British Academy Television Awards, or the BAFTA TV Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. They have been awarded annually since 1955. The BAFTA TV Awards are recognised internationally as the highest honour in British and world television, equivalent to the BAFTA Film Awards for cinema, Laurence Olivier Awards for theatre, and the BRIT Awards for music. The BAFTA TV Awards are considered equivalent to the Emmy Awards.
Background The first-ever Awards, given in 1955, consisted of six categories. Until 1958, they were awarded by the Guild of Television Producers and Directors. From 1958 onwards, after the Guild had merged with the British Film Academy, the organisation was known as the Society of Film and Television Arts. In 1976, this became the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
From 1968 until 1997, the BAFTA Film and Television awards were presented in one joint ceremony known simply as the BAFTA Awards, but in order to streamline the ceremonies from 1998 onwards they were split in two. The Television Awards are usually presented in April, with a separate ceremony for the Television Craft Awards on a different date. The Craft Awards are presented for more technical areas of the industry, such as special effects, production design, or costumes.
The Awards are only open to British programmes—with the exception of the discontinued audience-voted Audience Award and the International Award (this is for a single programme or series acquired from the international marketplace, covering all genres)—but any cable, satellite, terrestrial or digital television stations broadcasting in the UK are eligible to submit entries, as are independent production companies who have produced programming for the channels. Individual performances, such as from actors, can either be entered by the performers themselves or by the broadcasters. The programmes being entered must have been broadcast on or between January and December of the preceding year to be eligible for the year's awards. Entry is free, and entry forms are made available between November and January each year.
After all the entries have been received, they are voted for online by all eligible members of the Academy. The programmes and performances attracting the most votes, usually four in each category, are shortlisted as the nominees for each award. The winner is chosen from the four nominees by a special jury of nine academy members for each award, the members of each jury selected by the Academy's Television Committee. Each jury is designed to have a balance in areas such as sex, age and experience, and have experience related to the categories concerned but no direct connections to the short-listed programmes or performers.
There are also a number of non-competitive honorary Awards—the Dennis Potter Award for Outstanding Writing for Television; the Alan Clarke Award for Outstanding Creative Contribution to Television; the Richard Dimbleby Award for Outstanding Presenter in the Factual Arena; the Fellowship for individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to television across their careers, and various Special Awards given on an ad hoc basis. These Awards are suggested by the Television Committee and awarded by the Academy's Council. They are not necessarily always given every year, but as and when appropriate.
The Awards ceremony is broadcast on British television, usually the day after it has taken place. Between 1998 and 2006, it was alternated between ITV and BBC One. But since 2007, it has been broadcast by BBC One.
They are the equivalent of the Primetime Emmy Awards in the United States.
"Baftagate" In 1991, a controversial selection was made in the Best Drama Serial category, when Prime Suspect beat G.B.H. to win the award. Following the ceremony, four of the seven voting members of the jury signed a public statement declaring that they had voted for G.B.H. to win. Jury chairwoman Irene Shubik, who did not cast a vote, refused to comment publicly on the affair, but BAFTA Chairman Richard Price stated that the ballot papers passed on to him by Shubik had shown four votes for Prime Suspect and three for G.B.H. Price claimed that the ballot papers could not be recounted as they had subsequently been destroyed. No blame was ever attached to Shubik by the four judges, and it was to her that they had initially turned to raise the apparent discrepancy with BAFTA.
Categories The main competitive award categories presented every year are: Awards in the gift of the Academy Fellowship Special Award Writer Award Most Important Contribution On-Screen in Factual Television
Production Categories Best Single Drama: A drama where one self-contained story is told in a single one-off episode, equivalent to a television movie. Best Mini-Series: A drama that tells a complete story and is not intended to return. Best Drama Series: A drama which consists of several episodes, that is intended to return. Best Soap and Continuing Drama: A drama which transmits a minimum of twenty episodes per year. Best International Programme Best Factual Series or Strand: More than one factual programme linked through a unified approach, narrative or the thematic development of a subject matter. Best Specialist Factual: Specifically for arts, history, natural history or science programs or series, either factual or performance-based. Best Single Documentary: For a one-off documentary not presented as part of a regular series. Best Features: For programmes not included in any other category, for example cookery, gardening, lifestyle or discussion programmes. Best Daytime: For programmes that air on terrestrial channels eg. BBC One, ITV etc. from 6:00AM 'till 6:00PM. Best Reality and Constructed Factual: For programmes where participants are put into an environment or format and then observed interacting in situations devised by the producer. Best Short Form Best Current Affairs: For single films, or films from a strand that are primarily concerned with unfolding current affairs. Best News Coverage: For an individual news programme in its entirety, or up to one hour's unedited. material from a rolling news channel. Best Live Event Best Sport Best Entertainment Programme: Includes variety shows, game shows, quizzes, talent shows, and all general entertainment programmes. Best Comedy Entertainment Program: Includes panel-led shows, chat shows where comic content plays a big part, stand-up and comedy clip shows. Best Scripted Comedy: For sitcoms. Best Actor Best Actress Best Supporting Actor Best Supporting Actress Best Entertainment Performance Best Female Comedy Performance Best Male Comedy Performance
Other Categories Virgin TV's Must See Moment
Discontinued Categories Audience Award: Awarded from 2000 to 2016. Best Comedy Performance: Divided in 2010 into female performance and male performance. Children's Programme – Documentary-Educational: Awarded from 1983 to 1996. Children's Programme – Entertainment-Drama: Awarded from 1983 to 1996. Short Animation: Awarded from 1984 to 1991. Talk Show: Awarded in 1996 and 1997. Richard Dimbleby for The Best Presenter – Factual, Features and News: Awarded from 2000 to 2002. Single Play: Awarded from 1973 to 1982.
Records Adolescence holds the record for the most wins in a single night by a television series, with four (achieved in 2026). EastEnders holds the record for the most programme awards, with 11 for Best Soap and Continuing Drama. It and Coronation Street have each been nominated for the award 23 times, the most nominations for programme awards.
Ceremonies Event Date Venue Host 30th March 25, 1984Grosvenor House Hotel Michael Aspel 31st March 5, 1985 Terry Wogan 32nd March 16, 1986 Michael Aspel 33rd March 22, 1987 Ronnie Corbett and Ronnie Barker 34th March 20, 1988 Michael Aspel and Selina Scott 35th March 19, 1989 Anna Ford and David Dimbleby 36th March 18, 1990 Michael Aspel 37th March 17, 1991 Noel Edmonds 38th March 22, 1992 London Palladium Michael Aspel 39th March 21, 1993Theatre Royal, Drury Lane Griff Rhys Jones 40th April 15, 1994 Sheena McDonald 41st April 23, 1995 London Palladium Billy Connolly 42nd April 21, 1996 Theatre Royal, Drury Lane Angus Deayton 43rd April 29, 1997 Royal Albert Hall Lenny Henry 44th May 18, 1998 Prince of Wales Theatre Bob Monkhouse 45th May 9, 1999Grosvenor House Hotel Michael Parkinson 46th May 14, 2000 Des Lynam 47th May 13, 2001 Angus Deayton 48th April 21, 2002 Theatre Royal, Drury Lane Chris Tarrant 49th April 13, 2003 The Dorchester Anne Robinson 50th April 18, 2004 Grosvenor House Hotel Davina McCall 51st April 17, 2005 Theatre Royal, Drury Lane Graham Norton 52nd May 7, 2006 Grosvenor House Hotel Davina McCall 53rd May 20, 2007London PalladiumGraham Norton 54th April 20, 2008 55th April 26, 2009 Royal Festival Hall 56th June 6, 2010 London Palladium 57th May 22, 2011 Grosvenor House Hotel 58th May 27, 2012Royal Festival Hall Dara Ó Briain 59th May 12, 2013Graham Norton 60th May 18, 2014Theatre Royal, Drury Lane 61st May 10, 2015 62nd May 8, 2016Royal Festival Hall 63rd May 14, 2017Sue Perkins 64th May 13, 2018 65th May 12, 2019 Graham Norton 66th July 31, 2020Television Centre, LondonRichard Ayoade 67th June 6, 2021 68th May 8, 2022Royal Festival Hall 69th May 14, 2023 Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan70thMay 12, 202471stMay 11, 2025Alan Cumming72ndMay 10, 2026Greg Davies
See also British Academy of Film and Television Arts British Academy Film Awards British Academy Television Craft Awards British Academy Games Awards National Television Awards Emmy Awards Critics' Choice Television Awards
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