National Television Award for Outstanding Drama Series

Last updated
National Television Award for Most Popular Drama Series
Awarded forBest Drama Series
Country United Kingdom
First award1995
Currently held by Call the Midwife (2025)
Website nationaltvawards.com

The National Television Award for Most Popular Drama Series is an annual category presented by the National Television Awards (NTA). Established in 1995, the award is determined by public vote. [1]

Contents

Winners and nominees

  indicates the winner

1990s

YearShow
1995 [2] Soldier Soldier (ITV)
Casualty (BBC One)
Band of Gold (ITV)
Heartbeat (ITV)
1996 [2] The Bill (ITV)
Band of Gold (ITV)
Heartbeat (ITV)
London's Burning (ITV)
1997 [3] Reckless (ITV)
ER (Channel 4/NBC)
London's Burning (ITV)
A Touch of Frost (ITV)
1998 [4] Jonathan Creek (BBC One)
Ballykissangel (BBC One)
Kavanagh QC (ITV)
Where the Heart Is (ITV)
1999 [5] Goodnight Mister Tom
The Bill (ITV)
A Touch of Frost (ITV)
Where the Heart Is (ITV)

2000s

YearShow
2000 [6] Bad Girls (ITV)
The Bill (ITV)
A Touch of Frost (ITV)
Where the Heart Is (ITV)
2001 [7] Bad Girls (ITV)
The Bill (ITV)
A Touch of Frost (ITV)
Always and Everyone (ITV)
2002 [8] Auf Wiedersehen, Pet (BBC One)
Bad Girls (ITV)
Casualty (BBC One)
A Touch of Frost (ITV)
2003 [9] A Touch of Frost (ITV)
Bad Girls (ITV)
Cutting It (BBC One)
The Bill (ITV)
2004 [10] The Bill (ITV)
Bad Girls (ITV)
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (Five\CBS)
Footballers' Wives (ITV)
2005 [11] Doctor Who (BBC One)
Bad Girls (ITV)
Desperate Housewives (Channel 4\ABC)
The Bill (ITV)
2006 [12] Doctor Who (BBC One)
Bad Girls (ITV)
Desperate Housewives (Channel 4\ABC)
Lost (Channel 4/ABC)
2007 [13] Doctor Who (BBC One)
The Bill (ITV1)
Shameless (Channel 4)
Life on Mars (BBC One)
2008 [14] Doctor Who (BBC One)
The Bill (ITV1)
Shameless (Channel 4)
Desperate Housewives (Channel 4/ABC)

2010s

YearShow
2010 [15] Doctor Who (BBC One)
The Bill (ITV1)
Casualty (BBC One)
Shameless (Channel 4)
2011 Waterloo Road (BBC One)
Doctor Who (BBC One)
Merlin (BBC One)
Sherlock (BBC One)
2012 Downton Abbey (ITV)
Doctor Who (BBC One)
Merlin (BBC One)
Waterloo Road (BBC One)
2013 Downton Abbey (ITV)
Doctor Who (BBC One)
Merlin (BBC One)
Sherlock (BBC One)
2014 [16] Doctor Who (BBC One)
Downton Abbey (ITV)
Call the Midwife (BBC One)
Broadchurch (ITV)
2015 Downton Abbey (ITV)
Cilla (ITV)
Doctor Who (BBC One)
Sherlock (BBC One)
2016 Downton Abbey (ITV)
Broadchurch (ITV)
Casualty (BBC One)
Doctor Who (BBC One)
2017 [17] Casualty (BBC One)
Cold Feet (ITV)
Game of Thrones (Sky Atlantic/HBO)
Happy Valley (BBC One)
The Night Manager (BBC One)
2018 [18] Doctor Foster (BBC One)
Casualty (BBC One)
Call the Midwife (BBC One)
Game of Thrones (Sky Atlantic/HBO)
Liar (ITV)
2019 [19] Peaky Blinders (BBC Two)
Call the Midwife (BBC One)
Casualty (BBC One)
Doctor Who (BBC One)
Our Girl (BBC One)

2020s

Note: Beginning 2021, the National Television Awards changed the "Drama" category to "Returning Drama".

