The BBC Audio Drama Awards is an awards ceremony created by BBC Radio to recognise excellence in the radio industry, in particular in audio dramas. The inaugural awards were presented in 2012 and the ceremony hosted at the BBC Radio Theatre, Broadcasting House where it has remained ever since.[1]
The awards were first announced with an invitation for entries on 24 October 2011,[2] and the shortlisted nominees revealed on 10 January 2012.[3] The inaugural ceremony took place on 29 January 2012 and proved hugely successful. Prior to this, there was no official awards ceremony to recognise audio dramas; the Sony Radio Academy Awards mainly encompassed radio shows and presenters while the Richard Imison Award (for best original script by a new writer) and Tinniswood Award (for best audio drama script of the year) were awarded separately. The Imison and Tinniswood Awards are now incorporated into the Audio Drama Awards, the former administered by the Society of Authors and the latter by both the Society of Authors and the Writers' Guild of Great Britain.[4]
Nominations and judges
Although nominations are dominated by the BBC's in-house arts-oriented stations, particularly BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio 4, entries are open to all makers of audio drama world-wide.
The ceremony took place on 24 March 2024 at the BBC Radio Theatre and covered audio dramas broadcast between 1 October 2022 and 31 October 2023 or first uploaded / published / released for free listening online during the same period.[5][6][7]
The ceremony took place on 19 March 2023 and covered audio dramas broadcast between 1 October 2021 and 31 October 2022 or first uploaded / published / released for free listening online during the same period. 2023 marked the centenary of the audio and radio drama genre at the BBC.[11][12][13][14]
Town is by the Sea by Ross Flight Producers: Eleanor Turney, George Warren, Patrick Eakin Young (Soundworlds)
Commendation:Ariel and Winter Trees by Jon Nicholls Producer: Charlotte Melén (Almost Tangible)
Berlin Alexanderplatz by Alison Craig, Anne Bunting, Keith Graham and Caleb Knightley Producers: Marc Beeby and Emma Harding, David Hunter and Gemma Jenkins (BBC Audio Drama London)
Best Scripted Comedy (Longform)
Ken Cheng: Chinese Comedian by Ken Cheng Producer: Rajiv Karia (BBC Studios for BBC Radio 4)
The Downing Street Doppelganger by Jim Poyser Producer: Gary Brown (BBC Audio Drama North)
Tudur Owen: United Nations of Anglesey by Tudur Owen Producer: Richard Morris (BBC Studios)
Best Scripted Comedy (Sketch show)
Please Use Other Door by Kat Butterfield, Dan Audritt, Sophie Dickson, Laura Major, Rob Darke, Alex Nash, Sam South, Ed Amsden, Tom Coles, Cody Dahler, Toby Williams, Ed Tew, Anna Goodman, Imogen Andrews, Matt Harrison, Carwyn Blayney, Natasha Dhanraj, Alice Etches, Nathalie Antonia, Chris Ryman, Simon Alcock, Leigh Douglas, Chazz Redhead, Paul F Taylor, Jo Wiggins, Cameron Loxdale, Lewis Cook, Owen Petty, Tom Oxenham, Rebecca Heitlinger and Bill Dare Producer: Bill Dare (BBC Studios for BBC Radio 4)
Waterloo Station by Katie Hims Producer: Mary Peate (BBC Audio Drama London for BBC Radio 4)
Strings by Linda Marshall Griffiths Producer: Nadia Molinari ( BBC Audio Drama North for BBC Radio 3)
2022
The ceremony took place on 25 March 2022 and covered audio dramas broadcast between 1 October 2020 and 31 October 2021 or first uploaded / published / released for free listening online during the same period. 2022 marked the return as an in-person event after COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, it also saw the return of the Best Supporting Performance and Lifetime Achievement awards after an absence of three years.[18]
Passenger List (series 2) by John Scott Dryden, Lauren Shippen, Meghan Fitzmartin, Janina Matthewson, Sarah Lot and Mark Henry Phillips Producers: John Scott Dryden and Emma Hearn (Goldhawk Productions, PRX Radiotopia)
