| British Academy Television Award | |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Presented by | British Academy of Film and Television Arts |
| First awarded | 1992 |
| Currently held by | Top Boy (2024) |
| Website | http://www.bafta.org/ |
The British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Series is one of the major categories of the British Academy Television Awards (BAFTAs), the primary awards ceremony of the British television industry. The category is described on the official BAFTA website as being open a drama series "of between two and 19 episodes, that is intended to return." [1]
The category has been through several name and category changes:
From 1992 onwards, [2] the category was split in two, with a separate Best Drama Serial category also established.
Inspector Morse , Cracker , The Cops , The Street and Happy Valley have all won the category twice, all except the last in successive years.
Best Drama Production
| Year | Recipient(s) |
|---|---|
| 1958 | Rudolph Cartier |
| 1959 | Silvio Narizzano |
Best Drama Production
| Year | Recipient(s) | Title |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | William Kotcheff | |
| 1961 | Peter Dews | |
| 1962 | Andrew Osborn | |
| 1963 | David Rose, Charles Jarrott | |
| 1964 | John Jacobs | |
| 1965 | Philip Saville | |
| 1966 | Peter Hammond | The Count of Monte Cristo Contract To Kill Hereward The Wake I Took My World Away Ambrose |
| Cyril Coke | Crime and Punishment The Rules of the Game Four of Hearts | |
| Charles Jarrott | Captain Carvallo The Big Breaker The Young Elizabeth The Tea Party | |
| Production Team | The Wars of the Roses | |
| 1967 | Ken Loach | |
| 1968 | Ken Loach | |
| 1969 | Anthony Page | Parachute |
Best Drama Series
| Year | Recipient(s) | Title |
|---|---|---|
| 1964 | Philip Mackie | |
| 1965 | Rex Firkin | |
| 1966 | Philip Mackie, Silvio Narizzano | Paris 1900 The Changeling Women Beware Women The Old Boys, The Babysitter |
| Peter Graham Scott | Mogul Memory of October The Campaign Redcap Danger Man | |
| Stella Richman | Missing Believe Killed Hidden Truth: One of the Hampshire Pargeters Take Care of Madam, Kill Me! | |
| Ralph Smart | Danger Man | |
| 1967 | Peter Graham Scott | |
Best Drama Production
| Year | Title | Recipient(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | The Letter Nora You've Made Your Bed Now Lie On It | Christopher Morahan |
| Rembrandt | Rudolph Cartier | |
| A Voyage Round My Father | Claude Whatham | |
| 1971 | The Lie | Alan Bridges |
| Callan | Reginald Collin | |
| Mad Jack | Jack Gold | |
| The Roads To Freedom | James Cellan Jones | |
| The Six Wives Of Henry VIII | Ronald Travers, Mark Shivas | |
| The Six Wives Of Henry VIII: Catherine Of Aragon | John Glenister | |
| 1972 | Edna, The Inebriate Woman | Ted Kotcheff |
| Cider With Rosie | Claude Whatham | |
| Eyeless In Gaza | James Cellan Jones | |
| The Snow Goose | Patrick Garland | |
| Upstairs, Downstairs (for "Episode 1") | John Hawkesworth | |
Best Drama Series
| Year | Title | Recipient(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | W Somerset Maugham Series | Verity Lambert |
| Callan | Reginald Collin | |
| The Gold Robbers | John Hawkesworth | |
Best Drama Series or Serial
Best Drama Series or Serial
Best Drama Series
| Year | Title | Recipient(s) | Broadcaster |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | The Life and Loves of a She-Devil | Sally Head, Philip Saville | BBC Two |
| All Passion Spent | Colin Rogers, Martyn Friend | BBC | |
| The Monocled Mutineer | Richard Broke, Jim O'Brien | BBC One | |
| The Singing Detective | Kenith Trodd, John Harris, Jon Amiel | ||
| Paradise Postponed | Jacqueline Davis, Alvin Rakoff | ITV | |
| A Very Peculiar Practice | Ken Riddington, David Tucker | BBC Two | |
| 1988 | Tutti Frutti | Andy Park, Tony Smith | BBC Scotland |
| Fortunes of War | Betty Willingale, James Cellan Jones | BBC One | |
| Porterhouse Blue | Brian Eastman, Robert Knights | Channel 4 | |
| A Perfect Spy | Colin Rogers, Peter Smith | BBC Two | |
| 1989 | A Very British Coup | Alan Plater, Anne Skinner, Sally Hibbin, Mick Jackson | Channel 4 |
| Blind Justice | Peter Flannery, Michael Wearing, Robert Walker, Michael Whyte | BBC One | |
