The categories reflect the profound impact TV has on the way we feel, from our levels of happiness, to empathy, to trust and even stress. Because our Screen Test study showed that watching TV, far from being a passive pastime, is an activity that engages not only brain but our emotions too.

So, who were the winners?

Happy TV Award

From murder-solving podcasters to lying British comedians, these are the shows that put the biggest smile on your faces.

The judges said: “The programmes on the shortlist all reflected a key finding of the Screen Test: that viewers want to watch TV that helps them feel happier. But in a tight category it was a fan favourite that has kept viewers laughing for years that caught our attention. The winner edged it by combining good-humoured escapism with a premise as daft as it is funny.”

Best Box Set

We live in a world blessed by a wealth of compelling drama, which means that bingeing is no longer something to feel guilty about. These programmes had you making time so that you could dive in and watch “just one more” episode.

The judges said: “From sleeper hits to historical epics to true crime and spy stories, this category saw some of the year’s biggest dramas fighting it out for top spot. But we agreed one show stood out for delivering the ‘I Must Find Out What Happens Next’ factor, despite being about a man who dealt with his demons by cooking in downtown Chicago. The script and outstanding performances turned this story into a very human drama with friendship and family and the human spirit at its heart.”

Empathy Award for Drama

These are the characters who touched you, inspired you and moved you to walk in another person’s shoes.

The judges said: “In a category where four of the five nominees are based on real people, the winner of the Empathy Award for Drama goes to a character who brought to life one woman’s struggle to take on a faceless institution that was determined to prosecute her for a crime she did not commit. The power of this performance provoked an empathic response from the entire country. In the words of one judge, the moment when we watched her sit at her computer while the losses trebled on her screen would have struck a chord with anyone who has felt helpless in the face of out of control tech.”

The Reith Award

This award recognises the programmes that best encapsulate the BBC’s mission to “inform, educate and entertain”, as put forward by the BBC’s first director-general in 1922.

The judges said: “With three of British television’s best-known and long-established names in the running, this award for the show that most educated and informed us was always likely to be keenly debated. The eventual winner of this category had taken a lot of people by surprise. That what many had thought would be a countryside caper had turned into one of the most instructive programmes on TV today. It’s not only Britain’s farmers who have been watching, but millions more of us too.”

The Viewers’ and Listeners’ Friend Award

We empathise with the characters on screen, but it is clear we also relate to the presenters we see and hear too. The Screen Test results showed that TV and audio could be a friend and help us to feel less lonely. Thousands of people – 39% of the sample – told us that one or more of their main reasons for watching TV was something to do with social connection, which can often stem from a familiar face.

The judges said: “The winner of this award dedicated a large part of his broadcasting life to a one-man mission to improve the nation’s wellbeing. His television and radio programmes from Trust Me I’m a Doctor to his most-recent hugely successful BBC podcast Just One Thing, were not simply programmes that explored medical science and dispensed surprising and innovative health tips and advice, they were brilliant examples of the power of television and radio in people’s lives. One of the nation’s most effective communicators, Michael Mosley won the hearts and minds of our readers and users and as the reaction to his sad and shocking death this summer showed, he won the hearts and minds of the nation too. A companion to millions on screen, on the radio and in his podcasts, Dr Michael Mosley’s absence from our national life is still keenly felt by those who mourn an absent friend. They may not have known him personally, but they enjoyed and appreciated his presence in their lives immensely. We are delighted that Dr Claire Bailey, Michael’s wife, is here to accept this award on his behalf.”

WINNER: Dr Michael Mosley

Stress-Buster Award

TV offers us a doorway to dozens of different worlds. These programmes were the best at helping you to escape.

The judges said: “The escapism and values at the heart of these shows take us to another time and place — be it cosy crime or fantasy travel or being tremendously kind to each other while taking part in a sewing contest. But the winning programme felt like one big exhale, capturing the meandering conversation and riverbank philosophy of two of TV’s funniest men. All applied with a generous coating of Sunday-night-nature balm.”

Trust Award For Audio

Thanks to podcasts, audio’s bond with listeners has never been stronger. These are the shows you count on most.

The judges said: “All the shows on our shortlist have a trusting audience to cherish and always leave them feeling that the world is a more trustworthy place. But the winner is extraordinary. Beautifully made and paced, the way the story is told is compelling. As a listener you trust the presenter to get to the bottom of the story, in the same way that you trust him with the lives of the people whose stories he is telling.”

The Art of Reflection

In our noisy, busy lives, we all need a place of creative contemplation. These are the shows that managed to take you into someone else’s world.

The judges said: “For quiet contemplation and a programme that surprised and brought joy in equal measure, our winner is a show that many wouldn’t immediately categorise as an arts programme. But by surprising amateur piano players performing in public spaces and roping them into a talent contest, this programme delighted and entertained our readers and users, making it clear that art and the arts can be life-affirming and joyful as well as provocative and challenging. Art doesn’t simply exist in a gallery or a concert hall or on a stage – it can happen on railway station concourses too!”

Watercooler Award

At its best, television stops us in our tracks and gets us all talking. These programmes connected us in 2024.

The judges said: “From word-of-mouth hits to viral clips to must-watch scheduled TV, these shows all captured viewers’ imaginations and entered the national conversation. But the winner should be a drama that dominated conversations across the country over a series of four nights in January, turning a story about failed tech into national outrage at a gross miscarriage of justice that eventually changed laws and our politics. If people hadn’t talked about this drama, would the government have decided something must be done?”

Judges’ Special Award

An new category, this award goes to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the nation’s well-being for more than 50 years.

Tom Loxley, Editorial Director of Radio Times, said: “The recipient of this award could have won pretty much any of the awards we have run through tonight – with the possible exception of Box Set as his work has been far too varied and multi-faceted for that. What began as career in ground-breaking television comedy (he would have been a nailed on Happy TV winner in 1970) and turned into a magisterial four decades as the ultimate television travelling companion, circumnavigating the globe every which way possible, speaks of a lifelong commitment to create TV that makes us laugh, talk, think, escape, empathise and, ultimately, come together.

His last series was about Nigeria, which followed recent documentaries on Iraq and North Korea, all made for Channel 5, his broadcasting partner since he left the BBC in 2012. When Radio Times interviewed him recently he explained that he had grown fed up with the way some execs wanted to control his programmes. ‘They had this new way of presenting shows where they would show, in the first five minutes, all the great moments of what was to come. Because this captured viewers. Otherwise, as soon as they see Michael Palin, they’ll switch off.’ Well, as Channel 5 know – and they have the ratings to prove it – nothing could be further from the truth. Indeed, we know that millions of Radio Times readers and users look for his name as THE reason to switch on the television – just as they have been doing since 1970.”

WINNER: Sir Michael Palin