It was a wet and windy Friday night, but that did not dim the mood of the audience at the annual Grierson Awards, held at the Royal Geographical Society in London. As the sound-checks were carried out in preparation for the show's recording for BBC Four, the floor manager commented on the jubilant applause, which certainly did not dim during the evening's celebration.
In a fitting move Rageh Omaar, now heading up the documentary strand Witness on the newly-launched Al Jazeera International, stepped up to the podium to present the ceremony. Among the winners announced were Asylum, Peter Gordon's film about asylum seekers in Britain, which was awarded the Best Documentary on a Contemporary Issue from among a strong list of nominations.
Also triumphing in strong categories were Russian Godfathers, the BBC Two series on the rise of the Russian oligarchy, Take That for the Record in the Arts category and Darwin's Nightmare, which won the award for Best Cinema Documentary.
The Best Newcomer Award went to Clare Richards for Disabled and Looking for Love, about four people with disabilities who are looking for a partner with the help of a group called The Outsiders. Richards collected the award and dedicated it to her contributors, one of whom was in the audience. All five films in this category were incredibly powerful.
The fascinating and moving film The Queen of Trees from the BBC's Natural World strand picked up the award for Best Documentary on Science and the Natural World for Victoria Stone and Mark Deeble of Flat Dog Productions, while the Trustee's Award went to Mike Salisbury of the BBC's revered Natural History Unit.
Here is the full list of winners and nominees:
Best Documentary on a Contemporary Issue
Asylum (Peter Gordon for BBC) BBC Four
Gaza: The Fight for Israel (Monica Garnsey for Raw TV Ltd & Israel Goldvicht
Productions) Channel 4
Women on the Edge: The Truth About Styal Prison (Rachel Coughlan for
BBC) BBC Two
A World Without Water (Brian Woods for True Vision Productions) Channel 4
Best Documentary on the Arts
Imagine: Andy Warhol Denied (Chris Rodley for BBC) BBC One
The Photographer, His Wife, Her Lover (Paul Yule for Berwick Universal
Pictures) BBC Four
Sinatra: Dark Star (Christopher Olgiati for Paladin Invision) BBC One
Take That For The Record (David Notman-Watt for talkbackTHAMES in association with Syco TV) ITV 1
Best Historical Documentary
Elusive Peace - Israel and the Arabs (Mark Anderson and Norma Percy for Brook Lapping Productions) BBC Two
How Vietnam Was Lost (Two Days In October) (Robert Kenner for Robert Kenner films) BBC One Timewatch: Pol Pot - Journey to the Killing Fields (Andrew Williams for BBC) BBC Two
Tory! Tory! Tory! (Sam Collyns and Don Jordan for Mentorn) BBC Four
Best Documentary on Science or the Natural World
Horizon: Ghost in your Genes (Nigel Paterson for BBC) BBC Two
Life in the Undergrowth: Invasion of the Land (Peter Bassett for BBC) BBC One
Monkey Love (Brian Henry Martin for Doubleband Films) More4
The Natural World: The Queen of Trees (Victoria Stone and Mark Deeble for Flat Dog Productions) BBC Two
Frontier Post Most Entertaining Documentary
Censored At The Seaside: The Saucy Postcards of Donald McGill (Steve Webb for Firefly Productions) BBC Two
Live 8: Programme One: Twenty Years Ago Today (Anna Davies for Brook Lapping Productions) BBC One
Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares: Prog 3 - Momma Cherri’s (Christine Hall for Optomen Television) Channel 4
Taxidermy: Stuff The World (Morgan Matthews for Century Films) BBC Two
Best Drama Documentary
Elizabeth David – A Life in Recipes (James Kent for Wall to Wall) BBC Two
Kenneth Williams: Fantabulosa! (Andy De Emmony for BBC) BBC Four
Hiroshima (Paul Wilmshurst for BBC) BBC One
The Year London Blew Up (Edmund Coulthard and Mark Hayhurst for Blast Films) Channel 4
Best Documentary Series
49 Up (Michael Apted for Granada Television) ITV 1
Cult of the Suicide Bomber (David Batty and Kevin Toolis for Many Rivers Productions) Channel 4
My Life as a Child (Nicola Gibson and Dermot Caulfield for BBC) BBC Two
Russian Godfathers (Patrick Forbes for Oxford Film & Television) BBC Two
UK Film Council Best Cinema Documentary
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (Alex Gibney for HD Net Films)
The Road to Guantanamo (Michael Winterbottom and Matt Whitecross for Revolution Films) Channel 4
Storyville: Darwin’s Nightmare (Hubert Sauper for Mille et Une, Coop 99 & Saga Film) BBC Four
Unknown White Male (Rupert Murray for Spectre Broadcast Ltd) More4
Bloomberg Best Newcomer Award
Astrid Bussink for Angelmakers
Clare Richards for Disabled and Looking for Love
Vaughan Pilikian for Hammer and Flame
Nicki Stoker for Show Me the Money
Sadik Ahmed for Tanju Miah
Trustees' Award
The Grierson Trust will also present the Trustees’ Award, which recognises an outstanding contribution to the art or craft of the Documentary. The award will be presented to Mike Salisbury, producer of many landmark series for the BBC Natural History Unit, including Life of Mammals and Life in the Undergrowth.