| Talking Heads | Alan Bennett, Innes Lloyd | ||
| Rumpole of the Bailey | John Mortimer, Jacqueline Davis | ITV | |
Best Drama Series or Serial
| Year | Title | Recipient(s) | Broadcaster |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Traffik | Simon Moore, Brian Eastman, Alastair Reid | Channel 4 |
| Inspector Morse | Chris Burt | ITV | |
| Summer's Lease | John Mortimer, Colin Rogers, Martyn Friend | BBC Two | |
| Mother Love | Andrew Davies, Ken Riddington, Simon Langton | BBC One | |
| 1991 | Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit | Jeanette Winterson, Phillippa Giles, Beeban Kidron | BBC Two |
| Agatha Christie's Poirot | Brian Eastman | ITV | |
| Inspector Morse | David Lascelles | ||
| House of Cards | Andrew Davies, Ken Riddington, Paul Seed | BBC | |
Best Drama Series
| Year | Title | Recipient(s) | Production company | Broadcaster |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | The Cops | World Productions | BBC Two | |
| Cold Feet | Christine Langan, Mike Bullen | Granada Television | ITV | |
| Playing the Field | Greg Brenman, Hugh Warren, Kay Mellor | Tiger Aspect Productions | BBC One | |
| Psychos | Kudos Film & Television | Channel 4 | ||
| 2001 | Clocking Off | Nicola Shindler, Ann Harrison-Baxter, Paul Abbott | Red Production Company | BBC One |
| The Cops | World Productions | BBC Two | ||
| Fat Friends | Kay Mellor, Gareth Morgan | Rollem Productions, Tiger Aspect Productions, Yorkshire Television | ITV | |
| The Sins | Liza Marshall, William Ivory | BBC Television | BBC One | |
| 2002 | Cold Feet | Andy Harries, Spencer Campbell, Mike Bullen | Granada Television | ITV |
| Clocking Off | Nicola Shindler, Juliet Charlesworth, Paul Abbott | Red Production Company | BBC One | |
| At Home with the Braithwaites | Carolyn Reynolds, Jacky Stoller, Sally Wainright | Yorkshire Television | ITV | |
| Tales from Pleasure Beach | Madonna Baptiste, Edmund Coulthard, Roger Williams | Blast! Film Productions | BBC Two | |
| 2003 | Spooks | Kudos Film & Television | BBC One | |
| Teachers | Jane Fallon, Rhonda Smith | Tiger Aspect Productions | Channel 4 | |
| Clocking Off | Red Production Company | BBC One | ||
| Cutting It | Debbie Horsfield, Diederick Santer, Andy De Emmony | BBC Television | ||
| 2004 | Buried | World Productions | Channel 4 | |
| Clocking Off | Red Production Company | BBC One | ||
| Foyle's War | Greenlit Productions | ITV | ||
| William and Mary | Trevor Hopkins, Stuart Orme, Mick Ford | Meridian Broadcasting | ||
| 2005 | Shameless | Company Pictures | Channel 4 | |
| Spooks | Jane Featherstone, Simon Crawford Collins, Andrew Woodhead | Kudos Film & Television | BBC One | |
| Bodies | Mark Redhead, Sue de Beauvoir, Jed Mercurio | Hat Trick Productions | BBC Three | |
| Conviction | Red Production Team | |||
| 2006 | Doctor Who | Phil Collinson, Russell T Davies, Julie Gardner | BBC Wales | BBC One |
| Bodies | Mark Redhead, Sue de Beauvoir, Jed Mercurio | Hat Trick Productions | BBC Three | |
| Shameless | Company Pictures | Channel 4 | ||
| Spooks | Kudos Film & Television | BBC One | ||
| 2007 | The Street | Jimmy McGovern, Sita Williams, David Blair, Ken Horn | Granada Productions | BBC One |
| Shameless | Company Pictures | Channel 4 | ||
| Sugar Rush | Shine Productions | |||
| Life on Mars | Kudos Film & Television | BBC One | ||
| 2008 | The Street | Jimmy McGovern, Sita Williams, Terry McDonough, John Chapman | Granada Productions | BBC One |
| Rome | John Melfi, Anne Thomopoulos, Bruno Heller, Tim Van Patten | HBO | BBC Two | |
| Life on Mars | Kudos Film & Television | BBC One | ||
| Skins | Company Pictures | Channel 4 | ||
| 2009 | Wallander | Richard Cottan, Kenneth Branagh, Philip Martin, Francis Hopkinson | Left Bank Pictures, Yellow Bird, TKBC | BBC One |
| Shameless | Paul Abbott, George Faber, John Griffin, Johann Knobel | Company Pictures | Channel 4 | |
| Doctor Who | Phil Collinson, Russell T Davies, Julie Gardner, Susie Liggat | BBC Wales | BBC One | |
| Spooks | Kudos Film & Television | |||
| Year | Title | Recipient(s) | Production company | Broadcaster |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | The End of the F***ing World | Clerkenwell Films | Channel 4 | |
