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 category has been awarded as one category merged with the Best News Coverage category under several names, from 1978 to 1985 and also in 1992 it was presented as Best Actuality Coverage while from 1993 to 1994 and then from 1998 to 2001 it was presented as Best News and Current Affairs Journalism. Finally, the category has been presented as Best Current Affairs since 2002.
Winners and nominees 2000s Year Title Episode Recipient(s) Broadcaster2002 Dispatches "Beneath The Veil" Production Team Channel 4 Endgame in Ireland Norma Percy, Mark Anderson, Mick Gold BBC Two One Day of Terror: New York Witnesses Fiona Murch, Farah Durrani, Robert Moore Panorama "Jeffrey Archer: A Life of Lies" Terry Tyldesley, Michael Crick, Mike Robinson BBC One2003 Young, Nazi and Proud Steve Boulton, David Modell, Richard Fabb Channel 4 Panorama "Corruption of Racing" Andy Davies, Stephen Scott, Gerry Troyna BBC One "Licence to Murder" Mike Robinson, Eamon Hardy, John WarePalestine Is Still the Issue Christopher Martin, Tony Stark, John Pilger ITV2004 The Secret Policeman Simon Ford, Mark Daly, Toby Sculthorpe BBC One Breaking the Silence: Truth and Lies in the War on Terror John Pilger, Christopher Martin, Steve Connelly ITVThe Fall of Milosevic Brian Lapping, Norma Percy, Dai Richards BBC TwoTerror in Moscow George Carey, Mark Franchetti, Dan Reed Channel 42005 Death in Gaza James Miller, Saira Shah Channel 4 Nurseries Undercover: The Real Story BBC OneThe Secret Angent Simon Ford, Karen Wightman, Jason Gwynne Tonight with Trevor McDonald "Our Daughter Holly" David Cohen, Jim Manson, Jeff Anderson ITV2006 Dispatches "Beslan" Eamonn Matthews, Kevin Sim Channel 4 Panorama "Undercover Nurse" Production Team BBC One Dispatches "Iraq: The Reckoning" Samir Shah, Dimitri Collingridge, James Brabazon Channel 4 Storyville "A Company of Soldiers" Tom Roberts, Edward Jarvis BBC Four2007 Not awarded 2008 Dispatches "China's Stolen Children" Jezza Neumann, Sky Zeh, Brian Woods, Kate Blewett Channel 4 Honour Kills Ben Rumney, Juliette Murray-Topham, Emma Willis, Adam Kemp BBC Three Dispatches "Fighting the Taliban" Sean Langan, Julia Barron, Denman Rooke Channel 4 Panorama "Dog-Fighting Undercover" Mandy Mcauley, Sandy Smith, Andrew Bell, Jeremy Adams BBC One2009 Dispatches "Saving Africa's Witch Children" Mags Gavan, Joost Van Der Valk, Alice Keens-Soper, Paul Woolwich Channel 4 Panorama "Omagh: What the Police Were Never Told" Sandy Smith, Brendon McCourt, John Ware, Leo Telling BBC One Dispatches "Mum Loves Drugs, Not Me" Kate Blewett, Deborah Shipley, Brian Woods Channel 4 Ross Kemp: A Kenya Special Clive Tulloh, Ewen Thomson, Matt Bennett, Ross Kemp Sky One
2010s Year Title Episode Recipient(s) Broadcaster2010 Dispatches "Terror in Mumbai" Dan Reed, Eamonn Matthews Channel 4 Generation Jihad Peter Taylor, Leo Telling, Sam Bagnall BBC Two This World "Gypsy Child Thieves" Liviu Tipurita, Sam Bagnall, Lucy Hetherington Dispatches "Afghanistan: Behind Enemy Lines" Najibullah Quraishi, Jamie Doran, John Moffat, Paul Woolwich Channel 42011 Zimbabwe's Forgotten Children Jezza Neumann, Xoliswa Sithole, Brian Woods, Deborah Shipley BBC Four Panorama "Kids in Care" Simon Gilchrist, Roger Graef, Tom Giles, Clare Johns BBC One Dispatches "Lost Girls of South Africa" Deborah Shipley, Brian Woods, Xoliswa Sithole Channel 