British Academy Television Awards 1996

1996 British Academy Television Awards
Date	23 April 1996
Site	Palladium Theatre
Highlights
Best Comedy	Father Ted
Best Drama	Cracker
Best Actor	Robbie Coltrane Cracker
Best Actress	Jennifer Ehle Pride and Prejudice
Best Comedy Performance	Martin Clunes Men Behaving Badly

The 1996 British Academy Television Awards were held on 23 April at London's Palladium Theatre, as a joint ceremony with the British Academy Film Awards.

Winners

• Best Actor
  • Winner: Robbie Coltrane — Cracker (ITV)
  • Other nominees: Robert Lindsay — Jake's Progress (Channel 4); Ian Richardson — The Final Cut (BBC); Colin Firth — Pride and Prejudice (BBC1); Benjamin Whitrow — Pride and Prejudice (BBC1)
• Best Actress
  • Winner: Jennifer Ehle — Pride and Prejudice (BBC1)
  • Other nominees: Juliet Stevenson — The Politician's Wife (Channel 4); Helen Mirren — Prime Suspect 4: The Lost Child (ITV); Geraldine James — Band of Gold (ITV)
• Best Comedy (Programme or Series)
  • Winner: Father Ted (Hat Trick Productions / Channel 4)
  • Other nominees: Absolutely Fabulous (BBC / BBC1); Men Behaving Badly (Hartswood Films / BBC1); One Foot in the Grave (BBC / BBC1)
• Best Comedy Performance
  • Winner: Martin Clunes — Men Behaving Badly (BBC1)
  • Other nominees: Joanna Lumley — Absolutely Fabulous (BBC1)
• Best Drama Serial
  • Winner: The Politician's Wife (Channel 4)
  • Other nominees: Pride and Prejudice (BBC1); Band of Gold (ITV); The Hanging Gale (BBC)
• Best Drama Series
  • Winner: Cracker (ITV)
  • Other nominees: All Quiet on the Preston Front (BBC); A Touch of Frost (ITV Productions / ITV); Prime Suspect 4: The Lost Child (ITV)
• Best Single Drama
  • Winner: Persuasion (BBC / WGBH / BBC Films)
  • Other nominees: Eleven Men Against Eleven (Hat Trick Productions / Channel 4); Go Now (BBC); The Last Englishman (Tiger Aspect Productions / BBC)
• Best News Coverage
  • Winner: Channel 4 News — Bosnian Genocide (ITN / Channel 4)
  • Other nominees: Newsnight — Peter Horrocks (BBC / BBC2)
• Best Light Entertainment Performance
  • Winner: Rory Bremner — Rory Bremner - Who Else? (Channel 4)
  • Other nominees: Paul Merton — Have I Got News for You (BBC2)
• Best Factual Series
  • Winner: Wise Up (Carlton Productions / Channel 4)
• Flaherty Award for Single Documentary
  • Winner: The Betrayed — Russian Invasion of Chechnya (October Films / Channel 4)
  • Other nominees: Anne Frank Remembered (Anne Frank House / Walt Disney Pictures / BBC); The Dying Rooms (Lauderdale Productions / Channel 4)
• Huw Wheldon Award for Arts Programme or Series
  • Winner: Children of the Revolution (David Hinton / John Wyver)
  • Other nominees: Arena (BBC / BBC2)
• Light Entertainment Programme or Series
  • Winner: The Mrs Merton Show (Granada Television / BBC1)
  • Other nominees: Have I Got News for You (Hat Trick Productions / BBC2); Rory Bremner - Who Else? (Kudos Film & Television / Channel 4); Shooting Stars (BBC2)
• Best Talk Show
  • Winner: Panorama (BBC / BBC1)
  • Other nominees: Clive Anderson Talks Back (Hat Trick Productions / Channel 4); Esther (BBC / BBC2); This Morning (Granada Television / ITV)
• Best Sports / Events Coverage in Real Time
  • Winner: VE Day Coverage (??? / ???)

• Foreign Programme Award
  • ER
• The Lew Grade Award
  • Antiques Roadshow
• The Dennis Potter Award
  • Roy Clarke
• The Alan Clarke Award
  • Roy Battersby
• The Richard Dimbleby Award
  • Jeremy Paxman
• Special Awards
  • Camera Team, Survival

References

• Archive of winners on official BAFTA website (retrieved December 9, 2010).
• British Academy Television Awards 1996 at the Internet Movie Database