The Stage

Willoughby is best presenter at kids’ Baftas

Published Monday 27 November 2006 at 15:55 by Liz Thomas

CITV’s Holly Willoughby took home the award for best TV presenter at the Bafta Children’s Awards, seeing off competition from CBBC at the London ceremony.

In another blow to the Corporation, Five programme Michaela’s Wild Challenge beat kids’ stalwart Blue Peter to secure the accolade in factual programming, while the public service broadcaster also lost out in the category for best TV channel to Nickelodeon UK.

There was some good news for the BBC in the entertainment section, with adventure game show Raven, which stars James MacKenzie as an ancient Scottish warlord guiding rival teams, winning the award in that genre.

Nigel Pickard, a former controller of children’s television both and the BBC and ITV and who is now at ‘super-indie’ RDF Media, received the outstanding achievement award.

In film, popular animated pair Wallace and Gromit bagged the accolade for Curse of the Were-Rabbit, while Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire won the Bafta Kids’ Vote, seeing of competition from silver screen hits including, Cars, Chicken Little, the Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. The award is the only public vote and is chosen by around 100,000 children.