British Academy Television Award for Best Specialist Factual

The British Academy Television Award for Best Specialist Factual 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 is "specifically for arts, religion, history, natural history and science programmes or series and can include both factual and performance programmes."^[1]

British Academy Television Award
Country	United Kingdom
Presented by	British Academy of Film and Television Arts
First award	1965
Currently held by	Atomic People (2025)
Website	http://www.bafta.org/

The category has gone through several changes in name and type of nominees considered for the category:

• It was first awarded as Best Specialized Programme from 1965 to 1972 and then as Best Specialized Program from 1973 to 1977. Also, another category was presented during similar years, the Best Specialized Series (from 1973 to 1976).
• From 1980 to 1985, the Best Programme/Series without Category was presented.
• A category for just arts programming was presented as Huw Wheldon Award for Best Arts Programme from 1987 to 2000.
• Then, from 2001 to 2004 it received the name Huw Wheldon Award For Specialised Programme or Series.
• Since 2005 the category is named Best Specialist Factual.

Winners and nominees

1960s

Best Specialized Programme

Year	Recipient(s)	Title
1965	Ned Sherrin
1966	Peter Watkins	Culloden
	Gerry Anderson	Stingray
	Ken Russell	Debussy/Douanier Rousseau
	Humphrey Burton	Workshop: Goetterdaemmerung Eroica Michael Tippett Liverpool Conducting Competition Our World of Opera
1967	Ken Russell
1968	Basil Coleman
1969	Jack Gold	The World of Coppard

1970s

Best Specialized Programme

Year	Title	Recipient(s)
1970	Blue Peter	Biddy Baxter, Edward Barnes, Rosemary Gill
	Girls Wanted Istanbul	Wendy Toye
	Omnibus: "A Dream Divided" Omnibus: "Down These Mean Streets A Man Must Go"	Fred Burnley
	Civilisation	Michael Gill, Peter Montagnon
	The Goshawk	David Cobham
	Omnibus	Norman Swallow
	Omnibus: "Woman from the Shadows" Omnibus: "The Confessions of Marian Evans"	Don Taylor
1971	On Trial: The Chicago Conspiracy Trial	Christopher Burstall
	Omnibus: "A Requiem For Modigliani"	Fred Burnley
	Omnibus: "Dance of The Seven Veils"	Ken Russell
	Omnibus: "I Regret Nothing"	Michael Houldey
	Aquarius	Humphrey Burton and the Production Team
1972	Omnibus	Norman Swallow
	Bird's Eye View: A Land for All Seasons	John Bird
	The Issue Should Be Avoided	Robert Vas
	The Search for the Nile	Christopher Ralling

Best Specialized Program

Year	Title	Recipient(s)
1973	Omnibus: "Vincent The Dutchman - Van Gogh"	Mai Zetterling and the Production Team
	Omnibus: "Who Needs a Conductor - André Previn"	Herbert Chappell
	Who Sank The Lusitania?	Paul Bonner
1974	Omnibus: "Colette - A Window on the War"	Colin Nears
	Aquarius: "Hello Dali"	Bruce Gowers
	Second House: A Long Drawn-Out Trip	Gerald Scarfe
	Times of Bronze and Jade	Michael Gill
1975	Horizon: "Joey"	Brian Gibson
	Omnibus: "Joseph Conrad"	Colin Nears
	Omnibus: "The Goldwyn Touch"	Gavin Millar
	The Sun is God	Michael Darlow
1976	Explorers: "Amundsen"	David Cobham
	Explorers: "Captain Cook"	John Irvin
	Omnibus: "Nijinsky, God of the Dance"	Colin Nears
	Explorers: "Pizarro"	Fred Burnley
1977	On the Move	David Hargreaves
	Aquarius	Derek Bailey
	Claude Monet	John Read
	One Man and His Dog	Philip S. Gilbert
	That's Life	Esther Rantzen

Best Specialized Series

Year	Title	Recipient(s)
1973	Ways of Seeing - John Berger	Michael Dibb
	Aquarius	Humphrey Burton and the Production Team
	Omnibus	Mike Wooller
1974	Vision On	Patrick Dowling
	Aquarius	Humphrey Burton
	The Ascent of Man	Adrian Malone
	Chronicle	Paul Johnstone
1975	Aquarius	Humphrey Burton
	Face the Music	Walter Todds
	Microbes and Men	Peter Goodchild
	Omnibus	Michael Wooller
1976	Explorers	Michael Latham
	The Fight Against Slavery	Christopher Ralling
	Mastermind	Bill Wright
	Omnibus

