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The British Soap Awards

The British Soap Awards (BSAs)^[1] are an annual awards ceremony in the United Kingdom which honours the best moments in British soap operas. The ceremony is televised on ITV. 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 majority of the awards are voted for by a panel of industry professionals, while certain awards including Best British Soap and Best Leading Performer are voted for by the general public.

The first British Soap Awards took place in 1999 and was presented by Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan, who presented the awards until 2001. Matthew Kelly presented the 2002 awards, before being replaced by Des O'Connor and Melanie Sykes in 2003. Paul O'Grady presented the awards between 2004 and 2005. Phillip Schofield and Fern Britton took over as presenters in 2006. Britton left in 2008, however Schofield continued to present the awards as a solo presenter until the 2022, as in May 2023, after presenting the ceremonies for 16 years, Schofield announced that he had quit.^[2] On 1 June 2023, it was announced that Jane McDonald would take over from Schofield as the new host of the awards.^[3] Although it is an ITV Studios production, the events were held at the BBC Television Centre in London until 2009.^[4] The ceremonies have since been held at various locations in London and Manchester, including the Granada Studios, the London Studios, dock10, the Hackney Empire, the Palace Theatre and the Lowry.^[5] The five soap operas currently 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 with Doctors due to end on BBC One later in December 2024.^[6]

In 2016, it was announced 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.^[7][8] On 1 May 2018, ITV announced that for the 20th anniversary of the show, it would be broadcast live for the first time on 2 June 2018.^[9] In March 2020, it was announced that the 2020 ceremony had been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[10] ITV instead aired a 60-minute special in its place titled The British Soap Awards Celebrates 21 Years, narrated by presenter Phillip Schofield.^[10] In April 2021, it was announced that the 2021 ceremony had also been cancelled once again due to the pandemic.^[11]

In April 2022, it was confirmed that the British Soap Awards would be held in June 2022. They also announced the introduction of two new viewer-voted categories, Best Family and Best Leading Performer. With the introduction of the gender-neutral Best Leading Performer category, it was confirmed that the awards for Best Actress and Best Actor had been axed.^[12][13] Then in 2023, they reintroduced Villain of the Year as a viewer-voted category, as well as making the Best Young Performer award viewer-voted for the first time. ^[14]

On 1 November 2023, the 2024 British Soap Awards were cancelled for an undisclosed reason by ITV but they will return for 2025.^[15] The 2025 edition will feature just four soap operas following the cancellation of Doctors in December 2024.

Current

Defunct

Stan Richards, who played Seth ArmstronginEmmerdale, was remembered during the ceremony, having died in February 2005.^[19]

Mike Reid, who played Frank ButcherinEastEnders, was remembered during the ceremony, having died in July 2007.^[20]

Clive Hornby, who played Jack SugdeninEmmerdale, was remembered during the ceremony, having died in July 2008. Wendy Richard, who played Pauline FowlerinEastEnders, was also remembered during the ceremony, having died in February 2009.^[21]

Maggie Jones, who played Blanche HuntinCoronation Street, was remembered during the ceremony, having died in December 2009.^[22]

Betty Driver, who played Betty WilliamsinCoronation Street, was remembered during the ceremony, having died in October 2011.^[23]

Bill Tarmey, who played Jack DuckworthinCoronation Street, was remembered during the ceremony, having died in November 2012.^[24]

Richard Thorp, who played Alan TurnerinEmmerdale, was remembered during the ceremony, having died in May 2013. This was also the final ceremony where "Sexiest Male" and "Sexiest Female" were awarded; Michelle Keegan, who plays Tina McIntyreinCoronation Street, won "Sexiest Female" for the sixth time in a row.^[25]

Anne Kirkbride, who played Deirdre BarlowinCoronation Street, was remembered during the ceremony, having died in January 2015. John Bardon, who played Jim BranninginEastEnders, was also remembered during the ceremony, having died in September 2014.^[26]

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)

Peter Baldwin (Derek WiltoninCoronation Street), Stephen Hancock (Ernest BishopinCoronation Street), Shirley Stelfox (Edna BirchinEmmerdale), Kitty McGeever (Lizzie LakelyinEmmerdale), Kristian Ealey (Matt Musgrove in Brookside and Hollyoaks) and Morag Siller (Marilyn DingleinEmmerdale) were remembered during the ceremony which was held on 29 May.^[27]