The BBC documentary Our Girls: The Southport Families has won the award for best authored documentary at this year's National Television Awards. The programme followed the grieving parents of Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, in the wake of their murders in Southport in 2024.
Deeply personal interviews and family footage
A BBC camera crew followed the families' journey through unimaginable grief. Deeply personal interviews with the families were broadcast alongside family footage for the first time. The documentary brought viewers to tears when it first aired on the BBC at the end of last year.
The film showed the joy the three girls brought to those around them, and the legacies their parents are now building in their memory: Alice's Wonderdance, Bebe's Hive, and Elsie's Story.
Recognition at the 2026 NTAs
Our Girls: The Southport Families has now been recognised at this year's National Television Awards (NTAs) in the category for best authored documentary. The star-studded event returned in all its glory tonight (Tuesday, September 8).
In the documentary, cameras followed Alice and Elsie's dads, Sergio and David, as they trained and completed the London Marathon to raise funds for their projects, and to build a playground at the school attended by two of the girls. Later in the programme, the Prince and Princess of Wales visited the newly refurbished playground, with Prince William delivering an emotional speech to the students and staff.
Strong category and other winners
It was a tough category at the NTAs this year. The documentary went up against Jesy Nelson: Life After Little Mix, Caroline Flack: Search for the Truth, Sharon & Ozzy Osbourne: Coming Home and Sir Chris Hoy: Cancer, Courage and Me.
Some of our favourite TV stars arrived at London's O2 Arena in their most glamorous outfits for the event. Other categories featured in the awards ceremony included serial drama performance, reality competition, quiz show and new drama. Gogglebox has taken home the prize for best factual entertainment, with Sheridan Smith's I Fought the Law winning best new drama. The event was hosted by Joel Dommett, for his sixth consecutive year.
Our Girls: The Southport Families is available on BBC and iPlayer.
