# British Academy Television Craft Award for Best Writer: Drama

The British Academy Television Craft Award for Best Writer: Drama is one of the categories presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) within the British Academy Television Craft Awards, the craft awards were established in 2000 with their own, separate ceremony as a way to spotlight technical achievements, without being overshadowed by the main production categories.
An award for the writers of a television program was existed since the creation of the BAFTA Television Awards with categories named Best Script, Best Scriptwriter and Writer being presented from the 50s to the 70s. In 2006 the category Best Writer was created, this category was awarded until 2013 when it was split into two separate categories (Writer: Comedy and Writer: Drama) to recognise the differences in writing for comedy and drama programmes on television.

## Winners and nominees
### 1950s

Writers Award
| Year | Recipient(s) | Title |
| 1955 | Iain McCormack | Iain McCormack |
Best Scriptwriter
| Year | Recipient(s) | Title |
| 1956 | Colin Morris | Colin Morris |
| 1957 | Spike Milligan | Spike Milligan |
| 1958 | Colin Morris | Colin Morris |
| 1959 | Colin Morris | Colin Morris |

### 1960s

Best Scriptwriter
| Year | Recipient(s) | Title |
| 1960 | Galton and Simpson | Galton and Simpson |
| 1961 | Alun Owen | Alun Owen |
Best Script
| Year | Recipient(s) | Title |
| 1962 | Giles Cooper | Giles Cooper |
| 1963 | Troy Kennedy Martin | Troy Kennedy Martin |
| 1964 | Harold Pinter | Harold Pinter |
| 1965 | Ken Taylor | Ken Taylor |
| 1966 | Michael Mills and Richard Waring | The World of Wooster Marriage Lines |
| 1966 | John Elliott | Mogul The Truth Game |
| 1966 | John Hopkins | Horror of Darkness Parade's End A Man Like Orpheus Fable I Took My Little World Away Z-Cars |
| 1966 | Harold Pinter | The Tea Party |
| 1967 | Dennis Potter | Dennis Potter |
| 1968 | John Hopkins | John Hopkins |
| 1969 | Marty Feldman and Barry Took | Marty |

### 1970s

Best Script
| Year | Title | Recipient(s) |
| 1970 | The Life and Times of Lord Mountbatten | John Terraine |
| 1970 | Bird's Eye View ("Beside The Seaside", "An Englishman's Home") | John Betjeman |
| 1970 | Callan | James Mitchell |
| 1970 | Civilisation | Kenneth Clark |
| 1970 | Monty Python's Flying Circus | Writing Team |
| 1970 | The Son of Man | Dennis Potter |
| 1971 | Slattery's Mounted Foot Say Goodnight To Your Grandma The Hallelujah Handshake Roll On 4 O'Clock | Colin Welland |
| 1971 | On Trial: The Chicago Conspiracy Trial | Stuart Hood |
| 1971 | The Roads to Freedom | David Turner |
| 1971 | The Six Wives of Henry VIII: Catherine of Aragon | Rosemary Anne Sisson |
| 1972 | The Benny Hill Show | Benny Hill |
| 1972 | Act of Betrayal Cider with Rosie | Hugh Whitemore |
| 1972 | Casanova Paper Roses/Traitor | Dennis Potter |
| 1972 | Edna, The Inebriate Woman | Jeremy Sandford |

### 2000s

| Year | Recipient(s) | Title | Broadcaster |
| 2006 | Peter Kosminsky | The Government Inspector | Channel 4 |
| 2006 | Andrew Davies | Bleak House | BBC One |
| 2006 | Russell T Davies | Doctor Who | BBC One |
| 2006 | Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant | Extras | BBC Two |
| 2007 | Peter Morgan | Longford | Channel 4 |
| 2007 | Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant | Extras | BBC Two |
| 2007 | Matthew Graham | Life on Mars | BBC One |
| 2007 | Frank Deasy | Prime Suspect: The Final Act | ITV |
| 2008 | Steven Moffat | Doctor Who (for "Blink") | BBC One |
| 2008 | Tony Marchant | The Mark of Cain | Channel 4 |
| 2008 | Jimmy McGovern | The Street | BBC One |
| 2008 | Heidi Thomas | Cranford | BBC One |
| 2009 | Peter Moffat | Criminal Justice | BBC One |
| 2009 | Sam Bain, Jesse Armstrong | Peep Show | Channel 4 |
| 2009 | Simon Block | The Shooting of Thomas Hurndall | Channel 4 |
| 2009 | Russell T Davies | Doctor Who (for "Midnight") | BBC One |

