British Academy Television Award for Best Actor

This is a list of the British Academy Television Awards for Best Actor.

The Best Actor award was initially given as an "individual honour", without credit to a particular performance, until 1962, when Rupert Davies won for his performance in Maigret.

Since 1970, nominees have been announced in addition to the winner.

Michael Gambon holds the record of most wins in this category with four, including three consecutive wins, followed by Robbie Coltrane with three, all of them also being consecutive.

Benedict Cumberbatch has received the most nominations for this award, with six.

Paul Rogers (left) was the first recipient of the award.
Rupert Davies was the first actor to receive this award for a specific work, winning for Maigret .
Keith Michell won the award in 1971.
Sir Anthony Hopkins won for War and Peace in 1973
John Hurt won for The Naked Civil Servant (1976)
Sir Derek Jacobi won the award for I, Claudius in 1977
Edward Fox won the award in 1979 for Edward & Mrs. Simpson .
Alec Guinness has won twice, for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1980) and Smiley's People (1983).
Anthony Andrews won the award for Brideshead Revisited in 1982.
Alan Bates won in 1984.
Michael Gambon won in 1987. Gambon holds the record of most wins in this category with four, including three consecutive wins.
Ian Richardson won in 1991 for his role as Francis Urquhart in House of Cards .
Robbie Coltrane won the award three consecutive times for his role as Dr. Edward "Fitz" Fitzgerald in Cracker in 1994, 1995, and 1996
Simon Russell Beale won in 1998 for A Dance to the Music of Time .
Tom Courtenay won in 1999 for A Rather English Marriage .
Albert Finney received the award in 2003 for The Gathering Storm , he also won a Primetime Emmy Award for the film.
Bill Nighy won for State of Play in 2004.
Mark Rylance has won twice, for The Government Inspector (2006) and Wolf Hall (2016).
Jim Broadbent won for Longford in 2007
Andrew Garfield won for Boy A (2009
Kenneth Branagh won for Wallander in 2010, he also won an International Emmy Award for the role in 2017.
Dominic West won for Appropriate Adult in 2012.
Ben Whishaw won twice for The Hollow Crown in 2013, and This Is Going to Hurt in 2023
Sean Bean won in 2018 for Broken .
Benedict Cumberbatch won for Patrick Melrose in 2019; this was his sixth nomination in this category and first win.
Jared Harris won for Chernobyl in 2020.
Paul Mescal won for Normal People in 2021.