British Academy Television Award for Best Single Drama

British Academy Television Award
Country	United Kingdom
Presented by	British Academy of Film and Television Arts
First awarded	1983
Currently held by	I Am... Ruth (2023)
Website	http://www.bafta.org/

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."^[1] It was awarded as Best Single Play from 1973 to 1983. Prior to that, there was a sole category for Drama Production.

Winners and nominees

1970s

Year	Title	Recipient(s)
1973	Stocker's Copper	Jack Gold
	The Resistible Rise Of Arturo Ui	Jack Gold
	To Encourage the Others	Alan Clarke
1974	Kisses at Fifty	Michael Apted
	Alice Through The Looking Glass	James MacTaggart
	Country Matters: The Little Farm	Silvio Narizzano
	Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont/Wessex Tales: The Withered Arm	Michael Lindsay-Hogg
1975	Antony and Cleopatra	Jon Scoffield
	Catholics	Jack Gold
	God Bless Thee Jackie Madison	Jack Gold
	Mr Axelford's Angel	John Frankau
	Robinson Crusoe	James MacTaggart
1976	The Evacuees	Alan Parker
	Shades of Greene: Cheap In August	Alvin Rakoff
	Eighty-Four Charing Cross Road	Mark Cullingham
	Just Another Saturday	John Mackenzie
	The Naked Civil Servant	Jack Gold
1977	Bar Mitzvah Boy	Michael Tuchner
	Billion Dollar Bubble	Brian Gibson
	Ready When You Are Mr McGill	Mike Newell
	Rogue Male	Clive Donner
1978	Spend, Spend, Spend	John Goldschmidt
	A Good Human Story/Philby, Burgess And Maclean	Gordon Flemyng
	Jesus of Nazareth	Franco Zeffirelli
	Professional Foul	Michael Lindsay-Hogg
1979	Licking Hitler	David Hare
	Me, I'm Afraid of Virginia Woolf	Stephen Frears
	The One and Only Phyllis Dixey	Michael Tuckner
	Thank You Comrades	Jack Gold

1980s (as Best Single Play)

Year	Title	Recipient(s)
1980	Blue Remembered Hills	Brian Gibson
	Churchill and the Generals	Alan Gibson
	The Knowledge	Bob Brooks
	Suez 1956	Michael Darlow
1981	Caught on a Train	Peter Duffell
	Blade on the Feather	Richard Loncraine
	Cream In My Coffee	Gavin Millar
	Staying On	Silvio Narizzano
1982	Going Gently	Stephen Frears
	A Sense of Freedom	John Mackenzie
	The Potting Shed	David Cunliffe
	United Kingdom	Roland Joffé

1980s

Year	Title	Recipient(s)
1983	The Ballroom of Romance	Pat O'Connor
	P'tang, Yang, Kipperbang	Michael Apted
	A Voyage Round My Father	Alvin Rakoff
	Walter	Stephen Frears
1984	An Englishman Abroad	John Schlesinger
	The Country Girls	Desmond Davis
	Orwell On Jura	John Glenister
	Saigon: Year of the Cat	Stephen Frears
	To The Lighthouse	Colin Gregg
1985	Threads	Mick Jackson
	Doctor Fischer of Geneva	Michael Lindsay-Hogg
	The Ebony Tower	Robert Knights
	Oxbridge Blues	James Cellan Jones
1986	Shadowlands	Norman Stone, David M. Thompson
	The Browning Version	Michael Simpson, Shaun Sutton
	Monsignor Quixote	Rodney Bennett, Christopher Neame
	Silas Marner	Giles Foster, Louis Marks
1987	Screen Two: "Hotel du Lac"	Sue Birtwistle, Giles Foster
	Drums Along Balmoral Drive	Brenda Reid, Jane Howell
	The Good Doctor Bodkin Adams	Innes Lloyd, Richard Stroud
	Screen Two: "The Insurance Man"	Innes Lloyd, Richard Eyre
	London's Burning	Paul Knight, Les Blair
	Past Caring	Kenith Trodd, Richard Eyre
1988	Lifestory	Mick Jackson
	Screen Two: "After Pilkington"	Christopher Morahan, Kenith Trodd
	Blunt	John Glenister, Martin Thompson
	Screen Two: "East of Ipswich"	Tristram Powell, Innes Lloyd
1989	Tumbledown	Charles Wood, Richard Broke, Richard Eyre
	Talking Heads: "Bed Among the Lentils"	Alan Bennett, Innes Lloyd
	Talking Heads: "A Lady of Letters"	Alan Bennett, Innes Lloyd, Giles Foster
	Screen Two: "Sweet As You Are"	William Nicholson, Ruth Caleb, Angela Pope

