BBC Audio Drama Awards 2020

The finalists for the BBC Audio Drama Awards 2020 have been revealed.

In contrast with last year, few programs of genre interest have made the list. In the Best Director category, Mary Ward-Lowery is a contender for Talk to Me: HP Lovecraft. Body Tourists by Jane Rogers is a finalist for Best Adaptation. And so is Orlando by Virginia Woolf – which ought to count as genre by today’s reckoning, being about an immortal changing gender.

The winners will be announced Sunday, February 2.

The complete list of finalists follows the jump.

The Finalists

Best Actor

  • Stephen Dillane, Sea Longing, director Karen Rose, Sweet Talk, BBC Radio 3
  • Sule Rimi, I Am Kanye West, director John Norton, BBC Cymru Wales, BBC Radio 4
  • Stanley Townsend, The Macefield Plot, director David Hunter, BBC Radio Drama London, BBC Radio 4

Best Actress

  • Rebecca Front, Love in Recovery, director Ben Worsfield, King Bert, BBC Radio 4
  • Katherine Kelly, A Badge, director Tony Pitts, Savvy Productions, BBC Radio 4
  • Lydia Wilson, Black Water: An American Story, director Gaynor Macfarlane, BBC Scotland, BBC Radio 4

Best Adaptation

  • Body Tourists by Jane Rogers, producer Clive Brill, Brill Productions, BBC Radio 4
  • Black Water: An American Story by Joyce Carol Oates, adapted by Sarah Wooley, producer Gaynor Macfarlane, BBC Scotland, BBC Radio 4
  • Orlando by Virginia Woolf, adapted by Caroline Bird, Amanda Dalton, Zena Edwards, Hannah Silva and Karen McCarthy Woolf, producer Nadia Molinari, BBC Radio Drama North, BBC Radio 3

Best Debut Performance

  • Nadia Clifford, Good News Stories, director Mary Peate, BBC Radio Drama London, BBC Radio 4
  • George Kent, A Kestrel for a Knave, director Fiona McAlpine, Goldhawk Essential, BBC Radio 4
  • Sade Malone, Torn, director Gary Brown, BBC Radio Drama North, BBC Radio 4

Best Director

  • Mair Bosworth, Deaf Republic, BBC Bristol, BBC Radio 4
  • Nicolas Jackson, Savages, Afonica, BBC Radio 4
  • Mary Ward-Lowery, Talk to Me: HP Lovecraft, BBC Bristol, 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 Invisible by Jaroslav Havlí?ek, adapted by Marie Nováková and Renata Venclová, producer Renata Venclová, CZR Czech Radio
  • The Lesson by Manu Barceló, producer Miguel Deza, Resonar (resonar.org) and Cuonda (cuonda.com), Spain

Best Original Series or Serial

  • D for Dexter by Amanda Whittington, producer Mary Ward-Lowery, BBC Bristol, BBC Radio 4
  • Life Lines by Al Smith, producer Sally Avens, BBC Radio Drama London, BBC Radio 4
  • Undercover Mumbai Series 3 by Ayeesha Menon, producers John Scott Dryden and Nadir Khan, Goldhawk Productions, BBC Radio 4

Best Original Single Drama

  • The Invisible by Linda Marshall Griffiths, producer Nadia Molinari, BBC Radio Drama North, BBC Radio 3
  • Sea Longing by Elizabeth Kuti, producer Karen Rose, Sweet Talk, BBC Radio 3
  • Torn by Eve Steele, producer Gary Brown, BBC Radio Drama North, BBC Radio 4

Best Podcast or Online Audio Drama

  • Forest 404 by Timothy X Atack, producer Becky Ripley, BBC Bristol, BBC Sounds
  • Passenger List created by John Scott Dryden, Lauren Shippen and Mark Henry Phillips, Goldhawk Productions, Radiotopia
  • The Ordinary Epic by Brandon M. Crose, producer Jordan Stillman, Crose to Home Productions

Best Scripted Comedy (Longform)

  • Mark Steel’s in Town – the Forest of Dean by Mark Steel and Pete Sinclair, producer Carl Cooper, BBC Studios, BBC Radio 4
  • Phil Ellis Is Trying by Phil Ellis and Fraser Steele, producer Sam Michell, BBC Studios, BBC Radio 4
  • Phil Wang: Wangsplaining by Phil Wang, producer Matt Stronge, BBC Studios, BBC Radio 4

Best Scripted Comedy (Sketch Show)

  • Alexei Sayle’s Imaginary Sandwich Bar by Alexei Sayle, producer Joe Nunnery, BBC Studios, BBC Radio 4
  • Kevin Eldon Will See You Now by Kevin Eldon with Jason Hazeley and Joel Morris, producer David Tyler, Pozzitive, BBC Radio 4
  • 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, BBC Radio 4

Best Use of Sound

  • An Angel in Miami, sound by Steve Bond, producers Joby Waldman and Steve Bond, Reduced Listening, BBC Radio 4
  • Hello Caller, sound by Michael Harrison and Alison Crawford, producer Alison Crawford, BBC Bristol, BBC Radio 4
  • The Invisible, sound by Steve Brooke, producer Nadia Molinari, BBC Radio Drama North, BBC Radio 3

Imison Award Finalists

  • Vicky Foster for Bathwater, producer Sue Roberts for BBC Radio 4
  • Testament for The Beatboxer, producer Gary Brown for BBC Radio 4
  • Colette Victor for By God’s Mercy, producer David Hunter for BBC World Service

Tinniswood Award Finalists

  • Tanika Gupta for Death of a Matriarch, producer Polly Thomas for BBC Radio 3
  • Katie Hims for A Fragile Peace, producer Jessica Dromgoole for BBC Radio 4
  • Ian Martin for The Hartlepool Spy, producer Sam Ward for BBC Radio 4

Update 01/08/2020: Added a genre nominee per comments.


Discover more from File 770

Subscribe to get the latest posts to your email.

6 thoughts on “BBC Audio Drama Awards 2020

  1. Not SF, but I heard a selection of “Life Lines” episodes on BBC Drama of the Week. Set at an emergency 999-call (in America, 911 is the number) station, built around the calls taken by and the personal life of the main character, it’s a great example of radio writing, delivering gripping narratives purely thru sound; almost everything in the episodes takes place over a phone.

    Checking the BBC website, looks like all three seasons (five 15-minute episodes each) are available indefinitely. Worth a listen. Link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000bcm4/episodes/guide

  2. Bruce Arthurs: I heard a selection of “Life Lines” episodes on BBC Drama of the Week. Set at an emergency 999-call station, built around the calls taken by and the personal life of the main character, it’s a great example of radio writing, delivering gripping narratives purely thru sound; almost everything in the episodes takes place over a phone.

    Thank you for pointing to this! I don’t nornally do podcasts for reasons, but because of illness right now which makes it hard to concentrate on reading, I listened to all of these and really enjoyed them.

    They are really well written, and not only cover what to do in case of broken bones, anaphalaxis, hypothermia, concussion, roadside birth with umbilical cord complications, puncture injury, diabetic coma, unexpected pregnancy, and acid attack, they also deal with recognizing the signs of loneliness, homelessness, domestic abuse, depression, potential suicide, addiction, sexual assault, transphobic abuse, and post-natal depression and maternal detachment.

    These are seriously well-written episodes, and the main actress does a fantastic job portraying an emergency dispatcher who handles heartbreaking calls with kindness and compassion while remaining calm and working the problem. Highly recommended.

Comments are closed.