The Royal Television Society (RTS) revealed the winners for its Craft & Design Awards 2013/2014 at a ceremony hosted by Jennifer Saunders (pictured), at London Hilton Park Lane on Monday.
The awards recognise the huge variety of skills and processes involved in programme production, from editing to lighting, and costume design to digital effects. This year saw a host of television professionals competing in 25 categories, and in addition two awards were given at the discretion of the jury chairs: the Judges’ and Lifetime Achievement Awards. The RTS Craft & Design Awards 2013/2014 were chaired by Cheryl Taylor, controller of CBBC.
The Lifetime Achievement Award went to stunt performer and action director Clive Curtis, who has worked on TV dramas including Our Friends in the North, Between The Lines, Bergerac, Dangerfield, Rebus, Roughnecks, Storm Damage, Jake’s Progress, Grafters, Tom Jones, Waking The Dead and many more.
A former British champion in amateur wrestling and weightlifting, Curtis broke new ground in 1974 when he became Britain’s first black stunt performer. David Harewood, who Curtis has doubled for several times, said of Curtis’ win: “It gives me tremendous pleasure to know Clive is being honoured, that all his hard work and enormous talent has finally been recognised and rewarded. As I’m sure you are all aware; none of the major award ceremonies have a category to acknowledge the stunt profession, so we are delighted to have an opportunity to recognise and applaud such a key figure from the stunt industry.”
The Judges Award this year went to the Peaky Blinders production team. RTS described the TV series as ‘a breathtaking balance of storytelling, style and cinematic ambition whilst never losing sight of its Birmingham roots. With brilliantly dressed locations and seamless builds, Grant Montgomery’s design, George Steel’s sublime cinematography and Stephanie Collie’s costume design effortlessly transports the viewer into the dark history of 1920s Britain.’