British Academy Television Award for Best Actress

This is a list of the British Academy Television Awards for Best Actress. The British Academy Television Awards began in 1955. The Best Actress award was initially given as an "individual honour", without credit to a particular performance, until 1969, when Wendy Craig won for her performance in Not in Front of the Children. Since 1970, nominees have been announced in addition to the winner, and are listed, with the winner highlighted in blue. The Actress category was split into Leading Actress and Supporting Actress, starting in 2010.

Julie Walters holds the record of most wins in this category with four, followed by Dame Judi Dench, Thora Hird, and Dame Helen Mirren, with three wins each. The nominations tally includes Helen Mirren and Francesca Annis having received 6 and Judi Dench and Julie Walters having received 7. The award is currently held by Sarah Lancashire having won most recently in 2024 for  Happy Valley.

Multiple wins
The following people have been awarded the British Academy Television Award for Actress multiple times:

4 wins
 * Julie Walters

3 wins
 * Judi Dench
 * Thora Hird
 * Helen Mirren

2 wins
 * Peggy Ashcroft
 * Jodie Comer
 * Annette Crosbie
 * Catherine Lacey
 * Sarah Lancashire
 * Anna Maxwell Martin
 * Gwen Watford
 * Billie Whitelaw

Multiple nominations
The following people have been nominated for the British Academy Television Award for Actress multiple times:

7 nominations
 * Judi Dench
 * Julie Walters

6 nominations
 * Francesca Annis
 * Helen Mirren

5 nominations
 * Jodie Comer

4 nominations
 * Peggy Ashcroft
 * Geraldine James
 * Sarah Lancashire
 * Maggie Smith

3 nominations
 * Helena Bonham Carter
 * Anne-Marie Duff
 * Lindsay Duncan
 * Claire Foy
 * Thora Hird
 * Glenda Jackson
 * Celia Johnson
 * Gemma Jones
 * Rosemary Leach
 * Anna Maxwell Martin
 * Vicky McClure
 * Gina McKee
 * Maxine Peake
 * Miranda Richardson
 * Sheridan Smith
 * Juliet Stevenson
 * Gwen Watford
 * Billie Whitelaw

2 nominations
 * Eileen Atkins
 * Claire Bloom
 * Cheryl Campbell
 * Annette Crosbie
 * Keeley Hawes
 * Joan Hickson
 * Suranne Jones
 * Penelope Keith
 * Catherine Lacey
 * Jane Lapotaire
 * Virginia McKenna
 * Samantha Morton
 * Kate Nelligan
 * Billie Piper
 * Vanessa Redgrave
 * Anne Reid
 * Alison Steadman
 * Dorothy Tutin
 * Zoe Wanamaker
 * Emily Watson
 * Ruth Wilson
 * Kate Winslet
 * Victoria Wood

Note: Julie Walters' two mentions in 2010, count as two separate nominations.