4 Secret Iraq Eamonn Matthews, Sam Collyns, James Jones, Philippa Lacey BBC Two2012 Panorama "Undercover Care: The Abuse Exposed" Joe Casey, Matthew Chapman, Paul Kenyon, Frank Simmonds BBC One Bahrain: Shouting in the Dark Jon Blair, Tuki Laumea, Hassan Mahfood, May Ying Welsh Al Jazeera English Sri Lanka's Killing Fields Callum Macrae, Chris Shaw, Jon Snow Channel 4 Panorama "The Truth About Adoption" Todd Downing, Tom Giles, Roger Graef, Clare Johns BBC One2013 This World "The Shame of the Catholic Church" Sam Collyns, Alison Millar, Darragh MacIntyre, Seamus McCracken BBC Two Panorama "Britain's Hidden Housing Crisis" James Jones, Steve Hewlett, Rachel Crellin, Todd Downing BBC One Exposure "The Other Side of Jimmy Savile" Mark Williams-Thomas, Lesley Gardiner, Alexander Gardiner ITV Al Jazeera Investigates "What Killed Arafat?" Clayton Swisher, Adrian Billing, Naji Tamimi, Richard Belfield Al Jazeera English2014 Dispatches "Syria: Across the Lines" Chris Swayne, Eamonn Matthews, Olly Lambert Channel 4 The Cruel Cut Richard McKerrow, Kieran Smith, Vicki Cooper, Leyla Hussein BBC One Dispatches "North Korea: Life Inside the Secret State" David Henshaw, James Jones, Todd Downing Channel 4 "The Hunt for Britain's Sex Gangs" Anna Hall, Matt Pinder, Paddy Garrick, Tazeen Ahmad 2015 Dispatches "Children on the Frontline" Marcel Mettelsiefen, Anthony Wonke, Stephen Ellis, Chris Shaw Channel 4 Panorama "Ebola Frontline" Steve Grandison, Lucie Kon, Karen Edwards, Fabio Basone BBC One This World "Terror at the Mall" Dan Reed, Mark Towns, Sarah Waldron, George Carey BBC Two Al Jazeera Investigates "Inside Kenya's Death Squads" Simon Boazman, Kris Jepson, Chris Olivotos, Phil Rees Al Jazeera English2016 This World "Outbreak: The Truth About Ebola" Dan Edge, Sasha Joelle Achilli, Eamonn Matthews, Sarah Waldron BBC Two Dispatches "Escape from ISIS" Edward Watts, Evan Williams, Sam Collyns, George Waldrum Channel 4 Children of the Gaza War Lyse Doucet, Lucy Hetherington, James Jones, Graham Taylor BBC Two Jihad: A British Story Deeyah Khan, Darin Prindle, Andrew Smith, Kevin Thomas ITV2017 Panorama "Teenage Prison Abuse Exposed" Production Team BBC One Inside Obama's White House Norma Percy, Brian Lapping, Paul Mitchell, Sarah Wallis BBC Two This World "Three Days of Terror: The Charlie Hebdo Attacks" Dan Reed, Mark Towns, Luc Hermann "Unarmed Black Male" James Jones, Sarah Foudy, Sarah Waldron, Sam Bagnall2018 Panorama "Undercover: Britain's Immigration Secrets" Karen Wightman, Joe Plomin, Callum Tulley, Gary Beelders BBC One Raped: My Story Catey Sexton, Jonathan Braman, Emma Wakefield, Ollie Tait Channel 5 Dispatches "Syria's Disappeared: The Case Against Assad" Sara Afshar, Nicola Cutcher, Callum Macrae Channel 4 Exposure "White Right: Meeting the Enemy" Deeyah Khan, Darin Prindle, Andrew Smith, Melanie Quigley ITV2019 Dispatches "Myanmar's Killing Fields" Evan Williams, Patrick Wells, Eve Lucas, Dan Edge Channel 4 Exposure "Iran Unveiled: Taking on the Ayatollahs" Production Team ITV Massacre at Ballymurphy Callum Macrae, Gwion Owain, Mark Williams, Charlie Hawryliw Al Jazeera Investigations "Football's Wall of Silence" Production Team Channel 4