1980s

Programme/Series Without Category

Year	Title	Recipient(s)
1980	The South Bank Show	Melvyn Bragg
	It'll Be Alright on the Night II	Paul Smith
	Jacqueline du Pre Master Class	Rodney Greenberg
	Timothy West as Beecham	Robin Lough
1981	Omnibus	Leslie Megahey
	Arena	Alan Yentob
	Mastermind	Bill Wright
	The South Bank Show
1982	Arena	Alan Yentob
	Film '81	Judy Lindsay, Margaret Sharpe
	Clive James at the Movies	Nicholas Barrett
	The South Bank Show	Melvyn Bragg
1983	Arena	Alan Yentob
	Clive James on Television	Nicholas Barrett
	Did You See...?	John Archer
	The South Bank Show	Melvyn Bragg
1984	Arena	Alan Yentob
	Clive James on Television	Nicholas Barrett
	Did You See...?	Chris Mohr, John Archer
	The South Bank Show	Melvyn Bragg
1985	Did You See...?	John Archer
	Arena	Alan Yentob
	Clive James on Television	Nicholas Barrett
	The South Bank Show	Melvyn Bragg

Huw Wheldon Award for Best Arts Programme

Year	Title	Recipient(s)
1987	Arena: Scarfe On Scarfe	Gerald Scarfe
	Chasing a Rainbow: The Life of Josephine Baker	Christopher Ralling
	Dirk Bogarde - Above The Title	Nick Gray
	Omnibus: The Bolshoi Ballet	Michael Houldey
	Sondheim On Broadway - Follies: Four Days In New York
	The South Bank Show: Michael Powell	David Hinton
	The South Bank Show: The Andrew Lloyd Webber Story	Alan Benson
1988	LS Lowry: A Simple Man	Ian Squires, Gillian Lynne
	Arena: Dennis Potter	Anthony Wall
	The South Bank Show: Maria Callas	Tony Palmer
	Omnibus: George Gershwin Remembered	Peter Adam
1989	The South Bank Show: Bertolucci and the Last Emperor	David Hinton
	John Gielgud: An Actor's Life	Dave Heather, John Miller
	Omnibus: HRH The Prince Of Wales - A Vision Of Britain	Christopher Martin, Nicholas Rossiter
	The South Bank Show: The Art of Walt Disney	Alan Benson

1990s

Huw Wheldon Award for Best Arts Programme

Year	Title	Recipient(s)
1990	Omnibus: "Art in the Third Reich"	Peter Adam
	The South Bank Show: "Barry Humphries"	Nigel Wattis
	The South Bank Show: "Dustin Hoffman"	Tony Knox
	Arena: "Tales From Barcelona"	Jana Boková
1991	The South Bank Show: "The Partnership Between Robert Bolt and Sir David Lean"	David Thomas
	Omnibus: "Bernstein"	Peter Maniura, Humphrey Burton
	The South Bank Show: "Alan Parker"	Frances Dickenson
	The South Bank Show: "Spitting Image"	Alan Benson
1992	Without Walls: "J'Accuse - Citizen Kane"	Gary Johnstone
	The South Bank Show: "Jose Carreras - A Life Story"	Chris Hunt
	The South Bank Show Special: "Kiri Te Kanawa"	Nigel Wattis
	The South Bank Show: "Terry Gilliam"	Frances Dickenson
1993	Omnibus: "Angela Carter's Curious Room"	Kim Evans
	Bookmark: Miss Pym's Day Out	James Runcie
	The Nicholas Brothers: We Sing And We Dance	Chris Bould, Chipps Chipperfield
	The South Bank Show: "The Making of Sergeant Pepper"	Alan Benson, Nick De Grunwald
1994	Bookmark: The Vampire's Life	Anand Tucker
	Omnibus: "Magic Lantern"	Dennis Marks
	The South Bank Show: "Sylvie Guillem"	Nigel Wattis
	Theremin: An Electric Odyssey	Steve Martin
1995	Without Walls: "An Interview with Dennis Potter"	Melvyn Bragg, David Thomas, Nigel Wattis
	Shakespeare on the Estate	Penny Woolcock
1996	Children of the Revolution	John Wyver, David Hinton
	Arena	Peter Lydon
	The Homecoming	Archie Baron
	A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies	Florence Dauman
1997	Rhythm: Leaving Home	Sue Knussen, Hilary Chadwick
	A History of British Art	Gillian Greenwood
	American Visions	Nicholas Rossiter
	Dancing in the Street: A Rock and Roll History	Hugh Thomson
1998	The South Bank Show: "Gilbert and George"	Gerald Fox
	Bookmark: Not Waving but Drowning	Aysha Rafaele
	Dancing for Dollars	Angus Macqueen
	Omnibus: "Jack Rosenthal - Jack The Lad"	Anne Elletson, Randall Wright
1999	The Arena: "Brian Epstein Story"	Debbie Geller, Diana Mansfield, Anthony Wall
	The Secret Art of Government	Nick Rossiter
	The Arena: "Noel Coward Trilogy"	Adam Low
	Vile Bodies: "Naked"	Adam Barker, Edmund Coulthard