Blis-ta by Sonya Hale Producer: Mimi Findlay (Clean Break for Spotify)
The Cipher by Brett Neichin and Janina Matthewson Producers: John Scott Dryden and Emma Hearn (Goldhawk Productions)
Blis-ta by Sonya Hale Producer: Mimi Findlay (Clean Break for Spotify)
Life is a Radio in the Dark by Will Eno Producer: Sally Avens (BBC Audio Drama London / BBC Radio 3)
The Piper by Vickie Donoghue & Natalie Mitchell Producers: Kate Rowland and Russell Finch (Somethin' Else / BBC Sounds)
2021
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the ceremony was held virtually taking place on 26 March 2021 and covering audio dramas first broadcast between 1 October 2019 and 31 October 2020 – or first uploaded / published for free listening online during the same period. With the restrictions having also impacted programme-making a one-off The Year of Reinvention Award replaced the Best Director Award. For the third year in succession no awards for Lifetime Achievement or Best Supporting Performance were bestowed this year.[20]
The studio managers, technicians, sound engineers and designers, R&D engineers and all technical staff working on BBC-produced and independent audio drama and comedy productions
Holidays from Suicide: a Fantastic Journey with Iggy Pop by Birgit Kempker and Anatol Atonal Producers: Birgit Kempker and Anatol Atonal (SRF, Switzerland)
In Winter by Magda Woitzuck, Ida Schön, Hanno Millesi, Mark von Schlegell, Ann Cotten, Puneh Ansari Producers: Christian Lerch and Philip Scheiner (ORF, Austria)
Best Podcast or Online Only Audio Drama
Unwell: a Midwestern Gothic Mystery by Jim McDoniel, Jessica Best, Jessica Wright Buha and Bilal Dardai Producers: Jeffrey Nils Gardner and Eleanor Hyde (HartLife NFP)
Murmurs by Janina Matthewson, Beth Crane, Tom Crowley, Greer Ellison, Eno Mfon, Jesse Schwenk, Chris Sugden, Jen Sugden, and Robert Valentine Producers: James Robinson, John Norton, Helen Perry and David Devereux (BBC Cymru Wales)
Tribulation by Adam Jahnke Producer: Greg Cooler (ListenUp Audio)
The Year of Reinvention Award
Lockdown Theatre Festival Producers: Bertie Carvel, Jeremy Mortimer, Steve Bond, Jack Howson and Joby Waldman (Reduced Listening for BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio 4)
Commendation: Connections Producer: Polly Thomas (Naked Productions for BBC Radio 4)
Commendation: The Plague Producer: Turan Ali (Bona Broadcasting for BBC Radio 4)
The ceremony took place on 2 February 2020 and covers audio dramas first broadcast between 1 October 2018 and 31 October 2019 – or first uploaded / published for free listening online during the same period. For the second year in succession no awards for Lifetime Achievement or Best Supporting Performance were bestowed this year.[22]
Terry Alderton's Whole Half Hour by Terry Alderton and Richard Melvin with Julia Sutherland, Paul Tonkinson, Steven Dick and Bobby Davro Producers: Al Lorraine and Richard Melvin (Dabster Productions for BBC Radio 4)
Best European Drama
Buzz Suppression – Recording Strictly off the Record by Ulrich Bassenge Producers: Ulrich Bassenge, Martina Müller-Wallraff and Anina Barandun (WDR, Germany and SRF, Switzerland)
The ceremony took place on 3 February 2019 and covers audio dramas first broadcast between 1 October 2017 and 31 October 2018 – or first uploaded / published for free listening online during the same period. 2019 was the year when an award for Best Director was introduced as was one for Best European Drama. No awards for Lifetime Achievement or Best Supporting Performance were bestowed in this year.[24]
Stone by Martin Jameson, Richard Monks, Cath Staincliffe, Alex Ganley and Vivienne Harvey Producers/Directors: Nadia Molinari and Gary Brown (BBC Radio Drama North for BBC Radio 4)
Love Henry James: The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, adapted by Linda Marshall Griffiths Producer/Director: Nadia Molinari (BBC Radio Drama North for BBC Radio 4)
