Northern Ireland’s vibrant television industry was celebrated in style at the Royal Television Society (RTS) NI’s 10th Awards, sponsored by Ka-Boom in the Titanic Belfast earlier this week.
The coveted Brian Waddell Award for Outstanding Contribution to Industry was awarded to Louise Gallagher, founder of Gallagher Films which Derry girl Louise set up to champion bold, original voices. Her debut feature, A Bump Along the Way, starring Bronagh Gallagher and Lola Petticrew won multiple awards, including Best Irish First Feature and her short film Rough won an IFTA. She is also the co-creator and executive producer behind the award winning Blue Lights and Hat Trick NI’s Business Development Executive and part of the team which picked up the RTS NI Comedy Award for their short film Spinster.
Louise Gallagher said: “I am delighted and really surprised to receive this honour. I would like to thank the RTS NI Committee for this prestigious award. I couldn’t do what I do without the hugely talented teams I work with at Gallagher Films and Hat Trick NI who bring their passion and enthusiasm to make each project a success – creating great content which reflects modern life in all our communities.”
Sarah McCaffrey, Chair of the RTS NI said “It is a real pleasure to acknowledge the incredible talent of Louise Gallagher who is an amazing role model for women working in our industry and a passionate champion of emerging talent. Her work reflects a commitment to both creative excellence and public value, making her a key figure in Northern Ireland’s screen sector evolution and a well-deserved winner of our Brian Waddell Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Industry.
“This year’s outstanding nominees and winners reflect the strength and resilience of Northern Ireland’s screen industry. The RTS Northern Ireland is proud to continue its unwavering commitment to supporting, educating, and championing talent across all areas of the industry—both on screen and behind the scenes.”
The Best Actor – Female and Best Actor – Male Awards went to Disney’s Say Nothing stars Lola Petticrew and Anthony Boyle. Both young West Belfast actors are currently enjoying global success. Lola is busy filming a new Hulu drama series in New York, as her performance in Trespasses has just started on Channel 4. Anthony is in Vancouver filming The Altruists for Netflix following his critically acclaimed portrayal of Arthur Guinness in House of Guinness.
The coveted Drama Award went to ITV1’s Malpractice Series 2 filmed in Northern Ireland which the judges’ described as watching an adrenalin rush, while BBC Three and BBC Northern Ireland’s Funboys made by Mayhay Studios won two awards with Breakthrough On-Screen going to Ele McKenzie for her role as Gemma and the Best Writer Award going to co-creators Rian Lennon and Ryan Dylan.
King Banana TV & Paper Owl Films’ Nikhil & Jay for CBeebies won the Children’s / Animation Award for its gentle portrayal of celebrating cultural diversity and the Entertainment trophy went to The 2 Johnnies Late Night Lock In produced by Green Inc Film & TV for RTÉ for the second year running.
The Comedy Award went to Hat Trick NI for its short film Spinster about a single, broke poet named Ruby who returns home for her sister’s perfect engagement party, which was executive produced by Derry Girls creator Lisa McGee.
Waddell Media picked up the Best Factual Entertainment Award for its long running series At Your Service with Francis and John Brennan for RTÉ and the Lifestyle and Features award for We Built A Zoo for BBC Three which follows the ups and downs of one of the UK’s most popular TikTokers Kyle Thomas who has over 34 million followers as he attempts to build a zoo in Lisburn for his exotic animals.
BBC’s hard hitting documentary On Drugs by Blair Black Films which explored the hidden lives of drug users in Northern Ireland won the Documentary – Series Award. Fine Point Film’s Cyndi Lauper: Let the Canary Sing for Paramount+ which chronicled Cyndi’s meteoric accent to stardom and her profound impact on generations won the Documentary – Single award.
The Specialist Factual Award went to Little Ease Films for their fascinating film Burkitt about the life of Irish surgeon Denis Burkitt who discovered Burkitt’s lymphoma as told by Éanna Mac Cana, a survivor of this cancer for TG4.
BBC Newsline’s extensive reporting of the Northern Ireland Race Riots in Ballymena secured the News Coverage Award and Spotlight’s I Am Not Okay programme about mothers struggling to cope with their autistic sons’ aggressive outbursts won the Best Current Affairs award for BBC Northern Ireland.
Composer DIE HEXEN’s soundtrack for Video Nasty won Best Original Music Score and Editor David Gray was the winner of the Post-Production – Individual Craft award for his work on David Puttnam – The Long Way Home, for RTÉ.
Finally, the RTS NI Hidden Hero Award recognises an individual who has made a significant contribution to the sector behind the scenes. This year’s winner is Brendan Hughes who was nominated by many of his former colleagues over the years for the amazing support he has given to so many people starting out in their careers, helping them thrive in this highly competitive industry.
Zoe McGivern, Chair of the RTS NI Awards said: “Brendan is such a worthy winner of our Hidden Hero Award. He has worked as a producer for 43 years but always shuns any personal limelight. He’s only recently retired as Head of Tern TV, but still shows no signs of slowing down. He continues to give his time for training schemes to nurture fresh talent making him a true Hidden Hero of our industry. I would like to thank all our judges who had such a difficult task this year, as we had more entries than ever before and the quality across all genres was so high. Congratulations to all our winners and finalists for making our tenth RTS NI awards so special with their amazing talent.”
The RTS Northern Ireland Awards 2025 were proudly supported by BBC Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland Screen, Channel 4, RTÉ and TG4 with headline sponsor Ka-Boom and music partner The Nerve. The RTS is an educational charity promoting the art and science of television.