Radio Times's Most Powerful People was a series of listings created by the British weekly magazine Radio Times from January 2003 to June 2005. The lists charted who the magazine believed were the most powerful people from three different areas of British media: TV comedy, TV drama and radio. The listing for TV comedy was published three times, every January from 2003 to 2005; the drama and radio lists were produced just once each, in July 2004 and June 2005 respectively.
The first 'Most Powerful People' listing was published by Radio Times in January 2003, and recognised the most influential people in TV comedy in the United Kingdom. It was topped by the British comedian Ricky Gervais, as a result of the success of the award-winning second series of his TV show The Office. The second poll, published a year later in January 2004, was won by the Irish comedian Graham Norton, following his signing of two new contracts during 2003, each worth a reported £5 million. Six months later, in July 2004, Radio Times published their 'Most Powerful People in TV Drama' list. Following a series of votes from industry experts, the magazine named the actress Julie Walters as their choice for the most powerful person in drama.
In January 2005, Radio Times published the third 'Most Powerful People in TV Comedy' list, which was topped by the comedy duo Matt Lucas and David Walliams for their sketch show Little Britain, which the magazine called "inspired".[1] That June, Radio Times published their final 'Most Powerful People' list, which named the most influential people in radio in the United Kingdom. Restricted only to current broadcasters, the poll was won by the DJ and TV host Jonathan Ross, who was praised as "one of the wittiest people on radio".[2]