YearShow
2020 Peaky Blinders (BBC Two)
Call the Midwife (BBC One)
Casualty (BBC One)
Killing Eve (BBC One/BBC America)
Line of Duty (BBC One)
2021 [20] [21] Line of Duty (BBC One)
Call the Midwife (BBC One)
The Crown (Netflix)
Unforgotten (ITV)
2022 [20] [22] Peaky Blinders (BBC One)
Call the Midwife (BBC One)
Bridgerton (Netflix)
The Split (BBC One)
2023 [23] [20] Happy Valley (BBC One)
Call the Midwife (BBC One)
Stranger Things (Netflix)
Vera (ITV)
2024 [24] Bridgerton (Netflix)
Call the Midwife (BBC One)
The Crown (Netflix)
Trigger Point (ITV1)
Vera (ITV1)

Multiple wins

6 wins
4 wins
3 wins
2 wins

Multiple nominations

12 nominations
10 nominations
8 nominations
7 nominations
6 nominations
5 nominations
3 nominations
2 nominations

See also

References

  1. ↑ Awards, National Television. "Winners | National Television Awards". www.nationaltvawards.com. Retrieved 2025-03-27.
  2. 1 2 "Past Winners - The National Television Awards 2011". 14 November 2010. Archived from the original on 14 November 2010. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  3. ↑ "TIFF V KIM; Soap Stars Battle for Top Award" by Wallace, Richard - The Mirror (London, England), October 4, 1997". Archived from the original on January 29, 2019.
  4. ↑ "BBC News Entertainment Viewers' favourites to be revealed". news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  5. ↑ "BBC News | Entertainment | TV stars prepare for battle". news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  6. ↑ "BBC NEWS Entertainment National TV Awards: The nominations". news.bbc.co.uk.
  7. ↑ "Top TV nomination for Barrymore". 9 October 2001. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  8. ↑ "National TV awards: 2002 shortlist". 15 October 2002. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  9. ↑ "EastEnders dominates awards". 28 October 2003. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  10. ↑ "National TV Awards - winners". The Guardian. 27 October 2004. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  11. ↑ "National TV Awards nominations". The Guardian. 11 October 2005. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  12. ↑ Wilkes, Neil; Welsh, James (31 October 2006). "National TV Awards 2006: Full winners list". Digital Spy. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  13. ↑ Hilton, Beth (15 October 2007). "'Doctor Who' leads TV Awards nominees". Digital Spy. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  14. ↑ Kilkelly, Daniel (12 October 2008). "'Who' stars to compete for NTA prize". Digital Spy. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  15. ↑ Nissim, Mayer (5 January 2010). "National Television Awards 2010: The Nominees". Digital Spy. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  16. ↑ Leigh, Rob (22 January 2014). "National TV Awards winners: Coronation Street, Doctor Who, Educating Yorkshire and I'm a Celebrity pick up telly gongs". mirror. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  17. ↑ "NTAs 2017 nominations: BBC gets one last shot at Great British Bake Off glory". Metro. 11 October 2016. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  18. ↑ "The National Television Award Nominees Are In - Did You Favourite Shows Make The Cut?". HuffPost UK. 9 January 2018. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  19. ↑ Saunders, Emmeline; Hill, Rose (7 January 2019). "National Television Awards 2019 winners in full as Ant and Dec scoop 18th gong". mirror. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  20. 1 2 3 Awards, National Television. "Winners | National Television Awards". www.nationaltvawards.com. Retrieved 2025-07-12.
  21. ↑ "National Television Awards 2021 nominees | Full shortlist revealed | Radio Times". www.radiotimes.com. Retrieved 2025-07-12.
  22. ↑ "NTAs 2022 nominations in full as Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield snubbed". The Independent. 2022-10-13. Retrieved 2025-07-12.
  23. ↑ Baldwin, William Mata, Sian (2023-09-05). "National Television Awards 2023: Full list of nominations and how to vote". The Standard. Retrieved 2025-07-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  24. ↑ "National Television Awards 2024: Winners list in full from Strictly to Bridgerton". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2025-06-01. Retrieved 2025-07-12.
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