The British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Series is one of the major categories of the British Academy Television Awards (BAFTAs), the primary awards ceremony of the British television industry. The category is described on the official BAFTA website as being open to drama series which are "of more than one episode where stand-alone story lines conclude within each episode, but in which the main characters and context continue throughout the series. Only one episode of a series may be entered."

The award was first given in 1992, for the awards covering programmes screened in 1991. Prior to this, drama series had been included in a joint "Best Drama Series or Serial" category with serials. From 1992 onwards, they were split in two, with a separate Best Drama Serial category also established.

Inspector Morse, Cracker and The Cops — all police procedural dramas — have all won the category twice, all of them in successive years.

Winners

1990s

Year	Title	Production company	Broadcaster	Recipient(s)
1992	Inspector Morse	Central Independent Television	ITV	David Lascelles
	Agatha Christie's Poirot	London Weekend Television	ITV	Brian Eastman
	Casualty	BBC Bristol	BBC One	Gerraint Morris
	Spender	BBC Television	BBC One	Martin McKeand
1993	Inspector Morse	Central Independent Television	ITV	Deidre Kerr
	Between the Lines	World Productions	BBC One	Peter Norris
	Casualty	BBC Bristol	BBC One	Gerraint Morris
	Jeeves and Wooster	Carnival Films	ITV	Clive Exton Brian Eastman Ferdinand Fairfax
1994	Between the Lines	World Productions	BBC One	Peter Norris
	Casualty	BBC Bristol	BBC One	Gerraint Morris Michael Ferguson
	Cracker	Granada Television	ITV	Gub Neal Jimmy McGovern
	The Riff Raff Element	BBC Television	BBC One	Liz Trubridge Simon Cellan Jones Jeremy Ancock Debbie Horsfield
1995	Cracker	Granada Television	ITV	Paul Abbott
	The Bill	Thames Television	ITV	Michael Chapman
	Common As Muck	BBC Television	BBC One	John Chapman William Ivory
	Sharpe	Central Independent Television	ITV	Simon Lewis Tom Clegg
1996	Cracker	Granada Television	ITV	Hilary Bevan Jones
	Preston Front	BBC Television	BBC One	Chris Griffin Tim Firth
	Prime Suspect	Granada Television	ITV	Paul Marcus
	A Touch of Frost	Yorkshire Television	ITV	Don Leaver
1997	EastEnders	BBC Television	BBC One	Corinne Hollingworth Jane Harris
	Ballykissangel	BBC Northern Ireland	BBC One	Joy Lale
	Hamish Macbeth	Skyline Films Zenith Entertainment Ltd.	BBC One	Deidre Kerr
	This Life	World Productions	BBC Two	Jane Fallon
1998	Jonathan Creek	BBC Television	BBC One	Susan Belbin Sandy Johnson Marcus Mortimer David Renwick
	Common as Muck	BBC Television	BBC One	Catherine Wearing Metin Hüseyin William Ivory
	Touching Evil	Anglia Television	ITV	Jane Featherstone Paul Abbott
	Wing and a Prayer	Thames Television	ITV	Jacinta Peel Richard Laxton Robin Sheppard Matthew Hall
1999	The Cops	World Productions	BBC Two	Eric Coulter Harry Bradbeer Alrick Riley
	Jonathan Creek	BBC Television	BBC One	Verity Lambert Keith Washington David Renwick Sandy Johnson
	Playing the Field	Tiger Aspect Productions	BBC One	Greg Brenman Catherine Morshead Paul Seed Kay Mellor
	Undercover Heart	BBC Television	BBC One	Jane Fallon John Strickland Richard Signy Peter Bowker

2000s

Year	Title	Production company	Broadcaster	Recipient(s)
2000	The Cops	World Productions	BBC Two	Production Team
	Cold Feet	Granada Television	ITV	Christine Langan Mike Bullen
	Playing the Field	Tiger Aspect Productions	BBC One	Greg Brenman Hugh Warren Kay Mellor
	Psychos	Kudos Film & Television	Channel 4	Production Team
2001	Clocking Off	Red Production Company	BBC One	Nicola Shindler Ann Harrison-Baxter Paul Abbott
	The Cops	World Productions	BBC Two	Production Team
	Fat Friends	Rollem Productions Tiger Aspect Productions Yorkshire Television	ITV	Kay Mellor Gareth Morgan
	The Sins	BBC Television	BBC One	Liza Marshall William Ivory
2002	Cold Feet	Granada Television	ITV	Andy Harries Spencer Campbell Mike Bullen
	At Home with the Braithwaites	Yorkshire Television	ITV	Carolyn Reynolds Jacky Stoller Sally Wainright
	Clocking Off	Red Production Company	BBC One	Nicola Shindler Juliet Charlesworth Paul Abbott
	Tales from the Pleasure Beach	Blast! Film Productions	BBC Two	Madonna Baptiste Edmund Coulthard Roger Williams
2003	Spooks	Kudos Film & Television	BBC One	Production Team
	Clocking Off	Red Production Company	BBC One	Production Team
	Cutting It	BBC Television	BBC One	Debbie Horsfield Diederick Santer Andy De Emmony
	Teacher	Tiger Aspect Productions	Channel 4	Jane Fallon Rhonda Smith
2004	Buried	World Productions	Channel 4	Production Team
	Clocking Off	Red Production Company	BBC One	Production Team
	Foyle's War	Greenlit Productions	ITV	Production Team
	William and Mary	Meridian Broadcasting	ITV	Trevor Hopkins Stuart Orme Mick Ford
2005	Shameless	Company Pictures	Channel 4	Production Team
	Bodies	Hat Trick Productions	BBC Three	Mark Redhead Sue de Beauvoir Jed Mercurio
	Conviction	Red Production Team	BBC Three	Production Team
	Spooks	Kudos Film & Television	BBC One	Jane Featherstone Simon Crawford Collins Andrew Woodhead
2006	Doctor Who	BBC Wales	BBC One	Phil Collinson Russell T Davies Julie Gardner
	Bodies	Hat Trick Productions	BBC Three	Mark Redhead Sue de Beauvoir Jed Mercurio
	Shameless	Company Pictures	Channel 4	Production Team
	Spooks	Kudos Film & Television	BBC One	Production Team
2007	The Street	Granada Productions	BBC One	Jimmy McGovern Sita Williams David Blair Ken Horn
	Life on Mars	Kudos Film & Television	BBC One	Production Team
	Shameless	Company Pictures	Channel 4	Production Team
	Sugar Rush	Shine Productions	Channel 4	Production Team
2008	The Street	Granada Productions	BBC One	Jimmy McGovern Sita Williams Terry McDonough John Chapman
	Life on Mars	Kudos Film & Television	BBC One	Production Team
	Rome	HBO	BBC Two	John Melfi Anne Thomopoulos Bruno Heller Tim Van Patten
	Skins	Company Pictures	Channel 4	Production Team

References

External links

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