1990s

Year	Title	Recipient(s)	Broadcaster
1990	Screen One: "The Accountant"	Geoffrey Case, Paul Knight, Les Blair	BBC One
	First and Last	Michael Frayn, Michael Wearing, Alan Dossor	BBC One
	Bomber Harris	Don Shaw, Innes Lloyd, Michael Darlow
	Screen One: "She's Been Away"	Stephen Poliakoff, Kenith Trodd, Peter Hall
1991	Screen One: "News Hounds"	Les Blair, Sarah Curtis	BBC One
	Screen Two: "Old Flames"	Simon Gray, Kenith Trodd, Christopher Morahan	BBC Two
	Screen One: "Can You Hear Me Thinking?"	Monty Haltrecht, Beverley Marcus, Ruth Caleb, Christopher Morahan	BBC One
	Shoot to Kill	Michael Eaton, Nigel Stafford-Clark, Peter Kosminsky	ITV
	The Widowmaker	Jeremy Brock, Deirdre Keir, John Madden
1992	Screen One: "A Question of Attribution"	Alan Bennett, Innes Lloyd, John Schlesinger	BBC One
	Screen Two: "102 Boulevard Haussmann"	Alan Bennett, Innes Lloyd, Udayan Prasad	BBC Two
	The Trials of Oz	Geoffrey Robertson, Simon Curtis, Sheree Folkson
	Screen One: "Hancock"	William Humble, Paul Marcus, Tony Smith	BBC One
1993	An Ungentlemanly Act	Bradley Adams, Stuart Urban	BBC Two
	Screen Two: "The Grass Arena"	Ruth Baumgarten, Gillies MacKinnon, Frank Deasy	BBC Two
	A Doll's House	Simon Curtis, David Thacker, Joan Tindale
	Screen Two: "Memento Mori"	Louis Marks, Jack Clayton, Alan Kelley, Jeanie Sims
1994	ScreenPlay: "Safe"	David M. Thompson, Antonia Bird, Al Ashton	BBC Two
	Screen Two: "The Clothes in the Wardrobe"	Norma Heyman, Waris Hussein, Martin Sherman	BBC Two
	Screen Two: "The Snapper"	Lynda Myles, Stephen Frears, Roddy Doyle
	Screen One: "Wide-Eyed and Legless"	David Lascelles, Richard Loncraine, Jack Rosenthal	BBC One
1995	Screen Two: "Skallagrigg"	John Chapman, Richard Spence, Nigel Williams	BBC Two
	The Dying of the Light	Peter Kosminsky, Hossein Amini	ITV
	Screen One: "A Breed of Heroes"	Andrée Molyneux, Diarmuid Lawrence, Charles Wood	BBC One
	Screen One: "Pat and Margaret"	Ruth Caleb, Gavin Millar, Victoria Wood
	Stages: "Suffer the Little Children"	Jack Emery, Betsan Morris-Evans	BBC Two
1996	Screen Two: "Persuasion"	Fiona Finlay, Roger Michell, Nick Dear	BBC Two
	Eleven Men Against Eleven	Jimmy Mulville, Andy Hamilton	Channel 4
	Go Now	Andrew Eaton, Michael Winterbottom, Paul Henry Powell, Jimmy McGovern	BBC One
	Heroes And Villains: The Last Englishman	Sue Vertue, John Henderson, Anthony Horowitz
1997	Hillsborough	Nicola Shindler, Charles McDougall, Jimmy McGovern, Katy Jones	ITV
	Screen Two: "Crossing The Floor"	Guy Jenkin, Lissa Evans	BBC Two
	Screen Two: "The Precious Blood"	Robert Cooper, Anthony Rowe, John Woods, Graham Reid
	Some Kind of Life	Bill Boyes, Julian Jarrold, Kay Mellor	ITV
1998	No Child of Mine	Peter Kosminsky, Guy Hibbert	ITV
	Breaking the Code	Jack Emery, Herbert Wise, Hugh Whitemore	BBC Four
	Bumping the Odds	Ian Madden, Rob Rohrer, Rona Munro	BBC Scotland
	The Acid House: "The Granton Star Cause"	David Muir, Alex Usbourne, Paul McGuigan, Irvine Welsh	Channel 4
1999	A Rather English Marriage	Joanna Willett, Paul Seed, Andrew Davies	BBC Two
	A Life for a Life: The True Story of Stefan Kiszko	Malcolm Craddock, Stephen Whittaker, Peter Berry	ITV
	Talking Heads: "Playing Sandwiches"	Mark Shivas, Udayan Prasad, Alan Bennett	BBC One
	Talking Heads: "Waiting for the Telegram"	Mark Shivas, Stuart Burge, Alan Bennett

