As the end of the year rolls around, we’ve been taking a look back at the very best of the entertainment world of 2025.
It was a stellar year for TV, from side-splitting comedy to emotionally charged dramas based on real-life events. But which television series will we still be talking about in years to come, and what were your biggest moments on the box?
More than 5,000 of you voted in the Digital Spy Reader Awards, and the results are now in! We’ll be publishing Movies and Soaps results in due course, but today, here’s the full breakdown of who triumphed on TV in 2025:
Best Actor 
1. Stephen Graham, Adolescence
2. Erin Doherty, Adolescence
3. Jenna Ortega, Wednesday
Adolescence was such a huge cultural moment for the UK – it was even discussed in Parliament – that perhaps it’s no big surprise that its lead actors took two of the three top spots for Best Actor in this year’s awards.
Stephen Graham committed to another powerful and heartfelt performance playing Eddie, the devastated dad to Jamie, while his co-star Erin Doherty also made her stamp on the acting world as Jamie’s psychologist, Briony, proving she was more than just the prim and proper Princess Anne in the The Crown.
Meanwhile, Wednesday superstar Jenna Ortega proved just as much of a hit as the Addams Family daughter the second time round in the Netflix series, and came in third place.
TV – British Rising Star 
1. Owen Cooper, Adolescence
2. Ellis Howard, What It Feels Like for a Girl
3. Hannah Jones, What It Feels Like for a GirlBBC
Fresh from his Emmy-award winning success, 16-year-old Owen Cooper can now clear another place on his mantelpiece, as the break-out Adolescence star has been crowned the British Rising Star.
But the BBC’s excellent coming-of-age drama What It Feels Like For A Girl has also shone a light on home-grown talent: Ellis Howard, who played Byron in the show, and his co-star Hannah Jones, who played Sasha, and who take third place in this category.
Best TV Show (Worldwide) 
1. Stranger Things
2. The Last Of Us
3. The White Lotus
2025 was the year that we were forced to say goodbye to Stranger Things, but the fifth and final series of the Duffer brothers’ sci-fi can bow out on a high, as it was voted the best TV show on the planet.
While many of us haven’t forgiven The Last Of Us‘ creators for killing off a much-loved character at the beginning of the second series, it packed enough of a punch to make it to second place in the awards, with the third outing of The White Lotus landing at third most popular TV show.
Best British TV Show (Scripted) 
1. Adolescence
2. Riot Women
3. Slow HorsesApple TV+/Jack English
Adolescence came storming into first place for the best scripted British TV show, but those meno-punk ladies of Riot Women are making a song and dance about second place, while tailing slightly behind in third place is Slow Horses, the fifth series of which this year secured its place as a legendary British spy drama.
Best TV Show (unscripted)
1. The Celebrity Traitors
2. Strictly Come DancingGuy Levy//BBC
3. I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here
What other reality show would be such a shoo-in for first place? The Celebrity Traitors – the first star-filled iteration of the BBC series – became a national obsession when it aired in November, and it matches Adolescence for the peak of British TV making. In second and third place are the other long-running TV classics, Strictly Come Dancing and I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here, respectively.
Best TV Moment 
1. The Celebrity Traitors: Celia Imrie’s fart
2. Adolescence: The national conversation that it sparked
3. Doctor Who: Billie Piper’s return
TV moment of the year? Try TV moment of the DECADE.
Little did Celia Imrie know that her little bout of beautifully styled-out flatulence prior to a mission on The Celebrity Traitors would become the most hilarious few seconds of TV – and thank you (thank you!) to the editors for keeping it in the show.
In second place is the important national conversation that Adolescence sparked, and in third place was the shock return of Billie Piper to Doctor Who, which had fans audibly gasping across the country.
Best TV Character 
1. Dustin, Stranger Things
2. Danny, Big Boys
3. Deborah Vance, Hacks
Give it up for Dustin – played by Gaten Matarazzo – who was voted as the best character on TV this year, as we’ve seen Dusty-Bun evolve in Stranger Things from gawky kid to a demon-slaying genius over the five series of the show.
He was closely followed by the charming Danny (Jon Pointing) on the brilliant comedy Big Boys, and third place – though we imagine she’d be miffed to find she’s not first – is the inimitable Ms Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) from Hacks.
Best TV Presenter(s) 
1. Claudia Winkleman
2. Ant and Dec
3. Alison Hammond
There aren’t many presenters heavyweight enough to carry two of the biggest British TV shows (Strictly Come Dancing and The Celebrity Traitors), but La Winkleman has got just the star power needed.
She takes the top spot this year, followed by industry stalwarts Ant ‘n’ Dec; and nipping at both their heels is the hilarious Alison Hammond.
Axed TV Show We Want Back The Most 
1. Stranger ThingsCourtesy of Netflix//Netflix
2. Brassic
3. A League Of Their Own (Sky)A League Of Their Own//Sky
Despite the final episode not streaming till New Year’s Day 2026, it’s never to soon to ask for a comeback, as voters are already desperate for the return of Stranger Things.
Even in the very best-case scenario, that’s going to be a looooong wait. In second place, the Michelle Keegan-fronted Brassic is the show viewers would love to have back, followed by the sports-based comedy gameshow, Sky’s A League Of Their Own.