Owen Cooper, 16, won two prizes at the Royal Television Society's Programme Awards 2026, held at London's JW Marriott Grosvenor House Hotel on Tuesday. The actor took home both the Breakthrough and Support Actor – Male awards for his role in Netflix's Adolescence, which also won Best Limited Series and Single Drama.
Judges described Cooper 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'. His co-star Stephen Graham won Best Writer in the drama category alongside Jack Thorne for the same series.
Erin Doherty presented the Judges' Award to Stephen Graham, his wife Hannah Walters, and Matriarch Productions for providing a platform for under-represented voices and authentic storytelling. The BBC dominated the night with 16 awards, including Entertainment and Reality prizes for The Celebrity Traitors.
Hamza Yassin won his first RTS Award in the Presenter category for Hamza's Hidden Wild Isles, while Gabby Logan was named Sports Presenter, Commentator or Pundit for her work on the Women's Rugby World Cup. Blue Lights won Best Drama Series, and EastEnders took Best Soap and Continuing Drama.
Netflix won five awards, with Grenfell: Uncovered winning Single Documentary. Other winners included Last One Laughing (Comedy Entertainment), Big Boys (Comedy Drama), and Steve Coogan for male Comedy Performance. Monty Python legend Sir Michael Palin received the Outstanding Achievement Award.