### 2010s

Best Writer
| Year | Recipient(s) | Title | Broadcaster |
| 2010 | Guy Hibbert | Five Minutes of Heaven | BBC Two |
| 2010 | Peter Bowker | Occupation | BBC One |
| 2010 | Heidi Thomas | Cranford | BBC One |
| 2010 | Writing Team | The Thick of It | BBC Two |
| 2011 | Peter Bowker | Eric and Ernie | BBC Two |
| 2011 | Jo Brand, Joanna Scanlan, Vicki Pepperdine | Getting On | BBC Four |
| 2011 | Stephen Butchard | Five Daughters | BBC One |
| 2011 | Iain Morris, Damon Beesley | The Inbetweeners | E4 |
| 2012 | Steven Moffat | Sherlock (for "A Scandal in Belgravia") | BBC One |
| 2012 | Neil McKay | Appropriate Adult | ITV |
| 2012 | Abi Morgan | Birdsong | BBC One |
| 2012 | Jack Thorne | The Fades | BBC Three |
Best Writer: Drama
| Year | Recipient(s) | Title | Broadcaster |
| 2013 | Sally Wainwright | Last Tango in Halifax | BBC One |
| 2013 | Gwyneth Hughes | The Girl | BBC Two |
| 2013 | Tom Stoppard | Parade's End | BBC Two |
| 2013 | Shaun Duggan, Jimmy McGovern | Accused (for "Tracie's Story") | BBC One |
| 2014 | Dominic Mitchell | In The Flesh | BBC Three |
| 2014 | Chris Chibnall | Broadchurch | ITV |
| 2014 | Sally Wainwright | Last Tango in Halifax | BBC One |
| 2014 | Dennis Kelly | Utopia | Channel 4 |
| 2015 | Sally Wainwright | Happy Valley | BBC One |
| 2015 | Peter Bowker | Marvellous | BBC Two |
| 2015 | Jed Mercurio | Line of Duty | BBC Two |
| 2015 | Dennis Kelly | Utopia | Channel 4 |
| 2016 | Russell T Davies | Cucumber | Channel 4 |
| 2016 | Mike Bartlett | Doctor Foster | BBC One |
| 2016 | Neil Cross | Luther | BBC One |
| 2016 | Peter Straughan | Wolf Hall | BBC Two |
| 2017 | Sally Wainwright | Happy Valley | BBC One |
| 2017 | Peter Morgan | The Crown | Netflix |
| 2017 | Levi David Addai | Damilola, Our Loved Boy | BBC One |
| 2017 | Simon Nye | The Durrells | ITV |
| 2018 | Nicole Taylor | Three Girls | BBC One |
| 2018 | Charlie Brooker | Hang the DJ (Black Mirror) | Netflix |
| 2018 | Peter Morgan | The Crown | Netflix |
| 2018 | Steven Knight | Peaky Blinders | BBC Two |
| 2019 | David Nicholls | Patrick Melrose | Sky Atlantic |
| 2019 | Lennie James | Save Me | Sky Atlantic |
| 2019 | Phoebe Waller-Bridge | Killing Eve | BBC One |
| 2019 | Russell T. Davies | A Very English Scandal | BBC One |

### 2020s

| Year | Recipient(s) | Title | Broadcaster |
| 2020 | Jesse Armstrong | Succession | Sky Atlantic |
| 2020 | Charlie Covell | The End of the F***ing World | Channel 4 |
| 2020 | Shane Meadows, Jack Thorne | The Virtues | Channel 4 |
| 2020 | Craig Mazin | Chernobyl | Sky Atlantic |
| 2021 | Michaela Coel | I May Destroy You | BBC One |
| 2021 | Lucy Kirkwood | Adult Material | Channel 4 |
| 2021 | Alastair Siddons and Steve McQueen | Small Axe | BBC One |
| 2021 | Lucy Prebble | I Hate Suzie | Sky Atlantic |
| 2022 | Kayleigh Llewellyn | In My Skin | BBC Three |
| 2022 | Jack Thorne | Help | Channel 4 |
| 2022 | Russell T Davies | It's a Sin | Channel 4 |
| 2022 | Jesse Armstrong | Succession | HBO/Sky Atlantic |
| 2023 | Adam Kay | This Is Going to Hurt | BBC One |
| 2023 | Alice Oseman | Heartstopper | Netflix |
| 2023 | Tony Schumacher | The Responder | BBC One |
| 2023 | Pete Jackson | Somewhere Boy | Channel 4 |
| 2024 | Charlie Brooker, Bisha K. Ali | Black Mirror: "Demon 79" | Netflix |
| 2024 | Jesse Armstrong | Succession | HBO / Sky Atlantic |
| 2024 | Sally Wainwright | Happy Valley | BBC One |
| 2024 | Sarah Phelps | The Sixth Commandment | BBC One |