2000s

Year	Title	Recipient(s)	Broadcaster
2000	The Murder of Stephen Lawrence	Mark Redhead, Paul Greengrass	ITV
	Dockers	Sally Hibbin, Bill Anderson, Jimmy McGovern	Channel 4
	Lost for Words	Sita Williams, Alan JW Bell, Deric Longden	ITV
	Sex 'N' Death	Jane Featherstone, Guy Jenkin	BBC One
2001	Care	Kieran Prendiville, Antonia Bird, Louise Panton, Ruth Caleb	BBC One
	Donovan Quick	Sue Austen, David Blair, Donna Franceschild	BBC Two
	Nice Girl	Ruth Caleb, Dominic Savage
	Storm Damage	Ian Madden, Simon Cellan Jones, Lennie James
2002	When I Was 12	Ruth Caleb, Dominic Savage	BBC Two
	My Beautiful Son	Jeff Pope, Bob Mills, Paul Seed, Tim Kazurinsky	ITV
	Othello	Anne Pivcevic, Julie Gardner, Geoffrey Sax, Andrew Davies
	The Navigators	Rebecca O’Brien, Ken Loach, Rob Dawber	Channel 4
2003	Conspiracy		BBC Two/HBO
	Bloody Sunday	Mark Redhead, Paul Greengrass	ITV
	Flesh and Blood	Derek Wax, Julian Farino, Peter Bowker	BBC Two
	Tomorrow La Scala!	Ruth Caleb, Chris Collins, Francesca Joseph
2004	The Deal	Christine Langan, Stephen Frears, Peter Morgan	Channel 4
	The Canterbury Tales: "The Wife of Bath"	Kate Bartlett, Andy De Emmony, Sally Wainwright	BBC One
	Danielle Cable: Eyewitness		ITV
	This Little Life	Stewart Mackinnon, Sarah Gavron, Rosemary Kay	BBC Two
2005	Omagh	Ed Guiney, Paul Greengrass, Pete Travis, Guy Hibbert	Channel 4
	Dirty Filthy Love	Christine Langan, Adrian Shergold, Jeff Pope, Ian Puleston-Davies	ITV
	Hawking	Jessica Pope, Peter Moffat, Philip Martin	BBC Two
	Not Only But Always	Alison Jackson, Terry Johnson, Charles Pattinson, George Faber	Channel 4
2006	The Government Inspector	David Aukin, Jonathan Curling, Peter Kosminsky	Channel 4
	ShakespeaRe-Told: "Much Ado About Nothing"	Diederick Santer, Brian Percival, David Nicholls	BBC One
	The Queen's Sister	Kath Mattock, Simon Cellan Jones, Craig Warner	Channel 4
	Red Dust		BBC Two
2007	Housewife, 49	Victoria Wood, Piers Wenger, Gavin Millar, David Threlfall	ITV
	Kenneth Williams: Fantabulosa!	Andy De Emmony, Ben Evans, Martyn Hesford	BBC Four
	Longford	Peter Morgan, Tom Hooper, Helen Flint, Andy Harries	Channel 4
	The Road to Guantánamo	Michael Winterbottom, Mat Whitecross
2008	The Mark of Cain	Tony Marchant, Nicola Shindler, Lynn Horsford, Marc Munden	Channel 4
	Boy A	John Crowley, Lynn Horsford, Mark O'Rowe	Channel 4
	Coming Down the Mountain	Greg Brenman, Roanna Benn, Mark Haddon, Julie Anne Robinson	BBC One
	The Trial of Tony Blair	Alistair Beaton, Simon Cellan Jones, Hal Vogel, David Aukin	More4
2009	White Girl	Hettie Macdonald, Abi Morgan, Andrew Woodhead	BBC Two
	Hancock and Joan	Richard Cottan, Richard Laxton, Simon Heath	BBC Four
	Einstein and Eddington	George Faber, Mark Pybus, Peter Moffat, Philip Martin	BBC Two
	The Shooting of Thomas Hurndall	Simon Block, Rowan Joffé, Barney Reisz, Charles Furneaux	Channel 4