2000s

Huw Wheldon Award for Best Arts Programme

Year	Title	Recipient(s)	Broadcaster
2000	This is Modern Art	Ian MacMillan, Matt Collings	Channel 4
	The Abba Story	Chris Hunt, Steve Cole	ITV
	The Hip Hop Years	David Upshal, Stephen Lambert	Channel 4
	Reputations: Hitchcock/Alfred The Great/Alfred The Auteur	Tim Kirby	BBC Two

Huw Wheldon Award For Specialised Programme or Series

Year	Title	Recipient(s)	Broadcaster
2001	Howard Goodall's Big Bangs	Paul Sommers, Howard Goodall, Jan Younghusband	Channel 4
	Arena: "Wisconsin Death Trip"	Maureen Ryan, James Marsh, Anthony Wall	BBC Two
	A History Of Britain by Simon Schama	Martin Davidson, Simon Schama
	Elizabeth	Mark Fielder, Steven Clarke, David Starkey	Channel 4
2002	Arena: "The Private Dirk Bogarde"	Anthony Wall, Adam Low	BBC Two
	The 1940s House	Alex Graham, Simon Shaw, Caroline Ross Pirie	Channel 4
	The Six Wives of Henry VIII
	Walk On By: The Story of Popular Song	Michael Poole, Alan Lewens	BBC Two
2003	The Trust		Channel 4
	A History Of Britain by Simon Schama		BBC Two
	Life of Mammals		BBC One
	Revealed		Five
2004	The National Trust	Claire Kavanagh, Nick Kent, Patrick Forbes	BBC Four
	Leonardo	Michael Mosley, Lesley Megahey, Alan Yentob	BBC One
	Operatunity	Roy Ackerman, Michael Waldman	Channel 4
	Seven Wonders of the Industrial World		BBC Two

Best Specialist Factual

Year	Title	Recipient(s)	Broadcaster
2005	Dunkirk	Rob Warr, Alex Holmes	BBC Two
	D-Day	Richard Dale, Tim Bradley	BBC One
	D-Day: The Ultimate Conflict	Mark Lewis, Ana Paula Lloyd, Simon Greenwood	Five
	Howard Goodall's 20th Century Greats	Paul Sommers, David Jeffcock, Francis Hanly	Channel 4
2006	Holocaust - A Music Memorial Film From Auschwitz		BBC Two
	The Boy with The Incredible Brain	Martin Weitz, Toby Trackman, Steve Gooder	Five
	Arena: "No Direction Home - Bob Dylan"	Nigel Sinclair, Anthony Wall, Martin Scorsese	BBC Two
	Life in the Undergrowth		BBC One
2007	Nuremberg: Goering's Last Stand	Peter Nicholson, Simon Berthon, Dan Korn, Piers Vellacott	Channel 4
	Munich: Mossad's Revenge	Anthony Geffen, Tom Whitter, Peter Miller, Calum Walker	Channel 4
	Planet Earth	Alastair Fothergill, Mark Linfield	BBC One
	Simon Schama's Power of Art	Clare Beavan, Simon Schama, Basil Comely, Mark Harrison	BBC Two
2008	Andrew Marr's History of Modern Britain	Andrew Marr, Chris Granlund, Tom Giles, Clive Edwards	BBC Two
	The Genius of Photography	Tim Kirby, Alex Graham, Michael Jackson	BBC Four
	Earth: The Power of the Planet	Dr Iain Stewart, Jonathan Renouf, Phil Dolling	BBC Two
	The Relief of Belsen	Justin Hardy, Susan Horth, Peter Guinness, Lucy Bassnet-McGuire	Channel 4
2009	Life in Cold Blood		BBC One
	Lost Land of the Jaguar		BBC One
	Blood and Guts: A History of Surgery	Claudia Lewis, Kim Shillinglaw	BBC Four
	Stephen Fry and the Gutenberg Press: The Machine That Made Us	Stephen Fry, Patrick McGrady, Lucy Ward, Philip Crocker

