The British Soap Awards

The British Soap Awards is an annual awards ceremony to honour the best of British soap operas. The ceremony is televised on ITV and currently presented by Phillip Schofield. The trophies given to the winners are made from metal and glass and have been manufactured by British firm Creative Awards since their inception.

The first event took place in 1999 and the event takes place in May each year. Although it is an ITV production, the events were held at the BBC Television Centre, in London until 2010. The 2011 awards relocated to the Granada Studios in Manchester, then to The London Studios for the 2012 awards. The 2014 awards took place at the Hackney Empire, as did the 2016 awards. The 2015 awards were held at Palace Theatre, Manchester.

The soap operas nominated for awards are Coronation Street, Doctors, EastEnders, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks. Now-defunct soaps that were formerly nominated for awards were Brookside, Crossroads, Family Affairs and Night and Day.

Coronation Street and EastEnders had been the only two soaps to win the "Best British Soap" award from 1999 to 2013, until Hollyoaks won it in 2014. Emmerdale became the fourth soap to win the award in 2016, meaning that only Doctors have yet to win the award out of the current contenders.

In 2016, it was reported that the award for outstanding achievement off-screen would be known as the Tony Warren award following the death of Tony Warren, the creator of Coronation Street.^[1][2]

Ceremonies

Awards summary table

2016 winners

Peter Baldwin (Derek Wilton in Coronation Street), Stephen Hancock (Ernest Bishop in Coronation Street), Shirley Stelfox (Edna Birch in Emmerdale), Kitty McGeever (Lizzie Lakely in Emmerdale), Kristian Ealey (Matt Musgrove in Brookside and Hollyoaks) and Morag Siller (Marilyn Dingle in Emmerdale) were remembered during the ceremony which was held on 29 May.^[3]

2015 winners

Anne Kirkbride, who played Deirdre Barlow in Coronation Street, was remembered during the ceremony after passing away in January 2015.

John Bardon, who played Jim Branning in EastEnders, was also remembered during the ceremony, after passing away in September 2014.

This year's ceremony incorporated a "Social Issue Storyline" mention, which is where all of the soap operas' most controversial stories were specially mentioned. These include:

• Steve's depression (Coronation Street)
• John Paul's rape (Hollyoaks)
• Zara's breast-feeding campaign (Doctors)
• Val's HIV diagnosis (Emmerdale)
• Linda's rape (EastEnders)

2014 winners

Richard Thorp, who played Alan Turner in Emmerdale, was remembered during the ceremony, after passing away in May 2013. This was also the final ceremony where Sexiest Male and Female Awards were awarded, Michelle Keegan won the Female award for the sixth time in a row.

2013 winners

William Tarmey, who played Jack Duckworth in Coronation Street, was remembered during the ceremony, after passing away in November 2012.

2012 winners

Betty Driver, who played Betty Williams in Coronation Street, was remembered during the ceremony, after passing away in October 2011.

2011 winners

2010 winners

Maggie Jones, who played Blanche Hunt in Coronation Street, was remembered during the ceremony, after passing away in December 2009.

2009 winners

Clive Hornby, who played Jack Sugden in Emmerdale, was remembered during the ceremony, after passing away in July 2008.

Wendy Richard, who played Pauline Fowler in EastEnders, was also remembered during the ceremony, after passing away in February 2009.

2008 winners

Mike Reid, who played Frank Butcher in EastEnders, was remembered during the ceremony, after passing away in July 2007.

2007 winners

2006 winners

2005 winners

Stan Richards, who played Seth Armstrong in Emmerdale, was remembered during the ceremony, after passing away in February 2005.

2004 winners

2003 winners

2002 winners

2001 winners

2000 winners

1999 winners

Awards totals

Note: Table does not include 'Special Achievement' or 'Lifetime Achievement' awards.

References