National Television Award for Outstanding Drama Series

The National Television Award for Most Popular Drama Series is one of the award categories presented annually by the National Television Awards (NTA). It was introduced in 1995 when the event was first initiated. The winners are selected by the public.^[1]

National Television Award for Most Popular Drama Series
Awarded for	Best Drama Series
Country	United Kingdom
First award	1995
Currently held by	Peaky Blinders (2020)
Website	nationaltvawards.com

Winners and nominees

  indicates the winner

1990s

Year	Show
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

Year	Show
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

Year	Show
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

Year	Show
2020	Peaky Blinders (BBC Two)
	Call the Midwife (BBC One)
	Casualty (BBC One)
	Killing Eve (BBC One/BBC America)
	Line of Duty (BBC One)

Multiple wins

6 wins

• Doctor Who (5 consecutive)

4 wins

• Downton Abbey

2 wins

• Bad Girls (consecutive)
• The Bill
• Peaky Blinders (consecutive)

Multiple nominations

12 nominations

• Doctor Who (11 consecutive)

10 nominations

• The Bill (3 consecutive)

8 nominations

• Casualty

7 nominations

• Bad Girls (consecutive)

6 nominations

• A Touch of Frost

5 nominations

• Downton Abbey (consecutive)

4 nominations

• Call the Midwife

3 nominations

• Desperate Housewives
• Merlin
• Shameless
• Sherlock
• Where the Heart Is

2 nominations

• Band of Gold
• Broadchurch
• Game of Thrones
• Heartbeat
• London's Burning
• Waterloo Road

See also

• British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Series