British Comedy Awards: Olivia Colman nominated twice

Colman plays priest's wife Alex Smallbone in BBC Two sitcom Rev

Olivia Colman has been nominated twice in the best actress category at the British Comedy Awards.

The 38-year-old is recognised for roles in two BBC shows - religious sitcom Rev and Olympic satire Twenty Twelve.

The latter leads this year's awards field, with four nominations in total.

Colman has already had a successful year, winning multiple awards for her portrayal of a charity shop worker abused by her husband in the gritty, downbeat drama Tyrannosaur.

BBC One's Twenty Twelve is shortlisted for best sitcom, while Downton Abbey star Hugh Bonneville is in the running for best actor, for his portrayal of Ian Fletcher, head of deliverance at the Olympic Deliverance Commission.

Colman is nominated for her role as his long-suffering assistant, Sally Owen.

She faces competition from her Twenty Twelve co-star Jessica Hynes, who plays jargon-spewing PR consultant Siobhan Sharpe, and The Thick Of It's Rebecca Front, for her portrayal of bungling MP Nicola Murray.

The Thick Of It is one of five programmes to receive three nominations - alongside The Graham Norton Show, Rev, Cardinal Burns and Harry Hill's TV Burp, which broadcast its last ever episode in March.

TV Burp ended in March after 11 series

For the first time, the best newcomer category is dominated by a non-terrestrial broadcaster - with Sky filling three of the four available slots.

The satellite company has been ploughing more resources into original programming, promising to spend £600m on homegrown productions by 2014.

It has impressed the comedy award judges by persuading Steve Coogan to return to his Alan Partridge character in Welcome To Places In My Life; and by commissioning Bridesmaids' star Chris O'Dowd to recount his Irish upbringing in Moone Boy.

Also nominated for best newcomer are Hunderby, a period comedy created by Nighty Night star Julia Davis, and E4 sketch show Cardinal Burns.

The award winners will be announced live on Channel 4 on Wednesday, 12 December.

Full list of nominees:

Best New Comedy Programme

• Alan Partridge: Welcome to Places in My Life

• Cardinal Burns

• Hunderby

• Moone Boy

Best Comedy Entertainment Programme

• Alan Carr Chatty Man

• Celebrity Juice

• Harry Hill's TV Burp

• The Graham Norton Show

Best Sketch Show

• Cardinal Burns

• Facejacker

• Horrible Histories

• Very Important People

Best Sitcom

• Hunderby

• Rev

• The Thick of It

• Twenty Twelve

Best Comedy Entertainment Personality

• Charlie Brooker (Charlie Brooker's 2011 Wipe)

• Graham Norton (The Graham Norton Show)

• Harry Hill (Harry Hill's TV Burp)

• Stephen Fry (QI)

Best TV Comedy Actor

• Hugh Bonneville (Twenty Twelve)

• Peter Capaldi (The Thick of It)

• Steve Coogan (Alan Partridge: Welcome to the Places of My Life)

• Tom Hollander (Rev)

Best TV Comedy Actress

• Jessica Hynes (Twenty Twelve)

• Olivia Colman (Rev)

• Olivia Colman (Twenty Twelve)

• Rebecca Front (The Thick of It)

Best Comedy Breakthrough Artist

• David Rawle (Moone Boy)

• Morgana Robinson (Very Important People)

• Nina Conti (Make Me Happy: A Monkey's Search for Enlightenment)

• Seb Cardinal & Dustin Demri-Burns(Cardinal Burns)

Best Male Television Comic

• David Mitchell (Would I Lie to You)

• Harry Hill (Harry Hill's TV Burp)

• Lee Mack (Would I Lie to You)

• Sean Lock (8 Out of 10 Cats)

Best Female Television Comic

• Jo Brand(Have I Got News For You)

• Nina Conti (Make Me Happy: A Monkey's Search for Enlightenment)

• Sarah Millican (The Sarah Millican Television Programme)

• Sue Perkins (Have I Got News For You)

King and Queen of Comedy (public vote)

• Alan Carr

• David Mitchell

• Graham Norton

• Jack Whitehall

• Lee Mack

• Sarah Millican