The 2026 Shortlist

The BBC Audio Drama Awards celebrate the range, originality and cut-through quality of audio drama and comedy on air and online.

For over a century, audio drama and comedy have provided joy, illumination and escape for millions of listeners. These beloved genres have evolved in method and style as creators have responded with ingenuity, imagination and inspiration to changes in the world and in technology. In the UK, the BBC remains the biggest champion of this unique art form and specifically developed these awards to acknowledge the creativity and specialist talent of actors, writers, directors, producers, musicians, sound designers and all who work in this field.

The winners will be announced on Sunday 1 March 2026 in a ceremony in the Radio Theatre at BBC Broadcasting House London. The winners of the Imison and Tinniswood Awards (judged and administered by the Society of Authors and the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain) will also be announced at this ceremony.

Best Original Single Drama

• Christmas Past by Christine Entwisle, producer Kirsty Williams, BBC Audio Scotland
• The Final Touch by Roy Williams, producer Celia de Wolff, Pier Productions
• John From Hemel by Sid Sagar, producer Hunter Charlton, Ember
• One Hundred and Fifty Days by Oliver Emanuel, producer Kirsty Williams, BBC Audio Scotland
• Shed by Paolo Chianta, producer Lorna Newman, BBC Studios Audio
• Sleaze by Joe von Malachowski & Will Close, producer Anne Isger, BBC Studios Audio

Best Adaptation

• Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson, adapted by Katie Hims, producer Anne Isger, BBC Studios Audio
• Gatsby in Harlem adapted by Roy Williams from F.Scott Fitzgerald, produced by Nathan Freeman, Tom Billington and Celia De Wolff, Granny Eats Wolf
• Kramer versus Kramer by Avery Korman, adapted by Sarah Wooley, producers Gaynor Macfarlane and Carl Prekopp, BBC Audio Scotland
• Saint Joan of the Anthropocene adapted by Linda Marshall Griffiths from George Bernard Shaw, producer Nadia Molinari, BBC Studios Audio
• Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, adapted by Gary McNair, producer Kirsty Williams, BBC Audio Scotland
• War With the Newts by Karel Čapek, adapted by Ed Harris, producer Jeremy Mortimer, Reduced Listening
• The Yafa Cherry Orchard adapted by Hassan Abdulrazzak from Anton Chekhov, producer Boz Temple-Morris, Holy Mountain

Best Original Series or Serial

• Aldrich Kemp and the Rose of Pamir, producer Sarah Tombling, Sweet Talk Productions
• Collapsing Orbits by Ed Sellek, producers Eloise Whitmore & Tony Churnside, Naked Productions
• The Concierge by Simon Scardifield and Andrew Day, producers Emma Harding and Fay Lomas, BBC Audio Wales & West
• Life and Time by James Fritz, producer Tracey Neale, BBC Studios Audio
• McLevy in the New World by David Ashton, producer Bruce Young, Absolutely Productions
• Mothercover by Fflur Dafydd, producer Fay Lomas, BBC Audio Wales & West
• Purple Heart Warriors by Iris Yamashita, producer Catherine Bailey, Catherine Bailey Productions

Best Actress

• Cate Blanchett, The Fever, directors John Tiffany and Susan Roberts, BBC Audio North
• Gabrielle Creevy, Astronomers, director John Norton, BBC Audio Wales & West
• Lydia Leonard, Gershwin and Miss Swift, director Tracey Neale, BBC Studios Audio
• Jodie McNee, Secrets and Lies: Mona Best and the Beatles, director Carl Prekopp, Essential Productions
• Lara Sawalha, The Yafa Cherry Orchard, director Boz Temple-Morris, Holy Mountain
• Lydia Wilson, Star, director Abigail le Fleming, BBC Studios Audio

Best Actor

• Ncuti Gatwa, Gatsby in Harlem, director Celia de Wolff, Granny Eats Wolf
• Aidan Gillen, Faith Healer, directors Jessica Dromgoole and Mary Peate, Hooley Productions
• Burn Gorman, Collapsing Orbits, director Tony Churnside, Naked Productions
• Derek Jacobi, When Maggie Met Larry, director Richard Clifford, Catherine Bailey Productions
• Malachi Kirby, The Final Touch, director Celia de Wolff, Pier Productions
• Robin Laing, One Hundred and Fifty Days, director Kirsty Williams, BBC Audio Scotland
• Paul Whitehouse, When Alan Met Ray, director Andrew McGibbon, Curtains for Radio

Best Podcast Audio Drama

• Buzz: the Man and the Moon by Stephen Kronish, producer John Scott Dryden, Goldhawk Productions & Thoroughbred Studios for iHeart
• Discretion by Chris Brandon and Davy Banks, producers Claire Broughton and John Wakefield, Hat Trick Productions
• Doctor Who: The Stuff of Legend – the Live Show written and produced by Robert Valentine, Big Finish Productions
• The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie, adapted by Anna Lea, producer Claire Broughton, Hat Trick Productions
• Project Bläckfisk written & produced by Dominic Stephenson and Rebecca Crossland, Cipher Atlas Productions
• Up in Smoke written & produced by Guy Larson and Cambria Bailey-Jones, Penny4

