British Academy Television Awards

The BAFTA TV Awards, or British Academy Television Awards, are presented in an annual award show hosted by the BAFTA. They have been awarded annually since 1955.

BAFTA Television Awards
Current: 2023 British Academy Television Awards
British Academy Television Awards logo
Awarded forThe best in television
CountryUnited Kingdom
First awarded1955 (1955)
Websitebafta.org

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.

Richard Armitage attending the British Academy Television Awards in 2007.

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.[1] 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.[2] 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.[2] Jury chairperson 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.[2] 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.[3]

Categories

The main competitive award categories presented every year are:[4]

Awards in the gift of the Academy
  • Fellowship
  • Special Award
  • Writer Award
  • Most Important Contribution On-Screen in Factual Television

Production Categories

Other Categories

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.

Ceremonies
Event Date Venue Host
43rd 29 April 1997 Royal Albert Hall Lenny Henry
44th 18 May 1998 Prince of Wales Theatre Bob Monkhouse
45th 9 May 1999 Grosvenor House Hotel Michael Parkinson[lower-alpha 1]
46th 14 May 2000 Des Lynam
47th 13 May 2001 Angus Deayton
48th 21 April 2002 Theatre Royal, Drury Lane Chris Tarrant
49th 13 April 2003 The Dorchester Anne Robinson
50th 18 April 2004 Grosvenor House Hotel Davina McCall
51st 17 April 2005 Theatre Royal, Drury Lane Graham Norton
52nd 7 May 2006 Grosvenor House Hotel Davina McCall
53rd 20 May 2007 London Palladium Graham Norton
54th 20 April 2008
55th 26 April 2009 Royal Festival Hall
56th 6 June 2010 London Palladium
57th 22 May 2011 Grosvenor House Hotel
58th 27 May 2012 Royal Festival Hall Dara Ó Briain
59th 12 May 2013 Graham Norton
60th 18 May 2014 Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
61st 10 May 2015
62nd 8 May 2016 Royal Festival Hall
63rd 14 May 2017 Sue Perkins
64th 13 May 2018
65th 12 May 2019 Graham Norton
66th 31 July 2020 Television Centre, London Richard Ayoade[6][7]
67th 6 June 2021
68th 8 May 2022 Royal Festival Hall
69th 14 May 2023 Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan

See also

Notes
  1. Parkinson was due to share hosting duties with Jill Dando until her murder two weeks earlier.[5]

References
  1. "Bafta Television Awards Rules and Guidelines 2021" (PDF). BAFTA. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 January 2021. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  2. Wittstock, Melinda (8 April 1992). "Confusion becomes the BAFTA prime suspect". The Times. London. p. 1.
  3. Wittstock, Melinda (2 May 1992). "'Fibs' slur incenses BAFTA award judges". The Times. London. p. 18.
  4. "British Academy Television Awards Rules and Guidelines" (PDF). BAFTA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 January 2021. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  5. "BBC News – Entertainment – TV stars honour Jill Dando". BBC. 10 May 1999. Archived from the original on 27 December 2002. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
  6. "BAFTA Names TV Awards Hosts; Nick+ Launches On Rakuten In Japan; 'Viewpoint' Sales; Half Yard Bolsters Development — Global TV Briefs". Deadline. 20 April 2021. Archived from the original on 20 April 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  7. "BAFTA Television Nominations Announced". BAFTA. 30 March 2022. Archived from the original on 8 December 2022. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
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