The
BBC Sports Personality of the Year is an awards ceremony that takes place annually in December. Devised by
Paul Fox in 1954, it originally consisted of just one, the
BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award. Several new awards have been introduced, and currently eight awards are presented. The first awards to be added were the
Team of the Year and
Overseas Personality awards, which were introduced in 1960. A
Lifetime Achievement Award was first given in 1995 and again in 1996, and has been presented annually since 2001. In 1999, three more awards were introduced: the
Helen Rollason Award, the
Coach Award, and the
Newcomer Award, which was renamed to
Young Sports Personality of the Year in 2001. The newest is the
Unsung Hero Award, first presented in 2003. In 2003, the 50th anniversary of the show was marked by a five-part series on
BBC One called
Simply The Best – Sports Personality. It was presented by
Gary Lineker and formed part of a public vote to determine a special Golden Sports Personality of the Year. That year
Steve Rider and Martyn Smith wrote a book reflecting on the 50-year history of the award and the programme. The event was held outside London for the first time in 2006, when tickets were made available to the public.