| The Crown | Peter Morgan, Suzanne Mackie, Benjamin Caron, Michael Casey | Left Bank Pictures | Netflix | |
| Gentleman Jack | Sally Wainwright, Faith Penhale, Laura Lankester, Phil Collinson | Lookout Point | BBC One | |
| Giri/Haji | Sister Pictures | BBC Two | ||
| 2021 [3] | Save Me Too | Simon Heath, Jessica Sykes, Lennie James, Lizzie Rusbridger, Coky Giedroyc, Jim Loach | World Productions | Sky Atlantic |
| The Crown | Peter Morgan, Suzanne Mackie, Michael Casey, Oona O’Beirn, Andy Stebbing, Martin Harrison | Left Bank Pictures in association with Sony Pictures Television | Netflix | |
| Gangs of London | Gareth Evans, Matt Flannery, Thomas Benski, Jane Featherstone, Lucas Ochoa, Hugh Warren | Pulse Films, Sister Studios | Sky Atlantic | |
| I Hate Suzie | Lucy Prebble, Billie Piper, Andrea Dewsbery, Julie Gardner, Georgi Banks-Davies, Anthony Neilson | Bad Wolf | ||
| 2022 [4] | In My Skin | Kayleigh Llewellyn, Nerys Evans, Molly Manners, Sophie Francis | Expectation Entertainment | BBC Three |
| Unforgotten | Mainstreet Pictures | ITV | ||
| Manhunt: The Night Stalker | Ed Whitmore, Marc Evans, Jo Willett, Evie Bergson-Korn, Philippa Braithwaite | Buffalo Pictures | ||
| Vigil | Tom Edge, Simon Heath, Jake Lushington, Angie Daniell, James Strong, Isabelle Sieb | World Productions | BBC One | |
| 2023 [5] [6] | Bad Sisters | Sharon Horgan, Dearbhla Walsh, Faye Dorn, Brett Baer, Dave Finkel, Johann Knobel | Merman, ABC Signature | Apple TV+ |
| The Responder | Chris Carey, Laurence Bowen, Tony Schumacher, Tim Mielants, Rebecca Ferguson, Toby Bruce | Dancing Ledge | BBC One | |
| Sherwood | James Graham, Lewis Arnold, Rebecca Hodgson, Juliette Howell, Tessa Ross, Harriet Spencer | House Productions | ||
| Somewhere Boy | Pete Jackson, Petra Fried, Emily Harrison, Gavin O'Grady, Alex Winckler | Clerkenwell Films | Channel 4 | |
| 2024 [7] [8] | Top Boy | Cowboy Films, Easter Partisan, DreamCrew, SpringHill Entertainment | Netflix | |
| Happy Valley | Sally Wainwright, Sarah Lancashire, Jessica Taylor, Faith Penhale, Will Johnston, Fergus O'Brien | Lookout Point TV | BBC One | |
| The Gold | Tannadice Pictures | |||
| Slow Horses | See-Saw Films | Apple TV+ | ||
The following television series have won the British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Series multiple times:
2 awards
|
The following television series have been nominated for the British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Series multiple times:
6 nominations 4 nominations 3 nominations | 2 nominations
|
The British Academy Television Award for Best Soap and Continuing Drama is one of the major categories of the British Academy Television Awards (BAFTAs), the primary awards ceremony of the British television industry, presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Eligible drama series must be transmitted for at least 20 episodes a year. Only one episode of no more than an hour may be entered, and the episode selected must not be a special, as it must be fully representative of the series. The award was first given in 1999, for soap operas transmitted in 1998. Its title was changed from Best Soap to Best Continuing Drama in 2003, and to Best Soap and Continuing Drama in 2012. As of 2023, the award has been won by EastEnders nine times, Coronation Street seven times, Casualty five times, Emmerdale three times, and The Bill and Holby City once each.
The British Academy Television Award for Best Scripted Comedy is awarded annually as part of the British Academy Television Awards. Until 2015, the category was named the British Academy Television Award for Best Situation Comedy. According to British Academy of Film and Television Arts, the category "covers both situational comedies and scripted comedy sketch shows".
The British Academy Television Award for Best Factual Series or Strand is one of the major categories of the British Academy Television Awards (BAFTAs), the primary awards ceremony of the British television industry. The category is described on the official BAFTA website as "more than one factual programme linked through a unified approach, narrative or the thematic development of a subject matter."
