This page lists the winners and nominees for the British Academy Television Award for Best Comedy Performance, since its institution in 1994.
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), is a British organisation that hosts annual awards shows for film, television, children's film and television, and interactive media. Since 1994 (presented in 1995), selected comedy performances have been awarded with the BAFTA award for Best Comedy Performance at an annual ceremony.
Before 1994, acting performances in comedy roles were included in the Best Light Entertainment Performance category.
Since 2009 (presented in 2010), two separate awards have been given, Best Male Comedy Performance and Best Female Comedy Performance.
In the following lists, the first titles listed are winners, these are also in bold and in blue background; those not in bold are nominees. The year given is the year of the ceremony, for programmes made the previous year. This rule has altered slightly in recent years, for the 2011 ceremony the eligibility period was from 1 March 2010 through to 28 February 2011, while for the 2012 ceremony the eligibility period was from 1 March 2011 through to 15 February 2012.
1990s NomineesProgramme 1995 Joanna Lumley Absolutely FabulousSteve Coogan Three Fights, Two Weddings and a Funeral Annette Crosbie One Foot in the Grave Richard Wilson One Foot in the Grave 1996 Martin Clunes Men Behaving BadlyJudi Dench As Time Goes ByJoanna Lumley Absolutely Fabulous Richard Wilson One Foot in the Grave 1997 David Jason Only Fools and Horses Christmas SpecialMartin Clunes Men Behaving Badly Joanna Lumley Absolutely Fabulous Nicholas Lyndhurst Only Fools and Horses Christmas Special 1998 Steve Coogan I'm Alan PartridgeJudi Dench As Time Goes By Dawn French The Vicar of Dibley Richard Wilson One Foot in the Grave 1999 Dermot Morgan Father TedCaroline Aherne The Royle Family Ardal O'Hanlon Father Ted Julie Walters dinnerladies 2000 Caroline Aherne The Royle FamilyDawn French The Vicar of Dibley Sue Johnston The Royle Family Ricky Tomlinson The Royle Family
2000s NomineesProgramme 2001 Sacha Baron Cohen Da Ali G ShowCaroline Aherne The Royle Family Kathy Burke Gimme Gimme Gimme Dawn French The Vicar of Dibley 2002 Ricky Gervais The OfficeKathy Burke Gimme Gimme GimmeRobert Lindsay My Family Joanna Lumley Absolutely Fabulous 2003 Ricky Gervais The OfficeJohn Bird, John Fortune Bremner, Bird and Fortune Steve Coogan I'm Alan Partridge Peter Kay Phoenix Nights 2004 Ricky Gervais The Office Christmas SpecialsMartin Freeman The Office Christmas Specials Matt Lucas Little Britain David Walliams Little Britain 2005 Matt Lucas, David Walliams Little BritainRory Bremner Bremner, Bird and Fortune Julia Davis Nighty Night Tamsin Greig Green Wing 2006 Chris Langham The Thick of ItPeter Capaldi The Thick of It Ashley Jensen Extras Catherine Tate The Catherine Tate Show 2007 Ricky Gervais ExtrasDawn French The Vicar of Dibley Stephen Merchant Extras Liz Smith The Royle Family: The Queen of Sheba 2008 James Corden Gavin & StaceyPeter Capaldi The Thick of It Stephen Merchant Extras: The Extra Special Series Finale David Mitchell Peep Show 2009 David Mitchell Peep ShowRob Brydon Gavin & Stacey Sharon Horgan Pulling Claire Skinner Outnumbered
Superlatives
Most awards won Number of nominations in parentheses 4 : Ricky Gervais (4) 2 : Steve Coogan (4) 1 : Caroline Aherne (3) 1 : Jo Brand (2) 1 : Martin Clunes (1) 1 : Sacha Baron Cohen (1) 1 : James Corden (1) 1 : David Jason (1) 1 : Chris Langham (1) 1 : Matt Lucas (2) 1 : Joanna Lumley (4) 1 : David Mitchell (4) 1 : Dermot Morgan (1) 1 : David Walliams (2)
Notes
References
See also British Academy Television Awards British Academy Television Award for Best Comedy (Programme or Series)
External links BAFTA official archive (1948-2007) BAFTA Awards, Internet Movie Database