The British Academy Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance is an award given out by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts at their annual BAFTA Television Awards ceremony. This category has had minor name changes: *From 1958 to 1962 it was presented as an individual award named ''Best Light Entertainment Artist''. *From 1963 to 1965 it was awarded as ''Best Light Entertainment Personality'' *From 1967 to 1999 it was awarded as ''Best Light Entertainment Performance''. *Since 2000 the award has been known as ''Best Entertainment Performance''. Prior to the 1994 ceremony, acting performances in comedy roles were included in this category. Since 1994 they have been recognised in the Best Comedy Performance category.

Winners and nominees

Land Rover ‘Defender 2,000,000’ Sells for Record £400,000 at Bonhams Charity Auction (23776501966) (cropped)

Harry Hill at the Action Duchenne international research conference, November 2016 (cropped)

'' in 2013. Keith Lemon (8464862242) (cropped)

Michael McIntyre - Soho Theatre - Monday 15th May 2017 McIntyreSoho150517-10 (34683587845) (cropped)

Lee Mack on Radio 4's 'Don't Make Me Laugh'

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

Performers with multiple wins and nominations

Multiple wins

The following people have been awarded the British Academy Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance multiple times: 6 wins * Graham Norton 4 wins * Ronnie Barker * Nigel Hawthorne * Eric Morecambe & Ernie Wise 3 wins * Anthony McPartlin & Declan Donnelly *

Jonathan Ross Jonathan Stephen Ross (born 17 November 1960) is an English broadcaster, film critic, comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He presented the BBC One chat show ''Friday Night with Jonathan Ross'' during the 2000s, hosted his own radio show on ...

2 wins *

Rowan Atkinson Rowan Sebastian Atkinson (born 6 January 1955) is an English actor, comedian and writer. He played the title roles on the sitcoms '' Blackadder'' (1983–1989) and '' Mr. Bean'' (1990–1995), and the film series ''Johnny English'' (2003–20 ...

* Rory Bremner * Harry Hill * Richard Wilson *

Victoria Wood Victoria Wood (19 May 1953 – 20 April 2016) was an English comedian, actress, lyricist, singer, composer, pianist, screenwriter, producer and director. Wood wrote and starred in dozens of sketches, plays, musicals, films and sitcoms over se ...

Multiple nominations

The following people have been nominated for the British Academy Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance multiple times: 13 nominations * Graham Norton 12 nominations * Ronnie Barker 10 nominations * Paul Merton 8 nominations * Anthony McPartlin & Declan Donnelly * Stephen Fry 7 nominations *

5 nominations * Rory Bremner * Ronnie Corbett * Harry Hill *

David Jason Sir David John White (born 2 February 1940), known professionally by his stage name David Jason, is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Derek "Del Boy" Trotter in the BBC sitcom '' Only Fools and Horses'', Detective Inspector ...

4 nominations * Stanley Baxter * John Bird & John Fortune *

John Cleese John Marwood Cleese ( ; born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. Emerging from the Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and ...

* Paul Eddington * Nigel Hawthorne * Barry Humphries *

Arthur Lowe Arthur Lowe (22 September 1915 – 15 April 1982) was an English actor. His acting career spanned 36 years, including starring roles in numerous theatre and television productions. He played Captain Mainwaring in the British sitcom '' D ...

* Eric Morecambe & Ernie Wise *

3 nominations * Alan Carr *

Judi Dench Dame Judith Olivia Dench (born 9 December 1934) is an English actress. Regarded as one of Britain's best actresses, she is noted for her versatile work in various films and television programmes encompassing several genres, as well as for her ...

* Adam Hills *

Penelope Keith Dame Penelope Anne Constance Keith, (née Hatfield; born 2 April 1940) is an English actress and presenter, active in film, radio, stage and television and primarily known for her roles in the British sitcoms '' The Good Life'' and '' To the M ...

* Michael McIntyre * Leonard Rossiter * Richard Wilson *

Claudia Winkleman Claudia Anne Irena Winkleman (born 15 January 1972) is an English television presenter, radio personality, film critic and journalist. Between 2004 and 2010, she presented '' Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two'' on weeknights on BBC Two. Since ...

2 nominations * Caroline Aherne * Dave Allen * Kathy Burke *

Angus Deayton Gordon Angus Deayton (; born 6 January 1956) is an English actor, writer, musician, comedian, and broadcaster. He was the original presenter of the satirical panel game '' Have I Got News for You,'' the host of British panel show '' Would I Lie ...

Leigh Francis Leigh Izaak Francis (born 30 April 1973), known professionally as Keith Lemon, is an English comedian, actor, writer, and television presenter. He is best known for creating and starring in Channel 4's sketch comedy show '' Bo' Selecta!'' (20 ...

Dawn French Dawn Roma French (born 11 October 1957) is a British actress, comedian, presenter and writer. French is known for writing and starring on the BBC comedy sketch show '' French and Saunders'' with her best friend and comedy partner, Jennifer Sau ...

* Nicholas Lyndhurst * Lee Mack * Sarah Millican * David Mitchell * Michael Parkinson *

Romesh Ranganathan Jonathan Romesh Ranganathan (born 27 March 1978), is an English actor and comedian. He is known for his deadpan and often self-deprecating comedy. Ranganathan has made numerous appearances on television comedy panel shows, and in 2016 he co-p ...

* Patricia Routledge

References

{{British Academy Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance British Academy Television Awards