2020s Year Title Episode Recipient(s) Broadcaster2020 Exposure "Undercover: Inside China's Digital Gulag" Robin Barnwell, David Henshaw, Guy Creasey, Gesbeen Mohammad ITV Dispatches "Growing Up Poor: Britain's Breadline Kids" Production Team Channel 4 Panorama "Is Labour Anti-Semitic?" Leo Telling, John Ware, Neil Grant, Rachel Jupp BBC One The Hunt for Jihadi John Anthony Wonke, Richard Kerbaj, Paul Monaghan, Jane Root HBO/Channel 42021 Exposure "America's War on Abortion" Deeyah Khan, Darin Prindle, Andrew Smith ITV Italy's Frontline: A Doctor's Diary Sasha Joelle Achilli, Dan Edge, Ella Claire Newton, Paul van Dyck, Sarah Waldron BBC Two Dispatches "The Battle for Hong Kong" Robin Barnwell, Gesbeen Mohammad, Guy Creasey, David Henshaw, Evan Williams Channel 4 Al Jazeera Investigations "The Cyprus Papers Undercover" Phil Rees, Sarah Yeo, Leonidas Sofogiannis, James Kleinfeld, David Harrison, Jason Gwynne Al Jazeera English2022 Exposure "Fearless: The Women Fighting Putin" Sarah Collinson, David Henshaw, David Alter, Sasha Odynova, Ksenia Barakovskaya ITV Four Hours at the Capitol Jamie Roberts, Will Grayburn, Dan Reed BBC Two Trump Takes on the World Norma Percy, Tim Stirzaker, Sam Collins, Tania Rakhmanova, Lucy Hetherington, Greg Sanderson Al Jazeera Investigations "The Men Who Sell Football" Phil Rees, David Harrison, Jason Gwynne, Sarah Yeo, Nicholas Dove, Naji Tamimi Al Jazeera English2023 Children of the Taliban Marcel Mettelsiefen, Jordan Bryon, Juan Camilo Cruz, Stephen Ellis, Aman Sadat Channel 4 Exposure "Afghanistan: No Country for Women" Ramita Navai, Karim Shah, Eamonn Matthews, Mark Summers, Ali Watt ITV "The Crossing" Handa Majed, David Modell, Ella Newton, Jamie Welham, Nechirvan Mando, Ben Ferguson Panorama "Mariupol: The People's Story" Robin Barnwell, Guy Creasey, Hilary Andersson, Darren Kemp, Tom Stone, Serhiy Solodko BBC One2024 This World "The Shamima Begum Story" Joshua Baker, Sara Obeidat, Sasha Joelle Achilli, Sarah Waldron, Simon McMahon, Mustafa Al-Ali BBC Two Storyville "Inside Russia: Traitors and Heroes" Paul Mitchell, Anastasia Popova, Mikhail Kozyrev, Daria Olevskaya, Monica Garnsey, Mustafa Khalili BBC Four Putin vs the West Norma Percy, Tim Stirzaker, Lucy Hetherington, Lotte Murphy-Johnson, Max Stern BBC Two Dispatches "Russel Brand: In Plain Sight" Production Team Channel 42025 State of Rage Marcel Mettelsiefen, Ahisha Ghafoor, Stephen Ellis, Ismail Hussam Banighorra, Aviya Shar-Yashuv, Mayte Carrasco Channel 4 Exposure "Maternity: Broken Trust" Laura Warner, Becky Southworth, Tom Keeling, Emma Lysaght, Lewis Albrow, Martin Kayser-Landwehr ITV1 "Ukraine's War: The Other Side" Sean Langan, Leslie Knott, Matt Scholes Storyville "Life and Death in Gaza" Natasha Cox, Lara El Gibaly, Haya Al Badarneh, Sarah Keeling, Simon Cox, Mustafa Khalili BBC Two2026 Gaza: Doctors Under Attack Ramita Navai, Karim Shah, Ben de Pear, Melanie Quigley, Menna Hijazi, Jaber Badwan Channel 4 Exposure Breaking Ranks: Inside Israel's War Benjamin Zand, Matan Cohen, Maya Rostowska, Josh Reynolds, Rhiannon Mayor, Mel McCowan ITV1 The Covid Contracts: Follow the Money Davina Bristow, Jenna Weiler, Will Hecker, Russell Scott, Einav Leshetz Lovatt, Brian Woods Panorama Undercover in the Police Karen Wightman, Leo Telling, Joe Plomin, Rory Bibb, Adrian Polglase, Gary Beelders BBC One
Note: The series that don't have recipients on the tables had Production team credited as recipients for the award or nomination.
References
External links List of winners at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts