British Academy Television Award for Best Entertainment Programme

The British Academy Television Award for Best Entertainment Programme 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 "includes quizzes, game shows, talent shows, music specials and all general entertainment programmes."^[1]

British Academy Television Award
Country	United Kingdom
Presented by	British Academy of Film and Television Arts
First award	1971
Currently held by	Would I Lie to You? (2025)
Website	http://www.bafta.org/

The category has been through several name and category changes:

• From 1958 to 1970 it was presented as an individual award named Best Light Entertainment.
• In 1971 the name was changed to Best Light Entertainment Programme and in 1992 it was changed again to Best Light Entertainment Programme or Series.
• Since 2000 the category is presented under the name of Best Entertainment Programme.

Winners and nominees

1950s

Best Light Entertainment

Year	Recipient(s)
1958	Brian Tesler
1959	Joan Kemp-Welch

1960s

Best Light Entertainment

Year	Recipient(s)	Title
1960	Bill Ward
1961	Ned Sherrin
1962	George Inns
1963	Duncan Wood
1964	Colin Clews
1965	Francis Essex
1966	Joe McGrath	Not Only... But Also The Big Noise
	Ken Carter	The Benny Hill Show The Lance Percival Show
	Terry Henebery	Jazz 625 Torme's Back in Town Ella Fitzgerald Jazz Scene USA Commonwealth Jazz Club
	Dennis Main Wilson	Scott on Birds Scott on Money The Roy Castle Show Here I Come Whoever I Am Till Death Do Us Part
1967	Ned Sherrin, John Bird
1968	Ned Sherrin
1969	Dennis Main Wilson	Marty Till Death Do Us Part

1970s

Best Light Entertainment

Year	Title	Recipient(s)	Broadcaster
1970	Just Pet	Yvonne Littlewood	BBC
	Please Sir!	Mark Stuart	ITV
	Bobbie Gentry: The Price of Fame	Stanley Dorfman	BBC
	The World of Beachcomber	Duncan Wood
	Dad's Army	David Croft	BBC One
	Monty Python's Flying Circus	John Howard Davies, Ian McNaughton
	Not in Front of the Children	Graeme Muir

Best Light Entertainment Programme

Year	Title	Recipient(s)	Broadcaster
1971	Dad's Army	David Croft and team	BBC One
	The Benny Hill Show	John Robins	ITV
	The Morecambe and Wise Show	John Ammonds
	Monty Python's Flying Circus	Ian McNaughton	BBC One
	Up Pompeii!	David Croft
1972	The Benny Hill Show	John Robins, David Bell	ITV
	The Goodies	John Howard Davies	BBC Two
	The Two Ronnies	Terry Hughes	BBC One
	The Comedians	Johnny Hamp	ITV
1973	Monty Python's Flying Circus	Ian McNaughton and the production team	BBC One
	Dave Allen at Large	Peter Whitmore	BBC Two
	The Two Ronnies	Terry Hughes	BBC One
1974	The Stanley Baxter Big Picture Show	David Bell	ITV
	Dave Allen at Large	Peter Whitmore	BBC Two
	The Morecambe and Wise Show	John Ammonds	ITV
	The Two Ronnies	Terry Hughes	BBC One
1975	The Stanley Baxter Moving Picture Show	David Bell	ITV
	The Two Ronnies	Terry Hughes	BBC One
	The Benny Hill Show	John Robins, Mark Stuart	ITV
	Monty Python	Ian MacNaughton	BBC Two
1976	The Two Ronnies	Terry Hughes	BBC One
	The Stanley Baxter Moving Picture Show Part III	Jon Scoffield	ITV
	Dave Allen at Large	Peter Whitmore	BBC Two
	The Goodies	Jim Franklin
1977	The Muppet Show	Production Team	ITV
	The Two Ronnies	Terry Hughes	BBC One
	The Morecambe and Wise Show	Ernest Maxin
	Mastermind	Bill Wright
1978	Morecambe and Wise Christmas Show	Ernest Maxin	BBC One
	The Muppet Show	Jim Henson	ITV
	The Two Ronnies	Peter Whitmore	BBC One
	Mike Yarwood in Persons	John Ammonds
1979	The Kenny Everett Video Show	David Mallet	ITV
	The Two Ronnies	Peter Whitmore	BBC One
	The Good Life (Special)	John Howard Davies
	The Muppet Show	Jim Henson	ITV

1980s

Best Light Entertainment Programme

Year	Title	Recipient(s)	Broadcaster
1980	Ripping Yarns	Alan Bell, Jim Franklin	BBC Two
	The Kenny Everett Video Show	David Mallet	ITV
	The Muppet Show	Jim Henson
	The Two Ronnies	Peter Whitmore	BBC One
1981	Not the Nine O'Clock News	John Lloyd, Sean Hardie, Bill Wilson	BBC Two
	The Kenny Everett Video Show	David Mallet	ITV
	An Audience with Dame Edna Everage	Alasdair Macmillan
	The Two Ronnies	Michael Hurll, K Paul Jackson	BBC One
1982	The Stanley Baxter Series	David Bell, John Kaye Cooper	ITV
	The Two Ronnies	Paul Jackson	BBC One
	The Kenny Everett Video Show	Royston Mayoh	ITV
	Wood and Walters	Peter Eckersley, Stuart Orme
1983	Three of a Kind	Paul Jackson	BBC One
	Not the Nine O'Clock News	John Lloyd, Sean Hardie	BBC Two
	The Two Ronnies	Paul Jackson	BBC One
	The Stanley Baxter Hour	John Kaye Cooper	ITV
1984	Carrott's Lib	Geoff Posner	BBC One
	The Kenny Everett Television Show	Bill Wilson	ITV
	The Two Ronnies	Marcus Plantin	BBC One
	Three of a Kind	Paul Jackson
1985	An Audience with Dame Edna Everage	Richard Drewett	ITV
	The Hot Shoe Show	Tom Gutteridge	BBC One
	Yes, Minister (Special: Party Games)	Peter Whitmore	BBC Two
	Spitting Image	Jon Blair, Tony Hendra, John Lloyd	ITV
1986	Victoria Wood As Seen On TV	Geoff Posner	BBC Two
	Spitting Image	John Lloyd	ITV
	Alas Smith and Jones	John Kilby, Jimmy Mulville	BBC Two
	Treasure Hunt	Peter Holrnans, Malcolm Heyworth	Channel 4
1987	Victoria Wood As Seen On TV	Geoff Posner	BBC Two
	Spitting Image	John Lloyd, Geoffrey Perkins	ITV
	Clive James on Television	Nicholas Barrett
	Alas Smith and Jones	John Kilby	BBC Two
	Entertainment USA	Gordon Elsbury
	Who Dares Wins	Denise O'Donoghue, Andy Hamilton	BBC One
1988	Victoria Wood On TV Special	Geoff Posner	BBC Two
	Alas Smith and Jones	John Kilby, Jamie Rix	BBC Two
	Spitting Image	Geoffrey Perkins	ITV
	The Dame Edna Experience	Richard Drewett, Judith Holder
1989	An Audience With Victoria Wood	David G. Hillier	ITV
	French and Saunders	Geoff Posner, Kevin Bishop	BBC Two
	The Lenny Henry Show	Geoff Posner	BBC One
	Spitting Image	Geoffrey Perkins	ITV

1990s

Best Light Entertainment Programme

Year	Title	Recipient(s)	Broadcaster
1990	Clive James on the '80s	Elaine Bedell, Richard Drewett	ITV
	Whose Line Is It Anyway?	Dan Patterson, Chris Bould	Channel 4
	The Dame Edna Experience	Claudia Rosencrantz, Alasdair Macmillan	ITV
	Victoria Wood	Geoff Posner, Kevin Bishop	BBC One
1991	Whose Line Is It Anyway?	Dan Patterson, Chris Bould	Channel 4
	French and Saunders	Jon Plowman, Bob Spiers	BBC Two
	Mr. Bean	John Howard Davies	ITV
	Spitting Image	Bill Dare

Best Light Entertainment Programme or Series

Year	Title	Recipient(s)	Broadcaster
1992	Have I Got News for You	Harry Thompson	BBC Two
	Spitting Image	Bill Dare, Steve Bendelack, Andy De Emmony	ITV
	Julie Walters and Friends	Alasdair Macmillan, Nicholas Barrett
	Whose Line Is It Anyway?	Dan Patterson, Chris Bould	Channel 4
1993	Noel's House Party	Michael Leggo	BBC One
	Harry Enfield's Television Programme	Geoffrey Perkins, Geoff Posner
	Have I Got News for You	Harry Thompson	BBC Two
	Whose Line Is It Anyway?	Dan Patterson, Chris Bould	Channel 4
1994	Rory Bremner... Who Else?	Geoff Atkinson, Elaine Morris, Steve Connelly, Tom Poole	Channel 4
	Barrymore	Maurice Leonard, John Gorman	ITV
	French and Saunders	Jon Plowman, Bob Spiers	BBC One
	Noel's House Party	Michael Leggo, Jonathan Beazley
1995	Don't Forget Your Toothbrush	Lisa Clark, Stephen Stewart	Channel 4
	Knowing Me, Knowing You... With Alan Partridge	Armando Iannucci, Dominic Brigstocke	BBC Two
	Rory Bremner... Who Else?	Geoff Atkinson, Elaine Morris, Steve Connelly, Juliet May	Channel 4
	Smashie and Nicey: The End of an Era	Alison Owen, Daniel Kleinman	BBC One
1996	The Mrs Merton Show	Peter Kessler, Pati Marr, Dominic Brigstocke	BBC Two
	Have I Got News for You	Colin Swash, John FD Northover	BBC Two
	Shooting Stars	Alan Marke, Mark Mylod
	Rory Bremner... Who Else?	Geoff Atkinson, Elaine Morris, Steve Connelly, David Crean	Channel 4
1997	Shooting Stars	Alan Marke, Mark Mylod	BBC Two
	Rory Bremner... Who Else?	Geoff Atkinson, Elaine Morris, Steve Smith, Steve Connelly	Channel 4
	The Fast Show	Paul Whitehouse, Charlie Higson, Sid Robeson, Mark Mylod	BBC Two
	Ruby Wax Meets	Clive Tulloh, Don Boyd	BBC
1998	The Fast Show	Charlie Higson, Paul Whitehouse, Mark Mylod	BBC Two
	Harry Enfield and Chums	Sophie Clarke-Jervoise, Dominic Brigstocke	BBC One
	Harry Hill	Charlie Hanson, Robin Nash	Channel 4
	Have I Got News for You	Colin Swash, Richard Wilson	BBC Two
1999	Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?	Paul Smith, Guy Freeman, Martin Scott	ITV
	Big Train	Sioned Wiliam, Graham Linehan, Arthur Mathews	BBC Two
	Goodness Gracious Me	Anil Gupta, Nick Wood
	Rory Bremner... Who Else?	Geoff Atkinson, Jon Magnusson, Geraldine Dowd, Henry Murray	Channel 4

2000s

Best Entertainment Programme

Year	Title	Recipient(s)	Broadcaster
2000	Robbie The Reindeer: Hooves of Fire		BBC One
	So Graham Norton	Graham Stuart, Jon Magnusson, Steve Smith	Channel 4
	Have I Got News for You	Colin Swash, Richard Wilson, Giles Pilbrow	BBC Two
	Robot Wars	Tom Gutteridge, Stephen Carsey, Bill Hobbins
2001	So Graham Norton	Graham Stuart, Jon Magnusson, Steve Smith	Channel 4
	Have I Got News for You	Giles Pilbrow, Colin Swash, Richard Wilson	BBC One
	Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?	Paul Smith, Colman Hutchinson	ITV
	The Weakest Link	David Young, Ruth Davis, Richard Valentine	BBC Two
2002	Pop Idol	Claire Horton, Ken Warwick, Jonathan Bullen	ITV
	Have I Got News for You	Colin Swash, Richard Wilson, Nick Martin, Paul Wheeler	BBC One
	Parkinson	Beatrice Ballard, Stuart McDonald
	Room 101	Richard Wilson, Victoria Payne, Geraldine Dowd	BBC Two
2003	I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!		ITV
	Friday Night with Jonathan Ross	Suzi Aplin, Mick Thomas, Jonathan Ross	BBC One
	Test the Nation	Nichola Hegarty, John Kaye Cooper, Simon Staffurth
	The Kumars at No. 42	Lissa Evans, Richard Pinto, Sharat Sardana	BBC Two
2004	Friday Night with Jonathan Ross	Addison Cresswell, Suzi Aplin, Mick Thomas	BBC One
	Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway	James Sunderland, Chris Power	ITV
	Pop Idol	Richard Holloway, Claire Horton, Jonathan Bullen
	Have I Got News for You	Richard Wilson, Nick Martin, Steve Doherty	BBC One
2005	I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!		ITV
	Friday Night with Jonathan Ross	Addison Cresswell, Suzi Aplin, Mick Thomas	BBC One
	Strictly Come Dancing	Karen Smith, Richard Hopkins, Izzie Pick
	QI	John Lloyd, Ian Lorimer	BBC Two
2006	The X Factor		ITV
	Friday Night with Jonathan Ross		BBC One
	Have I Got News for You	Richard Wilson, Nick Martin, Jo Bunting
	Strictly Come Dancing	Karen Smith, Richard Hopkins, Sam Donnelly
2007	The X Factor	Richard Holloway, Claire Horton, Andrew Llinares, Siobhan Greene	ITV
	Derren Brown: The Heist	Derren Brown, Simon Mills, Andy Nyman, Ben Caron	Channel 4
	Dancing on Ice		ITV
	How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?		BBC One
2008	Harry Hill's TV Burp	Spencer Millman, Peter Orton, Harry Hill	ITV
	Britain's Got Talent	Richard Holloway, Andrew Llinares, Ben Thursby, Georgie Hurford-Jones	ITV
	Have I Got News for You	Jo Bunting, Nick Martin, Richard Wilson	BBC One
	Strictly Come Dancing	Martin Scott, Sam Donnelly, Clodagh O'Donoghue
2009	The X Factor	Richard Holloway, Andrew Llinares, Siobhan Greene, Mark Sidaway	ITV
	Friday/Sunday Night Project	Dean Nabarro, Richard Ackerman, Henrietta Conrad, Andrew Westwell	Channel 4
	Harry Hill's TV Burp	Harry Hill, Peter Orton, Spencer Millman	ITV
	QI	John Lloyd, Piers Fletcher, Ian Lorimer	BBC One

2010s

Year	Title	Recipient(s)	Broadcaster
2010	Britain's Got Talent		ITV
	The Graham Norton Show	Graham Norton, Jon Magnusson, Graham Stuart, Steve Smith	BBC One
	Harry Hill's TV Burp	Harry Hill, Peter Orton, Spencer Millman	ITV
	Newswipe with Charlie Brooker	Charlie Brooker, Annabel Jones, Nick Vaughan-Smith, Al Campbell	BBC Four
2011	The Cube	Adam Adler, Nathan Eastwood, Andrew Newman, Andrew O'Connor	ITV1
	The Graham Norton Show	Graham Norton, Jon Magnusson, Graham Stuart, Steve Smith	BBC One
	Have I Got News for You	Richard Wilson, Jo Bunting, Nick Martin, Mark Barrett
	The X Factor	Andrew Llinares, Mark Sidaway, Nigel Hall, Richard Holloway	ITV1
2012	Derren Brown: The Experiments	Derren Brown, Fiona Cotter-Craig, Simon Dinsell, Iain Sharkey	Channel 4
	Celebrity Juice	Toby Baker, Dan Baldwin, Ed Sleeman, Leon Wilson	ITV2
	Harry Hill's TV Burp	Harry Hill, Peter Orton, Spencer Millman	ITV
	Michael McIntyre's Christmas Comedy Roadshow	Andrew Beint, Anthony Caveney, Addison Cresswell, Michael McIntyre	BBC One
2013	The Graham Norton Show	Graham Norton, Jon Magnusson, Graham Stuart, Steve Smith	BBC One
	Dynamo Magician Impossible	Steven Frayne, Mark McQueen, Lucy Ansbro, Dan Albion	Watch
	Have I Got News for You	Richard Wilson, Jo Bunting, Nick Martin, Ben Wicks	BBC One
	A League of Their Own	Murray Boland, Danielle Lux, Jim Pullin, David Taylor	Sky1
2014	Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway		ITV
	Strictly Come Dancing		BBC One
	Dynamo: Magician Impossible	Lucy Ansbro, Dan Albion, Alex Hartman, Debbie Young	Watch
	Derren Brown: The Great Art Robbery		Channel 4
2015	Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway		ITV
	Strictly Come Dancing	Louise Rainbow, Nikki Parsons, Vanessa Clark, Jason Gilkison	BBC One
	The Voice	Moira Ross, John de Mol, Clodagh O'Donoghue, Ed Booth
	Dynamo: Magician Impossible	Lucy Ansbro, Dan Albion, Alex Hartman, Debbie Young	Watch
2016	Strictly Come Dancing	Louise Rainbow, Vinnie Shergill, Sarah James, Nikki Parsons	BBC One
	Adele at the BBC	Adele Adkins, Guy Freeman, Anouk Fontaine, Simon Staffurth	BBC One
	Britain's Got Talent	Richard Holloway, Amelia Brown, Lee McNicholas, Matt Banks	ITV
	TFI Friday Anniversary Special	Will MacDonald, Clare Barton, Suzi Aplin	Channel 4
2017	Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway		ITV
	Michael McIntyre's Big Show	Christian Fletcher, Dan Baldwin, Claire Horton, Chris Howe	BBC One
	Britain's Got Talent	Richard Holloway, Amelia Brown, Lee McNicholas, Clair Breen	ITV
	Strictly Come Dancing		BBC One
2018	Britain's Got Talent	Amelia Brown, Lee McNicholas, Richard Holloway, Charlie Irwin	ITV
	Michael McIntyre's Big Show	Christian Fletcher, Dan Baldwin, Claire Horton, Michael McIntyre	BBC One
	Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway	Pete Ogden, Saul Fearnley, Diego Rincon, Andy Milligan	ITV
	The Voice UK
2019 [2]	Britain's Got Talent	Charlie Irwin, Amelia Brown, Nigel Hall, Dawn Gray	ITV
	Michael McIntyre's Big Show	Christian Fletcher, Dan Baldwin, Claire Horton, Michael McIntyre	BBC One
	Strictly Come Dancing	Louise Rainbow, Sarah James, Robin Lee-Perrella, Jason Gilkison
	Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway	Pete Ogden, Saul Fearnley, Tom Locking, Helen Kruger Bratt	ITV

2020s

Year	Title	Recipient(s)	Broadcaster
2020 [3]	Strictly Come Dancing		BBC One
	The Rap Game UK	Tom O'Brien, Simon Andreae, Tom Whitrow, Susie Dark	BBC Three
	The Greatest Dancer	Amelia Brown, Phil Harris, Nigel Hall, Louise Hutchinson	BBC One
	The Voice UK		ITV
2021 [4]	Life & Rhymes		Sky Arts
	Strictly Come Dancing		BBC One
	Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway	Pete Ogden, Tim Dean, Ben Aston, Doran Azouelos, Kerry Shaw, Chris Power	ITV
	The Masked Singer	Daniel Nettleton, Derek McLean, Claire Horton, Marc Bassett, Simon Staffurth
2022 [5]	Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway		ITV
	Life & Rhymes		Sky Arts
	An Audience with Adele	Adele, Jonathan Dickins, Sally Wood, Ben Winston, Lou Fox, Bex Hampson	ITV
	Strictly Come Dancing		BBC One
2023 [6][7]	The Masked Singer	Derek McLean, Daniel Nettleton, Claire Horton, Diccon Ramsay	ITV
	Later... with Jools Holland: Jools' 30th Birthday Bash		BBC Two
	Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway		ITV
	Strictly Come Dancing		BBC One
2024 [8]	Strictly Come Dancing		BBC One
	Hannah Waddingham: Home for Christmas	Hannah Waddingham, Hamish Hamilton, Katy Mullan, Moira Ross, Raj Kapoor, Nick Todisco	Apple TV+
	Later... with Jools Holland		BBC Two
	Michael McIntyre's Big Show		BBC One
2025 [9][10]	Would I Lie to You?	Peter Holmes, Rachel Ablett, Barbara Wiltshire, Jake Graham, Zoe Waterman, Charlotte Bracey-Curant	BBC One
	The 1% Club	Dean Nabarro, Andy Auerbach, Richard van’t Riet, Clare Barton, Hennie Clough	ITV1
	Michael McIntyre's Big Show		BBC One
	Taskmaster	Andy Devonshire, Andy Cartwright, James Taylor, Alex Horne, Jon Thoday	Channel 4