2010s

Year	Title	Recipient(s)	Broadcaster
2010	Inside Nature's Giants	David Dugan, Julian Thomas, Alex Tate, Yvonne Bainton	Channel 4
	Art of Russia	Andrew Graham-Dixon, John Hay, Silvia Sacco, Karen McGann	BBC Four
	Chemistry: A Volatile History	Jim Al-Khalili, Helen Thomas, Sacha Baveystock, Kim Shillinglaw
	Yellowstone		BBC Two
2011	Flying Monsters 3D	David Attenborough, Anthony Geffen, Sias Wilson	Sky 3D
	The Making of Alan Bennett and The Habit of Art	Martin Rosenbaum, David Sabel, Toby Coffey, Adam Low	More4
	Human Planet	Brian Leith, Dale Templar, Nitin Sawhney, Tom Hugh-Jones	BBC One
	Pompeii: Life and Death in a Roman Town	Paul Elston, Daisy Scalchi, Richard Bradley	BBC Two
2012	Mummifying Alan: Egypt's Last Secret	Laura Jones, Justine Kershaw, Gillian Moseley, Kenny Scott	Channel 4
	British Masters	Jonty Claypole, James Fox, Matt Hill, Richard Wilkinson	BBC Four
	Frozen Planet	David Attenborough, Vanessa Berlowitz, Alastair Fothergill, Mark Linfield	BBC One
	Wonders of the Universe	Brian Cox, Michael Lachman, Jonathan Renouf, James Van Der Pool	BBC Two
2013	All in the Best Possible Taste with Grayson Perry	Grayson Perry, Joe Evans, Neil Crombie, Dinah Lord	Channel 4
	The Secret History of Our Streets		BBC Two
	The Plane Crash	Simon Dickson, Sanjay Singhal, Steve Nam, Geoff Deehan	Channel 4
	The Plot to Bring Down Britain’s Planes
2014	David Attenborough's Natural History Museum Alive	David Attenborough, Anthony Geffen, Mike Davis, Dan Smith	Sky 3D
	Richard III: The King in the Car Park	Simon Young, Julian Ware, Louise Osmond	Channel 4
	Martin Luther King and The March on Washington	John Akomfrah, Lina Gopaul, David Lawson
	Story of the Jews		BBC Two
2015	Grayson Perry: Who Are You?	Neil Crombie, Joe Evans, Grayson Perry, Dinah Lord	Channel 4
	David Attenborough's Conquest of the Skies 3D	Anthony Geffen, David Lee, David Attenborough	Sky 3D
	The Great War: The People’s Story		ITV
	Our Gay Wedding: The Musical	Sean Murphy, Archie Baron, Nathan Taylor, Benjamin Till	Channel 4
2016	Britain's Forgotten Slave Owners		BBC Two
	Grayson Perry’s Dream House	Neil Crombie, Grayson Perry, Joe Evans, Marcus Plowright	Channel 4
	The Hunt		BBC One
	Rudolf Nureyev – Dance to Freedom	Franny Moyle, Richard Curson Smith, Tom Herington, Yelena Durden-Smith	BBC Two
2017	Planet Earth II	Michael Gunton, Tom Hugh-Jones, Elizabeth White, David Attenborough	BBC One
	Alan Bennett's Diaries	Adam Low, Martin Rosenbaum, David Sabel	BBC Two
	Attenborough's Life That Glows	Martin Dohrn, Joe Loncraine, Paul Reddish, Fraser Purdie	BBC Two
	Grayson Perry: All Man	Grayson Perry, Neil Crombie, Joe Evans, Arthur Cary	Channel 4
2018	Basquiat: Rage to Riches	David Shulman, Janet Lee	BBC Two
	Blue Planet II		BBC One
	Blitz: The Bombs that Changed Britain	Tim Kirby, Emily Thompson, Francesca Maudslay, Cate Hall	BBC Two
	Elizabeth I's Secret Agents	Chris Durlacher, Bernadette Ross, Julian Jones, Claire Guillon
2019 [2]	Suffragettes with Lucy Worsley		BBC One
	Bros: After the Screaming Stops	David Soutar, Joe Pearlman, Leo Pearlman, Heather Greenwood	BBC Four
	Grayson Perry: Rites of Passage	Grayson Perry, Neil Crombie, Joe Evans, James House	Channel 4
	Superkids: Breaking Away from Care

