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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."^[1]

The award was first given in 1992, for the awards covering programmes screened in 1991.^[2] 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.

• 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 Horsefield

• 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 - Deirdre 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

• 2000: The Cops - World Productions / BBC Two - The 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 - The Production Team

• 2001: Clocking Off - Red Production Company / BBC One - Nicola Shindler, Ann Harrison-Baxter, Paul Abbott
  • The Cops - World Productions / BBC Two - The 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 / ITV1 - Andy Harries, Spencer Campbell, Mike Bullen
  • At Home with the Braithwaites - Yorkshire Television / ITV1 - Carolyn Reynolds, Jacky Stoller, Sally Wainwright
  • 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 - The Production Team
  • Clocking Off - Red Production Company / BBC One - The Production Team
  • Cutting It - BBC Television / BBC One - Debbie Horsfield, Diederick Santer, Andy De Emmony
  • Teachers - Tiger Aspect Productions / Channel 4 - Jane Fallon, Rhonda Smith

• 2004: Buried - World Productions / Channel 4 - Production Team
  • Clocking Off - Red Production Company / BBC One - The Production Team
  • Foyle's War - Greenlit Productions / ITV1 - The Production Team
  • William and Mary - Meridian Broadcasting / ITV1 - Trevor Hopkins, Stuart Orme, Mick Ford

• 2005: Shameless - Company Pictures / Channel 4 - The Production Team
  • Bodies - Hat Trick Productions / BBC Three - Mark Redhead, Sue de Beauvoir, Jed Mercurio
  • Conviction - Red Production Team / BBC Three - The 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 - The Production Team
  • Spooks - Kudos Film & Television / BBC One - The 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 - The Production Team
  • Shameless - Company Pictures / Channel 4 - The Production Team
  • Sugar Rush - Shine Productions / Channel 4 - The Production Team

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