Jason Manford will present programme of past highlights from the awards show, which has been postponed this year due to the coronavirus outbreak

The Olivier awards, the most prestigious prize ceremony in UK theatre, is to broadcast a special programme next month on the night it would have presented its 2020 awards show, which was cancelled as a result of the coronavirus lockdown.

Jason Manford, who had been due to host the ceremony at the Royal Albert Hall in London, will present the hour-long programme, revisiting Olivier ceremonies over the past 10 years. There will be archive footage of performances and speeches, and a celebration of award-winning productions including Dreamgirls, Hamilton, The Lion King and Matilda.



The programme will be broadcast on ITV on Sunday 5 April at 10.15pm. Magic Radio will broadcast its own two-hour celebration from 6pm to 8pm on the same evening.

Nominations for the Olivier awards 2020 were announced on 3 March. The ceremony revealing the winners has been postponed and is likely to be held in the autumn. The show leading this year’s nominations, with a total of nine, is the jukebox musical & Juliet. Trevor Nunn’s revival of Fiddler on the Roof has eight nominations and the new American musical Dear Evan Hansen has seven.

Julian Bird, the executive producer of the Olivier awards and chief executive of the Society of London Theatre, said: “Amid unprecedentedly difficult times for our theatre community, we look forward to providing audiences with a unique celebration of the last 10 years of incredible, world-leading British theatre honoured at the Olivier awards.”