2020s

Year	Title	Recipient(s)	Broadcaster
2020 [3]	Yorkshire Ripper Files: A Very British Crime Story	Liza Williams, Jasmine Macnabb, Nancy Bornat, Leanne Klein	BBC Four
	8 Days: To The Moon and Back		BBC Two
	Thatcher: A Very British Revolution
	Seven Worlds, One Planet		BBC One
2021 [4]	The Surgeon’s Cut	James Newton, James Van Der Pool, Andrew Cohen	Netflix
	Extinction: The Facts	Serena Davies, Helen Thomas, Stephen Moore, Charlotte Lathane	BBC One
	The Rise of the Murdoch Dynasty	David Glover, Cate Hall, Jamie Roberts, Owen Phillips, Justin Badger, Sam Santana	BBC Two
	Putin: A Russian Spy Story	James Rogan, Nick Green, Paul Mitchell, Adam Finch	Channel 4
2022 [5]	The Missing Children	Tanya Stephan, Rachel Cumella, Brian Woods, Anne Morrison, Paddy Garrick, Ella Newton	ITV
	Black Power: A British Story of Resistance	George Amponsah, Helen Bart, Steve McQueen, James Rogan, Soleta Rogan, Tracey Scoffield	BBC Two
	Silenced: The Hidden Story of Disabled Britain
	The Freddie Mercury: The Final Act	James Rogan, Daniel Hall, Chris Wilson, Mark Hedgecoe, Soleta Rogan, Simon Lupton
2023 [6][7]	Russia 1985–1999: TraumaZone	Adam Curtis, Sandra Gorel, Rose Garnett, Grigor Atanesian	BBC iPlayer
	The Green Planet	Michael Gunton, Rupert Barrington, Paul Williams, Peter Bassett, Rosie Thomas, Elisabeth Oakham	BBC One
How to Survive a Dictator with Munya Chawawa		Channel 4
2024 [8]	White Nanny, Black Child	Andy Mundy-Castle, Natasha Dack Ojumu, Rochelle Newman, Zeb Achonu, Ross Leppard, Rachael McLean-Anderson	Channel 5
	Chimp Empire	James Reed, Matt Houghton, Callum Webster, Matt Cole	Netflix
	The Enfield Poltergeist	Jerry Rothwell , Al Morrow, Stewart le Maréchal, Nicole Stott, Jonathan Silberberg, Davis Guggenheim	Apple TV+
	Forced Out	Luke Korzun Martin, Sophie Perrins, Chibuikem Oforka, Josh Green, Tom Pullen, Richard Bond	Sky Documentaries
2025 [9][10]	Atomic People	Benedict Sanderson, Megumi Inman, Morgan Matthews, Otto Burnham	BBC Two
	Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story		National Geographic
	Children of the Cult	Maroesja Perizonius, Alice McShane, Victoria Hollingsworth, David Modell, Ella Newton, Ben Ferguson	ITV1
	Miners' Strike 1984: The Battle for Britain	Tom Barrow, Christian Collerton, Zora Kuettner, Neil Crombie, Joe Evans, Miriam Walsh	Channel 4

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