John Hurt and June Whitfield among winners at BBC Audio Drama Awards

John Hurt, June Whitfield and Alfred Molina were among those awarded at the ceremony which recognises the cultural significance, range and originality of audio drama - on air as well as online - and credits the creativity of the actors, writers, producers, sound designers and others who work within the field.

Prize-givers at the ceremony included Ruth Jones, Fenella Woolgar, playwright Mike Bartlett and Downton Abbey star Paul Copley.

Lenny Henry, who hosted the event, said: “I’m honoured to have once again presented the BBC Audio Drama Awards, which showcase outstanding work by a diverse group of talented writers and creators. We should be proud of the range of excellence that the industry attracts and produces, and it’s great that this year’s awards include both classic plays and innovative dramas reflecting modern Britain. Long may it continue!”

John Hurt, who received the Outstanding Contribution Award for his roles in Radio 4’s War And Peace and Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell, as well as many previous credits, said: “I like working in radio drama because one is using what is fast becoming the actors' forgotten weapon - the voice.”

June Whitfield, who was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award for over 70 years in radio drama and comedy, said: “I’m absolutely delighted to have received this lifetime achievement award. It really does feel like a lifetime - I first worked for BBC Radio in the 1940s! Thank you so much BBC for this much appreciated award.”

The BBC once again joined with The Society of Authors and The Writers’ Guild of Great Britain in presenting two well-established awards for writing, the Imison Award for Best Radio Drama Script by a New Writer and the Tinniswood Radio Drama Award for Best Radio Drama Script.

The full and diverse list of winners is as follows:

• Cuttin’ It - Best Audio Drama (Original Single)
• Children in Need: D For Dexter - Best Audio Drama (Series or Serial)
• The Master And Margarita - Best Audio Drama (Adaptation)
• Monica Dolan - Best Actress in an Audio Drama
• Susan Wokoma - Best Supporting Actor or Actress in an Audio Drama
• Karen Bartke - Best Debut Performance in an Audio Drama
• Fugue State - Best Use of Sound in an Audio Drama
• In And Out Of The Kitchen - Best Scripted Comedy Drama
• Reluctant Persuaders - Best Scripted Comedy with a Live Audience
• The Kindness Of Time - Best Online-Only Audio Drama
• 30 Eggs - Imison Award for Best Radio Drama Script by a New Writer
• Fugue State - Tinniswood Radio Drama Award for Best Radio Drama Script

All finalists were judged by a team of industry experts including Indira Varma, Roy Williams, Daniel Evans, Hattie Morahan, Rachel Joyce and Ruth Jones – and the ceremony featured a performance from band, The Dodge Brothers, featuring presenter Mark Kermode.

Listeners will be able to hear some of the winning audio dramas again on BBC Radio 3 and Radio 4, including Cuttin’ It, Fugue State and Reluctant Persuaders starting from Wednesday 10th February.

2016 sees the fifth year of the Audio Drama Awards which, in 2015, saw Scottish actor and comedian, Stanley Baxter, take home a Lifetime Achievement Award to mark his 75th year in radio; author Neil Gaiman awarded Outstanding Contribution Award for his commitment to audio drama with adaptations of Good Omens and Neverwhere; and Sir Ian McKellen win Best Actor.

For more information visit: bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01pf59s 

Notes to Editors

• John Hurt has received numerous awards including seven BAFTA nominations and four Baftas including the prestigious Michael Balcon Award in 2012; 2 Oscar nominations, 2 Evening Standard Awards including the Alexander Walker Special Award in 2012 and a Golden Globe. He has also worked extensively in radio, most recently with Celia de Wolff on War and Peace and Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell. John was granted a C.B.E. in 2004 and was knighted in 2015. He is a Fellow of the BFI and Chancellor of Norwich University of the Arts.

• June Whitfield is one of Britain’s leading comedy actresses. She was honoured with an OBE in 1985 and in 1994 won the British Comedy Lifetime Achievement Award. She has also been honoured by the Royal Television Society becoming a member of their Hall of Fame. Over recent years June has been busy with more radio and television including filming three further episodes of Absolutely Fabulous.

• The BBC Audio Drama Awards cover 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. 

• Entries were welcome from all makers of audio drama, and were not restricted to BBC broadcasts. 

• There was no entry fee. 

• For more information on The Dodge Brothers visit: dodgebrothers.co.uk/about.html

Full list of winners
Best Audio Drama (Adaptation)
The Master and Margarita, by Mikhail Bulgakov, dramatized by Lucy Catherine, producer Sasha Yevtushenko

Best Audio Drama (Original Single)
Cuttin’ It, by Charlene James, producer Jessica Brown

Best Audio Drama (Series or Serial)
Children in Need: D for Dexter, by Amanda Whittington, producer Mary Ward-Lowery

Best Actor in an Audio Drama
Alfred Molina in A View from the Bridge

Best Actress in an Audio Drama
Monica Dolan in Vincent in Brixton

Best Supporting Actor or Actress in an Audio Drama
Susan Wokoma in Three Strong Women

Best Debut Performance in an Audio Drama
Karen Bartke in My Name Is…

Best Use of Sound in an Audio Drama
Fugue State, sound by Julian Simpson and David Thomas, producer Karen Rose

Best Scripted Comedy Drama
In and Out of the Kitchen, by Justin Edwards, producer Sam Michell

Best Scripted Comedy with a Live Audience
Reluctant Persuaders Ep 3, by Edward Rowett, producer Gordon Kennedy

Best Online Only Audio Drama
The Kindness of Time, by Deirdre Burton and Tom Davis, producer Rosie Boulton

Imison Award for Best Radio Drama Script by a New Writer
30 Eggs by Eoin O’Connor

(Judges: Ruth Brandon, Christopher William Hill, Marcy Kahan, Annette Kobak, Michelle Lipton, John Taylor, Jane Thynne, Elizabeth-Anne Wheal, Stephen Wyatt and Mike Walker)

Tinniswood Radio Drama Award for Best Radio Drama Script
Fugue State by Julian Simpson

(Judges: Mike Bartlett, Rachel Joyce and Nell Leyshon for the Society of Authors and the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain)

Both writing awards were presented by award-winning playwright Mike Bartlett.

Outstanding Contribution
John Hurt

Lifetime Achievement
June Whitfield

KW2

Related BBC Links

• BBC Audio Drama Awards