Comeback Noel lined up for TV Bafta

Noel Edmonds has capped his comeback with a nomination for a TV Bafta, it was announced today.

The presenter's Channel 4 quiz show Deal Or No Deal has become a surprise ratings success.

Now the show has earned Edmonds a place on the shortlist for best entertainment performance, his first ever Bafta nomination.

The 57-year-old will compete with Jeremy Clarkson for Top Gear, Jonathan Ross for Friday Night With Jonathan Ross and Jack Dee for Jack Dee Live At The Apollo.

Edmonds' last series, Noel's House Party, was axed in 1999 and his TV career seemed over.

But Deal Or No Deal, a game of luck in which contestants vie for up to £250,000 has become one of Channel 4's biggest success stories with an audience of five million.

The presenter is reportedly set to sign a new £3 million deal with the broadcaster.

The British Academy Television Awards take place on May 7.

Davina McCall will host the ceremony from London's Grosvenor House Hotel.

Former X-Files star Gillian Anderson has a best actress nomination for her performance in the BBC's Bleak House.

The lavish Dickens adaptation leads the field with four nominations - there is also a best actress nomination for Anderson's co-star Anna Maxwell Martin, while Denis Lawson is up for best actor and the programme is in the running for best drama serial.

The Queen's Sister, the controversial drama about Princess Margaret's life is also nominated in the best single drama category, while Lucy Cohu is nominated for best actress for playing the title role.

Bernard Hill's performance as former Home Secretary David Blunkett in A Very Social Secretary has earned him a best actor nomination.

Coronation Street and EastEnders will go head-to-head in the best continuing drama category, but there is no place for Emmerdale. Instead the soaps will compete with Casualty and Holby City.

Doctor Who, Shameless, Spooks and Bodies are nominated for best drama series.

Best entertainment programme will be a contest between Strictly Come Dancing, The X Factor, Have I Got News For You and Friday Night With Jonathan Ross.

BBC4 political satire The Thick Of It has three nominations - best sitcom and best comedy performance for Chris Langham and Peter Capaldi.

In the best features category, The Apprentice will do battle with Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, Dragon's Den and Top Gear.

Other nominees include Extras (best sitcom and best comedy performance for Ashley Jensen), Jamie's School Dinners (best factual series), BBC2's Bob Dylan documentary No Direction Home (best specialist factual) and Channel 4's coverage of England's Ashes victory (best sport).

The awards will be broadcast on ITV1.

ITV has just seven of the 76 nominations.

The BBC has 47 and Channel 4 has 20, while Five and Sky have one apiece.

Full list of nominations:

Best Actor

* Bernard Hill - A Very Social Secretary (More4)

* Denis Lawson - Bleak House (BBC1)

* Mark Rylance - The Government Inspector (Channel 4)

* Rufus Sewell - The Taming of the Shrew (BBC1)

Best Actress

* Gillian Anderson - Bleak House (BBC1)

* Lucy Cohu - The Queen's Sister (Channel 4)

* Anne-Marie Duff - Shameless (Channel 4)

* Anna Maxwell Martin - Bleak House (BBC1)

Best Entertainment Performance

* Jeremy Clarkson - Top Gear (BBC2)

* Jack Dee - Jack Dee Live at the Apollo (BBC1)

* Noel Edmonds - Deal Or No Deal (Channel 4)

* Jonathan Ross - Friday Night With Jonathan Ross (BBC1)

Best Comedy Performance

* Peter Capaldi - The Thick Of It (BBC4)

* Ashley Jensen - Extras (BBC2)

* Chris Langham - The Thick Of It (BBC4)

* Catherine Tate - The Catherine Tate Show (BBC2)

Best Single Drama

* The Government Inspector (Channel 4)

* Much Ado About Nothing (BBC1)

* The Queen's Sister (Channel 4)

* Red Dust (BBC2)

Best Drama Series

* Bodies (BBC3)

* Doctor Who (BBC1)

* Shameless (Channel 4)

* Spooks (BBC1)

Best Drama Serial

* Bleak House (BBC1)

* Fingersmith (BBC1)

* Funland (BBC3)

* To The Ends of the Earth (BBC2)

Best Continuing Drama

* Casualty (BBC1)

* Coronation Street (ITV1)

* EastEnders (BBC1)

* Holby City (BBC1)

Best Factual Series

* 49UP (ITV1)

* Cocaine (Channel 4)

* Coast (BBC2)

* Jamie's School Dinners (Channel 4)

Huw Wheldon Award for Specialist Factual

* The Boy With The Incredible Brain (Five)

* Life in the Undergrowth (BBC1)

* Holocaust, A Music Memorial Film from Auschwitz (BBC2)

* No Direction Home - Bob Dylan (BBC2)

Flaherty Award for Single Documentary

* Children of Beslan (BBC2)

* Make Me Normal (Channel 4)

* The Real Sex Traffic (Channel 4)

* Taxidermy: Stuff the World (BBC2)

Best Feature

* The Apprentice (BBC2)

* Dragon's Den (BBC2)

* Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares (Channel 4)

* Top Gear (BBC2)

Best Sport

* The Ashes: England v Australia (Channel 4)

* Champions League Final Live: AC Milan v Liverpool (ITV1)

* Formula One - US Grand Prix (ITV1)

* The Open Golf Championship - Final Round of Jack Nicklaus (BBC2)

Best News Coverage

* Channel 4 News - The Attorney General Story

* BBC Ten O'Clock News - 7th July 2005 - London Bombs

* ITV Evening News - The Shooting of Jean Charles De Menezes

* Sky News - 7th July Bombings

Best Current Affairs

* A Panorama Special: Undercover Nurse (BBC1)

* Dispatches: Beslan (Channel 4)

* Dispatches: Iraq - The Reckoning (Channel 4)

* Storyville: A Company of Soldiers (BBC4)

Best Interactivity

* Channel 4 News/Breaking The News

* Coast (BBC)

* Not Forgotten/Lost Generation (Channel 4)

* Shakespeare's Stories (BBC)

Lew Grade Award for Best Entertainment Programme

* Friday Night With Jonathan Ross (BBC1)

* Have I Got News For You (BBC1)

* Strictly Come Dancing (BBC1)

* The X Factor (ITV1)

Best Sitcom

* Extras (BBC2)

* Peep Show (Channel 4)

* The Thick of It (BBC4)

* The Worst Week of My Life (BBC1)

Best Comedy Programme or Series

* The Catherine Tate Show (BBC2)

* Creature Comforts (ITV1)

* Help (BBC2)

* Little Britain (BBC1/BBC3)