1999 British Academy Television Awards

1999 British Academy Television Awards
Date	9 May 1999
Site	Grosvenor House Hotel
Highlights
Best Comedy	Father Ted
Best Drama	The Cops
Best Actor	Tom Courtenay A Rather English Marriage
Best Actress	Thora Hird Waiting for the Telegram
Best Comedy Performance	Dermot Morgan Father Ted
Television coverage
Channel	BBC One
Ratings	8.84 million

The 1999 British Academy Television Awards were held on 9 May at the Grosvenor House Hotel in Park Lane, London. It was hosted solely by Michael Parkinson, who was due to share hosting duties with Jill Dando until her murder two weeks earlier.

Winners

• Best Actor
  • Winner: Tom Courtenay — A Rather English Marriage (BBC Two)
  • Other nominees: Robert Carlyle — Looking After Jo Jo (BBC Two); Albert Finney — A Rather English Marriage (BBC Two); Timothy Spall — Our Mutual Friend (BBC Two)
• Best Actress
  • Winner: Thora Hird — Waiting for the Telegram (BBC Two)
  • Other nominees: Francesca Annis — Reckless (ITV); Natasha Little — Vanity Fair (BBC One); Joanna Lumley — A Rather English Marriage (BBC Two)
• Best Comedy (Programme or Series)
  • Winner: Father Ted (Hat Trick Productions / Channel 4)
  • Other nominees: Dinnerladies (Pozzitive TV / Good Fun / BBC One); The Royle Family (Granada Television / BBC One); The Vicar of Dibley (Tiger Aspect Productions / BBC One)
• Best Comedy Performance
  • Winner: Dermot Morgan — Father Ted (Channel 4)
  • Other nominees: Caroline Aherne — The Royle Family (BBC One); Ardal O'Hanlon — Father Ted (Channel 4); Julie Walters — Dinnerladies (BBC One)
• Best Drama Serial
  • Winner: Our Mutual Friend (BBC / BBC One)
  • Other nominees: Amongst Women (Parallel Film Productions Limited / BBC Two); A Respectable Trade (BBC / BBC One); Vanity Fair (BBC / A&E Network / BBC One)
• Best Drama Series
  • Winner: The Cops (World Productions / BBC Two)
  • Other nominees: Jonathan Creek (BBC / BBC One); Playing the Field (Tiger Aspect Productions / BBC One); Undercover Heart (BBC / BBC One)
• Best Single Drama
  • Winner: A Rather English Marriage (Wall to wall television / BBC One)
  • Other nominees: A Life For A Life – The True Story Of Stefan Kiszko (Picture Palace Productions / ITV); Playing Sandwiches (Slow Motion Limited / BBC Two); Waiting for the Telegram (Slow Motion Limited / BBC Two)
• Best Soap Opera
  • Winner: EastEnders (BBC / BBC One)
  • Other nominees: Brookside (Mersey Television / Channel 4); Coronation Street (Granada Television / ITV); Hollyoaks (Mersey Television / Channel 4)
• Best News and Current Affairs Journalism
  • Winner: Dispatches - Inside The Animal Liberation Front (Channel 4)
  • Other nominees: Newsnight - Northern Ireland peace process (BBC / BBC Two); ETA: Coming In From The Cold (BBC / BBC Two); Omagh bombing (ITN / ITV)
• Best Light Entertainment Performance
  • Winner: Michael Parkinson — Parkinson (BBC One)
  • Other nominees: John Bird and John Fortune — Rory Bremner - Who Else? (Channel 4); Kathy Burke — Harry Enfield's Yule Log Chums (BBC One); Billy Connolly — 30 Years of Billy Connolly (BBC One)
• Best Factual Series
  • Winner: The Human Body (BBC / BBC One)
  • Other nominees: The Clintons - A Marriage of Power (Channel 4); Cold War (Jeremy Isaacs Television Limited / Channel 4); The Life of Birds (BBC / BBC One)
• Best Feature
  • Winner: Back to the Floor (BBC / BBC Two)
  • Other nominees: Changing Rooms (Bazal / BBC Two); House Doctor (TalkBack Productions / Channel 5); Time Team (Videotext Communications / Channel 4)
• Flaherty Award for Single Documentary
  • Winner: After Lockerbie (BBC Two)
  • Other nominees: 42 Up (Granada Television / BBC One); Mir Mortals; Tongue Tied
• Huw Wheldon Award for the Best Arts Programme or Series
  • Winner: Arena — The Brian Epstein Story (BBC / BBC Two)
  • Other nominees: Arena — The Noël Coward Trilogy (BBC / BBC Two); The Secret Art of Government; Vile Bodies: Naked
• Best Light Entertainment Programme or Series
  • Winner: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (Celador / ITV)
  • Other nominees: Big Train (TalkBack Productions / BBC Two); Goodness Gracious Me (BBC / BBC Two); Rory Bremner - Who Else? (Kudos Film & Television / Channel 4)
• Best Live Outside Broadcast Coverage
  • Winner: Derby Day (Channel 4)
  • Other nominees: The Eurovision Song Contest (BBC One); Football World Cup Final Programme (BBC One); World Cup ’98 – England v Argentina (ITV)
• Originality
  • Winner: The Human Body (BBC One)
  • Other nominees: Channel 5 News (Channel 5); The King of Chaos; Lemurs
• Best International Programme or Series
  • Winner: The Larry Sanders Show
  • Other nominees: Ally McBeal; The Simpsons; The X-Files
• The Lew Grade Award
  • Goodnight Mr Tom
• The Dennis Potter Award
  • David Renwick
• The Alan Clarke Award
  • Jimmy Mulville
  • Denise O'Donoghue
• The Richard Dimbleby Award
  • Trevor McDonald
• Special Award
  • Richard Curtis

References

• Archive of winners on official BAFTA website (retrieved 22 February 2006).
• British Academy Television Awards 1999 at the Internet Movie Database