Soap gets awards boost

Night and Day was in a tough time slot

ITV1 soap Night and Day has been shortlisted for six of the 10 categories at this year's British Soap Awards.

The soap, which was axed from its teatime slot last month, has done better than all of its competitors with the exception of EastEnders and Coronation Street.

Aimed as a replacement for Home and Away, which was snapped up by Channel 5, Night and Day has struggled against The Weakest Link on BBC Two and Channel 4's Richard and Judy.

New soaps take a long time to establish themselves

Damien Timmer
LWT

But that did not stop it taking more shortlist places for the categories voted for by critics than Emmerdale, Brookside, Hollyoaks, Crossroads, and Family Affairs.

Its November launch only brought viewing figures of 2.2 million and it has fallen to an average audience of a million.

A Thursday night "adult edition" of the soap will continue for another year.

Lesley Joseph who plays Rachel Culgrin is up for best comedy performance and a nod for best newcomer could go to Georgina Walker who plays Jane Harper.

Voter awards

The soap is also shortlisted for best storyline, best exit, hero of the year and best single episode.

Critics on the panel include Heat's Boyd Hilton, Charlie Catchpole from Express Newspapers and Tina Baker from TV Times.

Six other awards at the ceremony - taking place on the 18 May and broadcast on ITV1 on Wednesday 22 May at 2000 BST - will also be voted for by viewers.

"We're thrilled Night and Day has received so many nominations," said Damien Timmer, the head of drama at LWT United Productions told Media Guardian.

"New soaps take a long time to establish themselves, so for us to make this much impact after only a few months on screen is beyond our wildest dreams."

Spectacular scene

Last year EastEnders won the best British soap award, with the special achievement Award going to Brookside creator Phil Redmond.

EastEnders also scooped best actor and best actress Awards for Natalie Cassidy and Martin Kemp, with Coronation Street's Georgia Taylor collecting the award for best dramatic performance.

This year there are four nominations for the most spectacular scene.

The Brookside bungalow fire competes with Duggie's death in Coronation Street, the departure of Steve Owen from EastEnders and Adam and Mandy's car crash in Hollyoaks.