2010s

Year	Title	Recipient(s)	Broadcaster
2010	The Unloved	Samantha Morton, Tony Grisoni, Kate Ogborn, Andrew Eaton	Channel 4
	Five Minutes of Heaven	Guy Hibbert, Oliver Hirschbiegel, Eoin O'Callaghan, Stephen Wright	BBC Two
	Mo	Jeff Pope, Neil McKay, Lisa Gilchrist, Philip Martin	Channel 4
	A Short Stay in Switzerland	Liz Trubridge, Simon Curtis, Frank McGuinness, Ruth Caleb	BBC One
2011	The Road to Coronation Street		BBC Four
	Eric and Ernie	Victoria Wood, Peter Bowker, Tim Bricknell, Jonny Campbell	BBC Two
	I Am Slave	Andrea Calderwood, Gabriel Range, Jeremy Brock	Channel 4
	The Special Relationship		BBC Two
2012	Random	Polly Leys, Kate Norrish, Debbie Tucker Green	Channel 4
	Holy Flying Circus	Owen Harris, Polly Leys, Kate Norrish, Tony Roche	BBC Four
	Page Eight	David Barron, David Hare, David Heyman, Bill Nighy	BBC Two
	Stolen	Stephen Butchard, Justin Chadwick, Rebecca Hodgson, Sita Williams	BBC One
2013	Murder	Robert Jones, Birger Larsen, Kath Mattock	BBC Two
	Everyday	Michael Winterbottom, Melissa Parmenter, Laurence Coriat, Andrew Eaton	Channel 4
	The Girl	Julian Jarrold, Gwyneth Hughes, Amanda Jenks, Leanne Klein	BBC Two
	The Hollow Crown: "Richard II"	Rupert Goold, Pippa Harris, Sam Mendes, Rupert Ryle-Hodges
2014	Complicit	Guy Hibbert, Niall MacCormick, Kevin Toolis, Jolyon Symonds	Channel 4
	The Wipers Times	David Parfitt, Andy De Emmony, Ian Hislop, Nick Newman	BBC Two
	An Adventure in Space and Time	Mark Gatiss, Matt Strevens, Terry McDonough, Caroline Skinner
	Black Mirror: "Be Right Back"	Barney Reisz, Charlie Brooker, Owen Harris, Annabel Jones	Channel 4
2015	Marvellous	Peter Bowker, Julian Farino, Katie Swinden, Patrick Spence	BBC Two
	Common	Jimmy McGovern, David Blair, Colin McKeown, Donna Molloy	BBC One
	Murdered by My Boyfriend	Pier Wilkie, Regina Moriarty, Paul Andrew Williams, Darren Kemp	BBC Three
	A Poet in New York	Aisling Walsh, Ruth Caleb, Andrew Davies, Griff Rhys Jones	BBC Two
2016	Don't Take My Baby	Jack Thorne, Ben Anthony, Pier Wilkie, Aysha Rafaele	BBC Three
	The C Word	Susan Hogg, Simon Lewis, Nicole Taylor, Tim Kirkby	BBC One
	The Go-Between	Claire Bennett, Susan Hogg, Adrian Hodges, Pete Travis
	Cyberbully	Richard Bond, Ben Chanan, David Lobatto, Leah Cooper	Channel 4
2017	Damilola, Our Loved Boy	Levi David Addai, Euros Lyn, Susan Horth, Colin Barr	BBC One
	Murdered by My Father	Bruce Goodison, Toby Welch, Vinay Patel, Aysha Rafaele	BBC Three
	Aberfan: The Green Hollow	Pip Broughton, Bethan Jones, Jenna Robbins, Owen Sheers	BBC One
	NW		BBC Two
2018	Murdered for Being Different	Aysha Rafaele, Scott Bassett, Paul Andrew Williams, Nick Leather	BBC Three
	Against the Law	Aysha Rafaele, Scott Bassett, Fergus O'Brien, Brian Fillis	BBC Two
	King Charles III	Mike Bartlett, Greg Brenman, Rupert Goold, Simon Maloney
	Black Mirror: "Hang the DJ"	Charlie Brooker, Annabel Jones, Tim Van Patten, Nick Pitt	Netflix
2019 [2]	Killed by My Debt	Joseph Bullman, Tahsin Guner, Chris Clough, Aysha Rafaele	BBC Three
	Black Mirror: "Bandersnatch"	Charlie Brooker, Annabel Jones, David Slade, Russell McLean	Netflix
	Care	Donna Molloy, Colin McKeown, Gillian Juckes, David Blair	BBC One
	Through the Gates (On The Edge)	Lisa Walters, Stella Corradi, Georgia Christou, Ben Bickerton	Channel 4

