Radio Times's Most Powerful People

The second poll, published a year later in January 2004, was won by the Irish comedian Graham Norton, following his signing of two new contracts during 2003, each worth a reported £5 million.

Restricted only to current broadcasters, the poll was won by the DJ and TV host Jonathan Ross, who was praised as "one of the wittiest people on radio".

[9] The highest new entry in the 2004 chart was the comedy duo Matt Lucas and David Walliams, who were placed at number 10 for their "genuinely quirky" sketch show Little Britain.

Radio Times noted that, over the previous year, they had seen "the rise of some less cuddly creations – Little Britain took its inspired sketch show into edgier areas, while Julia Davis set a new benchmark for comic cruelty.

At number one was the actress Julie Walters, who had won her third British Academy Television Award earlier that year for her performance in the episode "The Wife of Bath" of the 2003 series Canterbury Tales.

[13] Jane Tranter, the controller of drama commissioning for the BBC, who had been placed second in the poll, also commended Walters's "universal appeal", saying that she had "the ability to represent all of us, no matter what the age, class or situation of her role".

[12] The 'Most Powerful People in TV Drama' list was compiled based on votes from actors, writers, directors, agents and producers in the United Kingdom.

[14] After Walters and Tranter, the third-place position went to the British actor David Jason, while ITV's controller of network drama, Nick Elliott, was fourth.

[15][16] The winner was the DJ and TV host Jonathan Ross, who was placed at number one as a result of the success of his "cheeky" Saturday programme on BBC Radio 2.