The 1997 British Academy Television Awards were held on 29 April at the Royal Albert Hall in London, as a joint ceremony with the British Academy Film Awards and was hosted by Lenny Henry. To date, it is the last occasion upon which the two sets of awards have been given jointly at the same event; from 1998, the Film and Television Awards were given at separate ceremonies for the first time since 1968. Winners and nominees Winners are listed first and highlighted in boldface; the nominees are listed below. {| class=wikitable |- !style="background:#BDB76B;" |Best Drama Series !style="background:#BDB76B;" |Best Drama Serial |- |valign="top" | EastEnders (BBC / BBC1) Ballykissangel (Ballykea / BBC Northern Ireland / World Productions / BBC1) Hamish Macbeth (BBC Scotland / Skyline Films / Zenith Entertainment Ltd / BBC1) This Life (World Productions / BBC2) |valign="top" | Our Friends in the North (BBC2) The Crow Road (BBC Scotland / Union Pictures Productions / BBC2) The Fragile Heart (Carnival Films / Channel 4) Gulliver's Travels (Jim Henson Productions / RHI Entertainment Inc / Channel 4) |- |- !style="background:#BDB76B;" |Best Actor !style="background:#BDB76B;" |Best Actress |- |valign="top" | Nigel Hawthorne – The Fragile Heart (Channel 4) Christopher Eccleston – Our Friends in the North (BBC2) Albert Finney – Karaoke / Cold Lazarus (BBC1 / Channel 4) Peter Vaughan – Our Friends in the North (BBC2) |valign="top" | Gina McKee – Our Friends in the North (BBC2) Alex Kingston – The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders (ITV) Helen Mirren – Prime Suspect 5 (ITV) Pauline Quirke – The Sculptress (BBC1) |- |- !style="background:#BDB76B;" |Best Comedy (Programme or Series) !style="background:#BDB76B;" |Best Comedy Performance |- |valign="top" | Only Fools and Horses (BBC / BBC1) Absolutely Fabulous (BBC / BBC1) Father Ted (Hat Trick Productions / Channel 4) Game On (Hat Trick Productions / BBC2) |valign="top" | David Jason – Only Fools and Horses (BBC1) Martin Clunes – Men Behaving Badly (BBC1) Joanna Lumley – Absolutely Fabulous (BBC1) Nicholas Lyndhurst – Only Fools and Horses (BBC1) |- |- !style="background:#BDB76B;" |Best Single Drama !style="background:#BDB76B;" |Best Factual Series |- |valign="top" | Hillsborough (Granada Television / ITV) Crossing the Floor (BBC / BBC2) The Precious Blood (BBC Northern Ireland / BBC2) Some Kind of Life (Granada Television / ITV) |valign="top" | The House (BBC2) Cutting Edge (Channel 4) People's Century (BBC / WGBH / BBC2) The System (BBC / BBC2) |- |- !style="background:#BDB76B;" |Best Light Entertainment