Line of Duty dominates drama category as NTAs 2021 longlists revealed – voting opens today

The NTAs released its 2021 longlists today for all 15 categories ahead of this year's live ceremony, hosted by Joel Dommett from The O2 London, with Line of Duty being recognised five times within the drama categories.

Our favourite AC-12 trio – Adrian Dunbar (Ted Hastings), Vicky McClure (Kate Fleming) and Martin Compston (Steve Arnott) – all feature in the Drama Performance longlist, as does series six's guest star Kelly Macdonald, who played Jo Davidson, the potentially corrupt copper investigating journalist Gail Vella's murder.

The Jed Mercurio drama tied in first place for the most nominations in the category along with Netflix's royal drama The Crown, for which Emma Corrin (Princess Diana), Gillian Anderson (Margaret Thatcher), Josh O'Connor (Prince Charles) and Olivia Colman (Queen Elizabeth II) were honoured in the longlist.

Line of Duty's awards success should come as no surprise considering the police drama broke viewing records with the 12.8 million fans who tuned in to watch series six's early May finale, while The Crown proved to be one of the most popular Netflix shows of 2020.

Both series were nominated for Returning Drama, while Bridgerton's Phoebe Dynevor (Daphne Bridgerton) and Regé-Jean Page (Duke of Hastings), Normal People's Daisy Edgar-Jones (Marianne) and Paul Mescal (Connell), and It's A Sin's Olly Alexander (Ritchie) were also notable nominees in the Drama Performance category.

In the Comedy longlist, both BBC One's Staged and Netflix's Sex Education featured, while popular entertainment shows This Is My House, Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway and Taskmaster were nominated for the Bruce Forsyth Entertainment Award.

Disney Plus received its first NTA nomination for Marvel spin-off series WandaVision, with the series popping up in the New Drama longlist alongside the likes of Des, Bridgerton, Bloodlands and Lupin.

The public will be able to vote for which shows and performances should make it to the NTAs shortlist from Tuesday 25th May until Friday 4th June, with the NTAs announcing the official shortlist in August.

Click here for all the information you need on how to vote in the NTAs.

Plus, check out the full longlists on the official NTAs website.

The National Television Awards 2021 will take place on 9th September at The 02 London. You can see the full longlists and book tickets at the National TV Awards website. Check out our TV Guide to find something to watch, or visit our Drama hub for all the latest news.