Victoria Wood became the first woman to receive the top prize from the Writers' Guild Awards last night, after she was honoured for her outstanding contribution to writing.
Clips of Wood's work - including Dinnerladies, Acorn Antiques and her famous comedy song Let's Do It - were played to the awards' audience, as the writer and actress was recognised for her glittering career in British television.
Other comedy writers honoured at the awards included Jesse Armstrong, Sam Bain and Simon Blackwell, who won Best Television Comedy for Peep Show (beating Lead Balloon's Pete Sinclair and Jack Dee, and the writers of Rev, James Wood and Jonathan Harvey). Peter Bowker won the Best Television Short-Form Drama award for his dramatisation of the early lives of Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise, Eric & Ernie.
Attack the Block writer-director Joe Cornish was among those beaten by Simon Beaufoy and Danny Boyle to the the Best Film Screenplay award - Beaufoy and Boyle picking up the gong for their drama 127 Hours.
Writer-performer John Finnemore won the award for Best Radio Comedy for Cabin Pressure; while comedian Howard Read, together with writing partner Chris Chantler, won Best Children's Television Script for their Why Do Things Have To Die? episode of Little Howard's Big Question