The finalists for the BBC Audio Drama Awards 2022 have been revealed. They include several productions and performances of genre interest.
Best Actor
- Toby Jones, Grief is the Thing with Feathers – A family has lost its mother, and black-feathered Crow – “therapist, healer, feathered Mary Poppins – promises to stay until they no longer need him.”
- Christopher Eccleston, Murmuration — a non-sff production, however, it is about a man who hears voices. (And Eccleston did used to play Doctor Who!)
Best Supporting Performance
- Jenny Bede, The Hauntening (ghosts)
- Joanne Whalley, Sweeney Todd and the String of Pearls (horror)
Best Original Single Drama
- The Goldilocks Zone by Tanika Gupta — Astrophysicist Sofia Khaled’s discovery of a potentially habitable planet opens up painful memories for her but a startling new truth for humanity.
Best Adaptation
- The Brummie Iliad by Homer, adapted by Roderick Smith — The Birmingham accent is not normally associated with the classical world’s epic poetry, but its hard-edged, cynical and wistful qualities turn out to be a perfect vehicle for a story of blood-thirsty warriors, long-suffering women and meddling Gods.
- Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling, adapted by Ayeesha Menon
Best Original Series or Serial
- London Particular by Nick Perry — Investigating the disappearance of her brother, Alice uncovers powerful secrets in the forgotten corners of London. Time travelling drama.
Best European Drama
- Solaris by Stanislaw Lem, adapted and produced by Ilinca Stih
Best Podcast or Online Audio Drama
- Tracks: Abyss by Matthew Broughton – fifth season, description hints it might have fantastic elements
The winners will be announced March 20.
The complete list of finalists follows the jump.
Best Actor
- Edmund Davies, The Pursuits of Darleen Fyles, director Pauline Harris, BBC Audio Drama North
- Christopher Eccleston, Murmuration, director Kirsty Williams, BBC Scotland
- Toby Jones, Grief is the Thing with Feathers, director Gaynor Macfarlane, BBC Scotland
- Robert Lindsay, Christmas by the Lake, director Tracey Neale, BBC Audio Drama London
- Jamie Parker, Rodgers and Hart and Hammerstein, director Abigail le Fleming, BBC Audio Drama London
- Simon Russell Beale, Folk, director Sue Roberts, BBC Audio Drama North
- Giles Terera, The Meaning of Zong, director Tom Morris, Jonx Productions
Best Actress
- Chizzy Akudolu, Camberwell Green, director Celia de Wolff, Pier Productions
- Juliet Aubrey, Dead Weather, director Nicolas Jackson, Afonica
- Jasmine Hyde, Little Blue Lines, director Gemma Jenkins, BBC Audio Drama London
- Amanda Lawrence, Folk, director Sue Roberts, BBC Audio Drama North
- Diana Quick, Talk to Me Ayn Rand, director Mary Ward-Lowery, BBC Bristol
- Sian Reese Williams, Safe From Harm, director Helen Perry, BBC Cymru Wales
- Marlene Sidaway, Silva Lining’s Care Plan, director Elspeth Penny, 2BU Productions Ltd
Best Supporting Performance
- Jenny Bede, The Hauntening, director David Tyler, Pozzitive
- Paul Chahidi, Rodgers and Hart and Hammerstein, director Abigail le Fleming, BBC Audio Drama London
- Cyril Nri, Angst!, director Nicolas Jackson, Afonica
- Tracy-Ann Oberman, Talk to Me Ayn Rand, director Mary Ward-Lowery, BBC Bristol
- Claire Price, Dead Weather, director Nicolas Jackson, Afonica
- Joanne Whalley, Sweeney Todd and the String of Pearls, director Rosalind Ayres, Jarvis & Ayres Productions
The Marc Beeby Award for Best Debut Performance
- Ray Castleton, Cornerstone, director Gemma Jenkins, BBC Audio Drama London
- Siena Kelly, Jack Rowan & Iain de Caestecker, The System, director Kirsty Williams, BBC Scotland
- Matthew Malone, Two Thieves, director Hugh Hick, Newstalk
- Saran Morgan, Release, director John Norton, BBC Cymru Wales
- Elena Saurel, The Effect, director Andrew Mark Sewell, B7 Media
- Jacoba Williams, Precious Little Thing, director Anastasia Osei-Kuffour, Talawa / feral inc
Best Original Single Drama
- Dead Weather by Hattie Naylor, producer Nicolas Jackson, Afonica
- Life is a Radio in the Dark by Will Eno, producer Sally Avens, BBC Audio Drama London
- Safe From Harm by Rhiannon Boyle, producer Helen Perry, BBC Cymru Wales
- That Dinner of 67 by Tracy-Ann Oberman, producer Liz Anstee, CPL Productions
- The Goldilocks Zone by Tanika Gupta, producer Nadia Molinari, BBC Audio Drama North
- You & Me by Dan Rebellato, producers Polly Thomas and Eloise Whitmore, Naked Productions
Best Adaptation
- The Brummie Iliad by Homer, adapted by Roderick Smith, producer Fiona McAlpine, Allegra Productions
- Folk by Nell Leyshon, producer Sue Roberts, BBC Audio Drama North
- Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling, adapted by Ayeesha Menon, producers Nadir Khan & Ayeesha Menon, Goldhawk Productions
- The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann, adapted by Robin Brooks, producer Fiona McAlpine, Allegra Productions
- Mr Waring of the BBC, adapted from various sources by Freddie Phillips, producer Gemma Jenkins, BBC Audio Drama London
- The Rainbow by DH Lawrence, adapted by Linda Marshall Griffiths, producer Nadia Molinari, BBC Audio Drama North
Best Original Series or Serial
- Camberwell Green by Nicola Baldwin, producer Celia de Wolff, Pier Productions
- Keeping the Wolf Out by Philip Palmer, producer Toby Swift, BBC Audio Drama London
- Life Lines by Al Smith, producer Sally Avens, BBC Audio Drama London
- London Particular by Nick Perry, producer Sasha Yevtushenko, BBC Audio Drama London
- The System by Ben Lewis, producer Kirsty Williams, BBC Scotland
- Trust by Jonathan Hall, producer Gary Brown, BBC Audio Drama North
Best Scripted Comedy (Longform)
- Bridget Christie: Mortal by Bridget Christie, producer Carl Cooper, BBC Studios
- Charles Paris: a Deadly Habit by Jeremy Front, from the novels of Simon Brett, producer Sally Avens, BBC Audio Drama London
- God Squad by Jack Chisnall and Barney Fishwick, producer David Tyler, Pozzitive
- The Musical Life of… Betsi Cadwaladr by Dan Kiss and Dave Cribb, producers Tom Price and Dave Cribb, Rubber Chicken
- Olga Koch: OK Computer by Olga Koch and Charlie Dinkin (co-writer) with additional material by Rajiv Karia, producer Benjamin Sutton, BBC Studios
- Whatever Happened to Baby Jane Austen by David Quantick, producer Liz Anstee, CPL Productions
Best Scripted Comedy (Sketch Show)
- The Damien Slash Mixtape by Daniel Barker, producer Benjamin Sutton, BBC Studios
- Drop the Dead Panda by Evelyn Mok, Ken Cheng, Amille Jampa-Ngoen, Vivian Xie, Joanne Lao, Bruce Tang, producer Sam Michell, BBC Studios
- Gemma Arrowsmith: Emergency Broadcast by Gemma Arrowsmith, producer Victoria Lloyd, BBC Studios
- Newsjack, Series 24 by Kiri Pritchard-McLean and members of the Great British public, producers Gwyn Rhys-Davies and Hayley Sterling, BBC Studios
- The Skewer by creator and producer Jon Holmes with members of the audience, Unusual Productions
- Sound Heap by John-Luke Roberts, with Cariad Lloyd, Charlie George, Deborah Frances-White, Gareth Gwynn, Katherine Parkinson, Katy Brand, Ken Cheng, Kieran Hodgson, Paddy Gervers, Ruth Bratt, Saima Ferdows, Sooz Kempner, Amy Gledhill & Chris Cantrill, Tom Allen, Tom Neenan and Toussaint Douglass, producer Ed Morrish, Lead Mojo
Best Use of Sound
- Creation of the Birds, composed and produced by Sami El-Enany, Falling Tree
- Killer, sound by Eloise Whitmore, producers Polly Thomas and Eloise Whitmore, Naked Productions
- Marcovaldo, sound by Sharon Hughes, producer Nadia Molinari, BBC Audio Drama North
- The Meaning of Zong, sound by Jon Nicholls, Jonquil Panting, Giles Terera, producer Jonquil Panting, Jonx Productions
- Song of the Reed: Swallowtail And Whirlpool, sound by Alisdair McGregor, producer Boz Temple-Morris, Holy Mountain
- U.ME: the Musical, sound by Steve Levine, producers Lewis Borg-Cardona and Steve Levine, Magnum Opus Broadcasting
Best European Drama
- Belong by Fred O’Connor and Daithí McMahon, producer Daithí McMahon, Newstalk
- Down, By Law by Mila Culjak, producer Katja Šimunic, HRT Croatian Radio
- The Lion by Martin Algus, adapted by Andres Noormets, producer Andres Noormets, ERR Estonian Public Broadcasting
- Medea, Will I Be by Seneca, adapted by Saška Rakef and Špela Kravogel, director Špela Kravogel, Radio Slovenija
- Nutshell by Ian McEwan, adapted by Eva Blechová, producer Klará Novotná, CZR Czech Radio
- Solaris by Stanislaw Lem, adapted and produced by Ilinca Stihi, Radio Romania
Best Podcast or Online Audio Drama
- The Ballad of Anne and Mary by Lindsay Sharman, produced by Lindsay Sharman and Laurence Owen, Long Cat Media
- Blis-ta by Sonya Hale, producer Mimi Findlay, Clean Break
- The Cipher by Brett Neichin and Janina Matthewson, producers John Scott Dryden and Emma Hearn, Goldhawk Productions
- Passenger List Series 2 by John Scott Dryden, Lauren Shippen, Meghan Fitzmartin, Janina Matthewson, Sarah Lotz, Mark Henry Phillips, producers John Scott Dryden and Emma Hearn, Goldhawk Productions, PRX Radiotopia
- There Used to be a Me by Ian Billings, producer Barnaby Eaton-Jones, Spiteful Puppet and AUK Studios
- Tracks: Abyss by Matthew Broughton, producer James Robinson, BBC Cymru Wales
That’s an impressive list of genre stories.