Best Use of Sound in an Audio Drama
Love Henry James: The Turn of the Screw, sound by Steve Brooke and John Benton Producer/Director: Nadia Molinari (BBC Radio Drama North for BBC Radio 4)
The Beast, sound by Steve Bond Producers/Directors: Nicolas Jackson and Steve Bond (Afonica for BBC Radio 4)
Playing Dead by Vivienne Harvey Producer: Nadia Molinari (BBC Radio Drama North for BBC Radio 4)
Holbein's Skull by Martyn Wade Producer: Tracey Neale (BBC Radio Drama London for BBC Radio 4)
2018
The ceremony took place on 28 January 2018 and covers audio dramas first broadcast in English in the UK between 1 October 2016 and 31 October 2017 – or first uploaded / published for free listening online in the UK during the same period. In 2018 the two awards for comedy were changed to become Best Scripted Comedy (Longform) and Best Scripted Comedy (Sketch show).[26]
Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie, adapted by Ayeesha Menon Producers: Tracey Neale and Emma Harding (BBC Radio Drama London for BBC Radio 4)
Terrible Beauty by Gerald Doyle, adapted by Bernard Clarke Producer: Bernard Clarke (RTÉ lyric fm)
Best Use of Sound in an Audio Drama
The War of the Worlds, sound by Cal Knightley, Mike Etherden, Alison Craig Producer: Marc Beeby (BBC Radio Drama London for BBC Radio 4)
Commendation:Dangerous Visions: Kafka's Metamorphosis, sound by Nigel Lewis Producer: James Robinson (BBC Cymru Wales for BBC Radio 4)
Commendation:Midnight's Children, sound by Peter Ringrose, Anne Bunting and Jenni Burnett Producers: Tracey Neale and Emma Harding (BBC Radio Drama London for BBC Radio 4)
Jenny Lomas by David Eldridge Producer: Sally Avens ( BBC Radio Drama London for BBC Radio 3)
2017
The ceremony took place on 29 January 2017 and covers audio dramas first broadcast in English in the UK between 1 October 2015 and 31 October 2016 – or first uploaded / published for free listening online in the UK during the same period.[28]
The ceremony took place on 31 January 2016 and covers audio dramas first broadcast in English in the UK between 1 October 2014 and 31 October 2015 – or first uploaded / published for free listening online in the UK during the same period.[30]
Fugue State by Julian Simpson Producer: Karen Rose (Sweet Talk Productions for BBC Radio 4)
Far Side of the Moore by Sean Grundy
Vampyre Man by Joseph O'Connor
2015
The ceremony took place on 1 February 2015 and covers audio dramas first broadcast in English in the UK between 1 October 2013 and 31 October 2014 – or first uploaded / published for free listening online in the UK during the same period. 2015 saw the two Best Supporting Performance awards merged once again into a single category covering both male and female performers, but introduced a new category; Best Debut Performance.[32]
The ceremony took place on 26 January 2014 and covers audio dramas broadcast between 1 October 2012 and 31 October 2013 or first uploaded / published for free listening online in the UK during the same period. The award for Best Scripted Comedy was split into two (Best Scripted Comedy Drama and Best Scripted Comedy – Studio Audience) and two new awards were introduced; the Lifetime Achievement award and the Outstanding Contribution award.[34]
The ceremony took place on 27 January 2013 and covered audio dramas broadcast between 1 October 2011 and 30 September 2012 or first uploaded / published for free listening online in the UK during the same period. The award for Best Audio Drama Award was split into two (Single Play and Serial) as was the award for Best Supporting Performance (Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress). The Innovation award was retired.[36]
The inaugural ceremony took place on 29 January 2012 and covered audio dramas broadcast between 1 October 2010 and 30 September 2011 or first uploaded / published for free listening online in the UK during the same period.[1]