NTAs 2013: You’d expect Benedict Cumberbatch to stroll it for best actor...(RADIO TIMES)

"... but if there’s a Doctor in the house the smart money might be on last year’s winner, Matt Smith," says David Butcher ahead of this year's National Television Awards

David Butcher

12:28 PM, 11 January 2013

Television can be a snooty business. When the National Television Awards started in 1995 there were those who muttered that having the public decide on industry prizes was akin to letting the barbarians through the gates and offering them canapés.

After all, what did ordinary punters know? Much better, some thought, to do things in the traditional Bafta style, with juries of the great and the glamorous making decisions behind closed doors. Preferably the closed doors of a plush hotel, with nice goody bags to take home afterwards.

That year, Bafta anointed Between the Lines as its best drama. You may or may not remember it – Neil Pearson, police thriller, dark and moody? No, I thought not. I loved every minute and I can’t remember it, either.

READ MORE: http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2013-01-11/ntas-2013-youd-expect-benedict-cumberbatch-to-stroll-it-for-best-actor