Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special

This is a list of the winners of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie, or Dramatic Special.

Award winners

1970s

• 1979: The Jericho Mile – Michael Mann & Patrick Nolan

1980s

• 1980: Off the Minnesota Strip – David Chase
• 1981: Playing for Time – Arthur Miller
• 1982: Bill – Corey Blechman & Barry Morrow
• 1983: Special Bulletin – Marshall Herskovitz & Edward Zwick
• 1984: Something About Amelia – William Hanley
• 1985: Do You Remember Love – Vickie Patik
• 1986: An Early Frost – Ron Cowen & Daniel Lipman (teleplay) ~ Sherman Yellen (story)
• 1987: Promise – Kenneth Blackwell, Tennyson Flowers, and Richard Friedenberg
• 1988: The Attic: The Hiding of Anne Frank – William Hanley
• 1989: Murderers Among Us: The Simon Wiesenthal Story – Ron Hutchison, Abby Mann, and Robin Vote

1990s

• 1990: Andre’s Mother – Terrence McNally
• 1991: House of Cards – Andrew Davies
• 1992: I'll Fly Away – Joshua Brand & John Falsey
• 1993: The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom – Jane Anderson
• 1994: David’s Mother – Bob Randall
• 1995: Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story – Alison Cross
• 1996: Gulliver’s Travels – Simon Moore
• 1997: Old Man – Horton Foote
• 1998: Don King: Only in America – Kario Salem
• 1999: A Lesson Before Dying – Ann Peacock

2000s

• 2000: The Corner – David Mills & David Simon
  • Cheaters – John Stockwell
  • Homicide: The Movie – Tom Fontana, Eric Overmyer, and James Yoshimura
  • If These Walls Could Talk 2 – Jane Anderson
  • RKO 281 – John Logan

• 2001: Conspiracy – Loring Mandel
  • 61* – Hank Steinberg
  • Anne Frank: The Whole Story – Kirk Ellis
  • Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows – Robert Freedman
  • Wit – Mike Nichols & Emma Thompson

• 2002: The Gathering Storm – Larry Ramin & Hugh Whitemore
  • Band of Brothers – Erik Bork, E. Max Frye, Tom Hanks, Erik Jendresen, Bruce C. McKenna, John Orloff, and Graham Yost
  • The Laramie Project – Stephen Belber, Leigh Fondakowski, Amanda Gronich, Moisés Kaufman, Jeffrey LaHoste, John McAdams, Andy Paris, Greg Pierotti, Barbara Pitts, Kelli Simpkins, and Stephen Wangh
  • Path to War – Daniel Giat
  • Shackleton – Charles Sturridge

• 2003: Door to Door – William H. Macy & Steven Schachter
  • Hysterical Blindness – Laura Cahill
  • Live from Baghdad – Richard Chapman, Timothy Sexton, John Patrick Shanley, and Robert Wiener
  • My House in Umbria – Hugh Whitemore
  • Normal – Jane Anderson

• 2004: Angels in America – Tony Kushner
  • And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself – Larry Gelbart
  • Iron Jawed Angels – Eugenia Bostwick-Singer, Jennifer Friedes, Sally Robinson, and Raymond Singer
  • The Reagans – Elizabeth Egloff, Jane Marchwood, and Tom Rickman
  • Something the Lord Made – Robert Caswell & Peter Silverman

• 2005: The Life and Death of Peter Sellers – Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely
  • The 4400 – René Echevarria & Scott Peters
  • Empire Falls – Richard Russo
  • The Office: “Christmas Special” – Ricky Gervais & Stephen Merchant
  • Warm Springs – Margaret Nagle

• 2006: The Girl in the Café – Richard Curtis
  • Bleak House – Andrew Davies
  • Elizabeth I – Nigel Williams
  • Flight 93 – Nevin Schreiner
  • Mrs. Harris – Phyllis Nagy

• 2007: Prime Suspect: The Final Act – Frank Deasy
  • Broken Trail – Alan Geoffrio
  • Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee – Daniel Giat
  • Jane Eyre – Sandy Welch
  • The Starter Wife – Josann McGibbon & Sara Parriott

• 2008: John Adams (Episode: “Independence”) – Kirk Ellis
  • Bernard and Doris – Hugh Costello
  • Cranford – Heidi Thomas
  • Extras: The Extra Special Series Finale – Ricky Gervais & Stephen Merchant
  • Recount – Danny Strong

• 2009: Little Dorrit – Andrew Davies
  • Generation Kill (Episode: “Bomb in the Garden”) – Ed Burns & David Simon
  • Grey Gardens – Patricia Rozema & Michael Sucsy
  • Into the Storm – Hugh Whitemore
  • Taking Chance – Ross Katz & Michael Strobl

2010s

• 2010: You Don’t Know Jack – Adam Mazer
  • The Pacific (Episode: “Home”) – Bruce C. McKenna & Robert Schenkkan
  • The Pacific (Episode: “Iwo Jima”) – Michelle Ashford & Robert Schenkkan
  • The Special Relationship – Peter Morgan
  • Temple Grandin – William Merritt Johnson & Christopher Monger

• 2011: Downton Abbey – Julian Fellowes
  • Mildred Pierce – Todd Haynes & Jon Raymond
  • Sherlock (Episode: “A Study in Pink”) – Steven Moffat
  • Too Big to Fail – Peter Gould
  • Upstairs, Downstairs – Heidi Thomas

• 2012: Game Change – Danny Strong
  • Hatfields & McCoys (Episode: “Part II”) – Bill Kerby, Ted Mann, and Ronald Parker
  • The Hour – Abi Morgan
  • Luther – Neil Cross
  • Sherlock (Episode: “A Scandal in Belgravia”) – Steven Moffat

• 2013: The Hour – Abi Morgan
  • Behind the Candelabra – Richard LaGravenese
  • Parade’s End – Tom Stoppard
  • Phil Spector – David Mamet
  • Top of the Lake – Jane Campion & Gerard Lee

• 2014: Sherlock (Episode: “His Last Vow”) – Steven Moffat
  • American Horror Story: Coven (Episode: “Bitchcraft”) – Ryan Murphy & Brad Falchuk
  • Fargo (Episode: “The Crocodile’s Dilemma”) – Noah Hawley
  • Luther – Neil Cross
  • The Normal Heart – Larry Kramer
  • Treme (Episode: “...To Miss New Orleans”) – David Simon & Eric Overmyer

• 2015: Olive Kitteridge – Jane Anderson
  • American Crime (Episode: “Episode One”) – John Ridley
  • Bessie – Dee Rees, Christopher Cleveland, Bettina Gilois, and Horton Foote
  • Hello Ladies: The Movie – Stephen Merchant, Gene Stupnitsky, and Lee Eisenberg
  • The Honourable Woman – Hugo Blick
  • Wolf Hall – Peter Straughan