TV show featuring Kettering 'reporters' Nish Kumar and Josh Widdicombe nominated for top comedy award

Hold the Front Page, the TV series that saw comedians Josh Widdicombe and Nish Kumar working as reporters for the Northants Telegraph, has been nominated for a Rose d’Or 2023.

Nominees, announced this week, were selected from more than 700 entries across 13 categories with finalists voted for by a jury of more than 100 broadcast industry bigwigs.

The TV series made by Sky has been nominated for an award in the Comedy Entertainment category, along with A Whole Lifetime with Jamie Demetriou, German Genius, Gregg Wallace: The British Miracle Meat, Untold Studios/Channel 4/UK, Prince Andrew The Musical and Taskmaster Series 15.

Posting with a picture of him and Nish on Instagram on Tuesday, Josh said: “Just found out we have been nominated for a Rose D'or for series 1, we're coming for you German Genius!"

The Northants Telegraph made headlines when it featured in the Sky series, released in January 2023.

Produced by Gavin Whitehead, Nish and Josh joined multimedia reporter Alison Bagley in the Kettering newsroom battling it out to secure the most web hits.

Covering a breadth of stories, the pair reported live from a bee extraction in Mawsley, enlisted the help of Kettering comedian James Acaster to report from Wicksteed Park and designed a spectacular firework display.

The prestigious Rose d’Or Awards define the gold standard for excellence and achievement in International TV and Audio programme making.

Jean Philip De Tender, deputy director general/director media, EBU, said: “As always, the judges had the privilege of sifting through a wide range of high-quality entries, showcasing exceptional international talent from front-of-camera and behind-the-scenes. My heartfelt congratulations go out to the successful nominees.”

Mark Rowland, chairman of the Rose d’Or Awards, said: “We’ve seen an incredible breadth of topics and creative approaches from entrants across 30 countries. A huge thank you to everyone who entered and many congratulations to the talented production teams who have reached this final stage.”

During the award ceremony on November 27 at King’s Place in London, special individual awards will also be presented for Emerging Talent, Performance of the Year and Lifetime Achievement.