26 October 1997 at the Intercontinental Hotel, London
FILM
Screenplay
Mark Herman, BRASSED OFF
TV
Play or Film
Jimmy McGovern, HILLSBOROUGH
Situation Comedy
John Sullivan, ONLY FOOLS AND HORSES (CHRISTMAS TRILOGY)
Light Entertainment
Harry Enfield, Paul Whitehouse, Dave Cummings, Ian Hislop, Nick Newman, Richard Preddy, Gary Howe, Graham Linehan, Arthur Mathews & Geoffrey Perkins, HARRY ENFIELD AND CHUMS
Original Drama Serial
Richard Zajdlic, Matthew Graham, Mark Davis Markham, Joe Ahearne, Ian Iqbal Rashid, Amelia Bullmore, Eirene Houston, Annie Caulfield, Jimmy Gardner & William Gaminara, THIS LIFE
Original Drama Series
Tim Firth, PRESTON FRONT
Dramatised Serial
Bryan Elsley, THE CROW ROAD
Children’s
Richard Carpenter, THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING INVISIBLE
RADIO
Original Play
Lee Hall, SPOONFACE STEINBERG
Dramatisation
Steve Chambers, WATERLAND
Comedy/Light Entertainment
Alex Ferguson, MY UNCLE FREDDIE
Children
Peter Kerry, INTO THE DARK
THEATRE
West End
Ayub Khan-Din, EAST IS EAST
Regional
David Farr, ELTON JOHN’S GLASSES
Fringe
Anthony Neilson, THE CENSOR
BOOKS
Fiction
Jonathan Coe, THE HOUSE OF SLEEP
Non-Fiction
Daniel Start, THE OPEN CAGE
Children
John Loveday, GOODBYE BUFFALO SKY
Berlie Doherty, DAUGHTER OF THE SEA
Ted Willis Lifetime Achievement Award
John McGrath
New Writer of the Year
Ayub Khan-Din, EAST IS EAST
The Writers’ Guild Award
Gordon House
Non English Language Award
Siwan Jones, TAIR CHWAER