BBC producer nominated for National Television Award

A Jewish producer has been nominated for a National Television Award for a moving documentary about the late Dame Deborah James, who lost her five-year battle with bowel cancer in June 2022 at the age of 40.

BBC Lucie Kon is one of several Jewish creatives given a nod in the Awards which will be announced in September.

She met James, who was diagnosed with incurable bowel cancer in 2017 aged just 35, during the pandemic, when she was fighting her own battle with breast cancer. The two initially made a Panorama programme together about the impact of Covid on cancer treatment.

Kon then led a “brilliant team” to make ‘Bowelbabe in Her Own Words’, an 80-minute, incredibly moving portrayal of the final weeks of James’s battle. It is testament to the strong friendship between the two women.

Speaking to Jewish News about the nomination, BBC producer and commissioning editor Kon said she was incredibly proud of the team behind it:

“I am so pleased and proud that Deborah’s film has made the NTA shortlist. She would be so excited and busy posting on Instagram asking people to vote. We started making the film with Deborah when she was alive and she was adamant that we worked with her family to finish it when she realised she wouldn’t be able to see it through to completion.

“It’s going to be very special to go with her family and the team who made the film to the NTAs and celebrate the amazing Debs. She loved a party. I wish she could be there with us.

Also nominated this year are Money Saving Expert’s Martin Lewis, for both the ‘Best Presenter Award’ alongside Claudia Winkleman, and ‘Best Factual Programme’ for The Martin Lewis Money Show Live and Maureen Lipman, ‘Best Serial Drama Performance’, for her role as Evelyn Plummer in TV soap Coronation Street.

The awards are open to the public to vote, with winners announced live at The O2 London from 8pm on Tuesday 5th September.

Bowelbabe in Her Own Words is available to watch on iPlayer.