2020s

Year	Title	Recipient(s)	Broadcaster
2020 [3]	The Left Behind	Alan Harris, Joseph Bullman, Aysha Rafaele, Tracie Simpson	BBC Three
	Brexit: The Uncivil War		Channel 4
	Elizabeth is Missing	Andrea Gibb, Aisling Walsh, Sarah Brown, Chrissy Skinns	BBC One
	Responsible Child		BBC Two
2021 [4]	Sitting in Limbo		BBC One
	BBW (On the Edge)	Ben Bickerton, Philip Trethowan, Lisa Walters, William Stefan Smith, Yolanda Mercy	Channel 4
	Anthony	Jimmy McGovern, Colin McKeown, Donna Molloy, Terry McDonough	BBC One
	The Windermere Children	Eleanor Greene, Leanne Klein, Tim Rostock, Simon Block, Michael Samuels, Alison Sterling	BBC Two
2022 [5]	Together		BBC Two
	Help		Channel 4
	I Am... Victoria	Dominic Savage, Krishnendu Majumdar, Richard Yee, Suranne Jones, Josh Hyams, David Charap
	Death of England: Face to Face	Clint Dyer, Dixie Linder, David Sabel, Rufus Norris, Christine Schwarzman, Roy Williams	Sky Arts
2023 [6][7]	I Am... Ruth	Dominic Savage, Krishnendu Majumdar, Josh Hyams, Kate Winslet, Richard Yee, David Charap	Channel 4
	The House	Paloma Baeza, Niki Lindroth von Bahr, Emma de Swaef, Marc James Roels, Charlotte Bavasso, Christopher O'Reilly	Netflix
	Life and Death in the Warehouse	Joseph Bullman, Helen Black, Tracie Simpson, Aysha Rafaele, Tim Hodges, Steve Lawes	BBC Three

• Note: The series that don't have recipients on the tables had Production team credited as recipients for the award or nomination.

References

1. "Rules and Guidelines" (PDF). British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-01-24. Retrieved 2021-03-06.
2. "Nominations announced: Virgin Media British Academy Television Awards and British Academy Television Craft Awards in 2019". www.bafta.org. 2019-03-28. Retrieved 2021-03-07.
3. Kanter, Jake (2020-07-31). "BAFTA TV Awards Winners: Night Of Surprises, As 'Chernobyl' & 'The End Of The F***ing World' Take Two Prizes Each". Deadline. Retrieved 2021-03-07.
4. "BAFTA TV 2021: Nominations for the Virgin Media British Academy Television Awards and British Academy Television Craft Awards". www.bafta.org. 2021-04-28. Retrieved 2021-04-28.
5. "Bafta TV awards 2022: full list of nominations". The Guardian. 30 March 2022. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
6. Ritman, Alex (22 March 2023). "BAFTA TV Awards: 'This is Going to Hurt,' 'The Responder' Lead Pack of Nominees". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 22 March 2023. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
7. "Bafta TV awards 2023: the full list of winners". Guardian. 14 May 2023. Retrieved 15 May 2023.

External links

• List of winners at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts