EastEnders is a British soap opera that has aired on BBC One since 19 February 1985. It has been nominated for a variety of different awards. Its first award, for Favourite Programme, was given by the Anna Scher Theatre on 24 January 1986. At the British Academy Television Awards, EastEnders has won the Best Soap or Best Continuing Drama Award 10 times, as well as Best Drama Series once. The show has won in the Serial Drama category at the National Television Awards eleven times, as well as winning Best Soap at the Royal Television Society Programme Awards four times.
At the British Soap Awards, it has won Best British Soap 12 times, Best Storyline 5 times and Best Single Episode 5 times. In 2013, Adam Woodyatt won the British Soap Award for Lifetime Achievement for his portrayal of Ian Beale. His win has been followed by Rudolph Walker and Letitia Dean also getting the accolade at subsequent ceremonies. The show has won Inside Soap Best Soap Award 14 times since the ceremonies' inception in 2001. In March 2009, EastEnders won its third TRIC award in the category TV Soap of the Year, having also won similar categories at the British Soap Awards, National Television Awards, TV Choice Awards, and Inside Soap Awards within 10 months. EastEnders Executive Producer Diederick Santer commented that this was due to having "the most talented cast and crew in the business, and the most fantastic and dedicated audience." Several different EastEnders cast members have received acting award nominations for their performances in the show. June Brown is the only EastEnders actor to receive a nomination at the British Academy Television Awards and Patsy Palmer is the only one to be nominated in the Royal Television Society Programme Awards. Simon May won a TRIC award in 1986 for the EastEnders theme tune and co-creator Tony Holland and writer Tony Jordan have also been honoured.
EastEnders has also been awarded at various diversity and mental health-related ceremonies throughout its course. During the tenure of the Screen Nation Film and Television Awards, EastEnders was awarded 5 times, receiving varies other nominations and honourable mentions for their Black cast members. It has also seen 4 Best TV Character wins at the Asian Media Awards. The Mental Health Media Awards has awarded the show on numerous occasions, for storylines involving Kat Slater's (Jessie Wallace) rape and attempted suicide and the mental health of Stacey (Lacey Turner) and Jean Slater (Gillian Wright).
All About Soap Awards
The All About Soap Awards (formerly the All About Soap Bubble Awards) were presented by All About Soap magazine and voted for by the public.
British Academy Television Awards
The British Academy Television Awards (BAFTA TV Awards) are awarded annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. EastEnders has received 24 British Academy Television Awards nominations and has won 10 of them. It won the award for Best Drama Series in 1997 and has been won the Best Continuing Drama or Best Soap accolade in 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2016 and 2019. June Brown was nominated in 2009 for Best Actress, the first time a soap opera actress was nominated in this category since Jean Alexander, who played Hilda Ogden in Coronation Street in 1988. She was billed the favourite to win the award, but lost out to Anna Maxwell Martin.
British Soap Awards
The British Soap Awards began in 1999 and EastEnders has since won the award for Best British Soap 12 times. A select amount of awards are voted for by the public, including Best British Soap and Best Leading Performer, while the rest are decided by a panel. June Brown won the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005 for her portrayal of Dot Cotton. Subsequent winners have included Wendy Richard (Pauline Fowler), Pam St Clement (Pat Butcher), Adam Woodyatt (Ian Beale), Steve McFadden (Phil Mitchell), Rudolph Walker (Patrick Trueman) and Letitia Dean (Sharon Watts). In 2018, an award was given jointly for the first time, as the Scene of the Year accolade received equal numbers of votes for EastEnders and Doctors.
Broadcast Awards
The Broadcast Awards are run by Broadcast magazine. They recognise and reward excellence in and around the UK television programming industry. EastEnders has won the Best Soap/Continuing Drama accolade once.
Digital Spy Awards
Entertainment website Digital Spy hosted the Digital Spy Soap Awards in 2008, where EastEnders won 7 of the 14 categories. From 2014, Digital Spy held the Digital Spy Reader Awards. In 2014, EastEnders won all five awards in the soaps category.