Best Comedy Performance

• Joe Barnes, Lyra, director James Robinson, BBC Studios Audio
• Chris Cantrill, Icklewick FM, producers Benjamin Sutton and Laura Shaw, Daddy’s SuperYacht Productions
• Jon Culshaw, Churchill’s Bust, producer Richard Clemmow, Perfectly Normal
• Tom Machell, Tom and Lauren Are Going OOT!, producers Maria Caruana Galizia and Zahra Zomorrodian, Candle and Bell
• Angharad Phillips, All Change at Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwlllantysiliogogogoch, director Fay Lomas, BBC Audio Wales & West
• Michael Spicer, Michael Spicer: No Room, producer Matt Tiller, Tillervision

The Marc Beeby Award for Best Debut Performance

• Levi Brown, Brat Farrar, director Gemma Jenkins, BBC Studios Audio
• Connor Finch, Life and Time, director Tracey Neale, BBC Studios Audio
• Lorne MacFadyen, Moorgate, director Liz Anstee, CPL Productions
• Safia Oakley-Green, Saint Joan of the Anthropocene, director Nadia Molinari, BBC Studios Audio
• Sofia Oxenham, The English Are Coming, director Nicolas Jackson, Afonica
• Alyth Ross, Four Gammons and a Unicorn, director David Tyler, Pozzitive
• Séamus McLean Ross, Schism, director Finn den Hertog, BBC Audio Scotland

Best Sit Com or Comedy Drama

• The Abergele Files by Matt Leys and Martin Trenaman, producer Steve Doherty, Giddy Goat Productions
• Call Jonathan Pie by Tom Walker with Daniel Abelson, producer Alison Vernon-Smith, Yada-Yada Audio Productions
• Churchill’s Bust by David Morley, producer Richard Clemmow, Perfectly Normal
• Crybabies Presents… Yours, Fatally by Michael Clarke, James Gault and Ed Jones, producer Benjamin Sutton, Boffola Pictures
• Icklewick FM by Chris Cantrill and Amy Gledhill, producer Benjamin Sutton, Daddy’s Superyacht Productions
• Lyra by Joe Barnes and Henry Perryment, producer James Robinson, BBC Studios Audio
• Parish Matters by Michael McCullagh and Phil Taggart, producer Keith Martin, Fabel Productions

Best Stand Up or Sketch Comedy

• Alexei Sayle’s Imaginary Sandwich Bar by Alexei Sayle & Tim Sutton, producer Richard Morris, BBC Studios Audio
• Glenn Moore’s Almanac by Glenn Moore, producer David Tyler, Pozzitive
• It’s a Fair Cop by Alfie Moore, producer Carl Cooper, BBC Studios Audio
• The Lively Life of Lindsey Santoro by Lindsey Santoro, producer Sasha Bobak, BBC Studios Audio
• Meet David Sedaris by David Sedaris, producer Steve Doherty, Giddy Goat Productions
• Sarah Mills’ Bad Bod Squad by Sarah Mills, producers Gordon Kennedy and Sarah Mills, Absolutely Productions
• Tough Crowd by Kiri Pritchard-McLean, producer Suzy Grant, Listen

Best Use of Sound

• The Bolt, sound by Catherine Robinson, producer John Norton, BBC Audio Wales & West
• Gatsby in Harlem, sound by Andreina Gomez Casanova and Axel Kacoutié, produced by Nathan Freeman, Tom Billington and Celia De Wolff, Granny Eats Wolf
• The Girl of the Sea of Cortez, sound by Adam Woodhams, producer Nicolas Jackson, Afonica
• Secrets and Lies: Mona Best and the Beatles, sound by Lucinda Mason Brown, David Chilton and Alisdair McGregor, producers Lucinda Mason Brown and Stewart Richards, Essential Productions
• The Skewer, sound by Tony Churnside, producer Jon Holmes, Unusual Productions
• Zeroes, sound by Peregrine Andrews and Kurt Martinez, producer James Robinson, BBC Studios Audio

Best European Drama

• The End of the West written and directed by Lars Werner, producer Juliane Schmidt, RBB Germany
• Macbeth by Mathilda von Essen and Axel Wingqvist after William Shakespeare, producers Marie Wennersten and Louise Jacobson, SR Sweden
• Not Born For a War by Anatolii Neiolov, producer Irina Korniienko, Radio Kultura, Suspilne, Ukraine
• The Pack by Monica Helfer, adapted and directed by Elisabeth Weilenmann, producer Wolfram Höll, ORF Austria
• Roller Coaster Kiss written and directed by Ilinca Stihi, producer Oana Cristea Grigorescu, Radio Romania
• Twenty-Four by Vaiva Granitė, producers Vakarė Leonavicienė and Kristė Savė, LRT Lithuania