The British Academy Television Award for Best Single Drama is one of the major categories of the British Academy Television Awards (BAFTAs), the primary awards ceremony of the British television industry. According to the BAFTA website, the category is for "a single, self-contained drama.", this "includes single films which form part of an anthology series, where each episode has a self-contained story. The same characters cannot appear in a later episode." It was awarded as Best Single Play from 1973 to 1983. Prior to that, there was a sole category for Drama Production.
The British Academy Television Award for Best Mini-Series is one of the major categories of the British Academy Television Awards (BAFTAs), the primary awards ceremony of the British television industry. The category is described by the BAFTA website as being for "a drama series, between two and 19 episodes, that tells a complete story and is not intended to return". The category has been awarded since 2012, prior to that a similar category was awarded named Best Drama Serial, which was presented with the Best Drama Series category under the name Best Drama Series or Serial from 1970 to 1991 and as a separate category from 1992 to 2011.
The British Academy Television Award for Best Reality and Constructed Factual is one of the major categories of the British Academy Television Awards (BAFTAs), the primary awards ceremony of the British television industry. According to the BAFTA website, the category is for "programmes where participants are put into an environment or format and then observed interacting in situations devised by the producer."
The British Academy Television Award for Best Short Form Programme is one of the major categories of the British Academy Television Awards (BAFTAs), the primary awards ceremony of the British television industry. According to the BAFTA website, the category is for "single shorts, short form series and shorts from a strand of any genre that have been commissioned and transmitted on a broadcast channel and/or online platform."
The British Academy Television Award for Best Specialist Factual Programme is one of the major categories of the British Academy Television Awards (BAFTAs), the primary awards ceremony of the British television industry. According to the BAFTA website, the category is "specifically for arts, religion, history, natural history and science programmes or series and can include both factual and performance programmes."
The British Academy Television Award for Best Features is one of the major categories of the British Academy Television Awards (BAFTAs), the primary awards ceremony of the British television industry. According to the BAFTA website, the category "includes factual programmes, not included in any other categories including cookery and cookery competitions, travelogues, gardening, property, fashion and all other lifestyle programming and studio discussions."
The British Academy Television Award for Best Single Documentary is one of the major categories of the British Academy Television Awards (BAFTAs), the primary awards ceremony of the British television industry. According to the BAFTA website, the category is "for one-off documentaries only. Includes individual episodes of documentary strands."
The British Academy Television Award for Best News Coverage is one of the major categories of the British Academy Television Awards (BAFTAs), the primary awards ceremony of the British television industry. According to the BAFTA website, the category is for "an individual news programme"
The British Academy Television Award for Best Current Affairs is one of the major categories of the British Academy Television Awards (BAFTAs), the primary awards ceremony of the British television industry. According to the BAFTA website, the category is "for single films, or films from a strand that are primarily concerned with unfolding current affairs"
The British Academy Television Award for Best Sport is one of the major categories of the British Academy Television Awards (BAFTAs), the primary awards ceremony of the British television industry. According to the BAFTA website, the category is for "the television coverage of a sporting event."
The British Academy Television Craft Award for Best Special, Visual & Graphic Effects is one of the categories presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) within the British Academy Television Craft Awards, the craft awards were established in 2000 with their own, separate ceremony as a way to spotlight technical achievements, without being overshadowed by the main production categories. According to the BAFTA website, this category is "for special, visual and graphic effects and recognises achievement in all of these crafts."
The British Academy Television Craft Award for Best Sound: Fiction is one of the categories presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) within the British Academy Television Craft Awards, the craft awards were established in 2000 with their own, separate ceremony as a way to spotlight technical achievements, without being overshadowed by the main production categories.
The British Academy Television Craft Award for Best Sound: Factual is one of the categories presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) within the British Academy Television Craft Awards, the craft awards were established in 2000 with their own, separate ceremony as a way to spotlight technical achievements, without being overshadowed by the main production categories.
The British Academy Television Craft Award for Best Photography: Factual is one of the categories presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) within the British Academy Television Craft Awards, the craft awards were established in 2000 with their own, separate ceremony as a way to spotlight technical achievements, without being overshadowed by the main production categories. According to the BAFTA website, for this category the "eligibility is limited to the director of photography."
The British Academy Television Craft Award for Best Editing: Factual is one of the categories presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) within the British Academy Television Craft Awards, the craft awards were established in 2000 with their own, separate ceremony as a way to spotlight technical achievements, without being overshadowed by the main production categories.
The British Academy Television Award for Best Daytime is one of the major categories of the British Academy Television Awards (BAFTAs), the primary awards ceremony of the British television industry. The category was introduced in 2021.
The British Academy Television Award for Best Live Event is one of the major categories of the British Academy Television Awards (BAFTAs), the primary awards ceremony of the British television industry. According to the BAFTA website, the category is for "the television coverage of a live event."