest possible standards in terms of public service broadcasting.
“Con Passionate is no stranger to awards, but being shortlisted for the prestigious RTS award reflects the high standards it has reached. It also shows that Welsh television companies are reaching the benchmark of creative excellence set by S4C.
“It is a huge achievement for the production team behind ABC to reach the final three in a category which includes the whole range of children’s programming, of every age and genre. It reflects the high production values of our children’s service, which provides dedicated programming six hours a day, five days a week.
“We’d like to congratulate everyone involved in both these shortlisted productions.”
The winners will be announced at the RTS Awards evening, held on Tuesday 17 March 2009 at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London.
