Audio Drama Awards 2021 – The Winners

The winners of the 10th BBC Audio Drama Awards 2021 were announced by Front Row presenter John Wilson at a ceremony staged virtually via Zoom and the BBC's own virtual audience system at 7pm on Friday 26 March, 2021.

The BBC Audio Drama Awards – presented by the BBC together with the Society of Authors and the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain – celebrate the range, originality and cut-through quality of audio drama on air and online and give recognition to the creativity of actors, writers, producers, sound designers and others who work in this genre.

Best Actor
David Threlfall, Happiness!, director Gemma Jenkins, BBC Audio Drama London, BBC Radio 4

Best Actress
Maggie Steed, Suffer Little Children, director Jessica Dromgoole, BBC Audio Drama London, BBC Radio 4

Best Adaptation
The Voyage of the St Louis by Daniel Kehlmann, adapted by Tom Stoppard, producer Sasha Yevtushenko, BBC Audio Drama London, BBC Radio 4

Best Debut Performance
Jordan Nash, Oliver: Lagos to London, director Michael Buffong, feral inc, BBC Radio 4

Best European Drama
Earthquake by Janko Polić Kamov, producer Katja Šimunić, HRT Croatian Radio

Best Original Series or Serial
Broken English by Shelagh Stephenson, producer Eoin O’Callaghan, Big Fish Productions, BBC Radio 4

Best Original Single Drama
Magnitsky the Musical by Robert Hudson and Johnny Flynn, producer Sasha Yevtushenko, BBC Audio Drama London, BBC Radio 3
Commendation – The Likes of Us by Roy Williams, producer Mary Peate, BBC Audio Drama London, BBC Radio 3

Best Podcast or Online Audio Drama
Unwell: a Midwestern Gothic Mystery, producers Jeffrey Nils Gardner and Eleanor Hyde, HartLife NFP

Best Scripted Comedy (Longform)
The Musical Life of Boudicca… by Dan Kiss and Dave Cribb, producers Dave Cribb and Tom Price, The Rubber Chicken, BBC Radio Wales

Best Scripted Comedy (Sketch Show)
The Skewer, creator and producer Jon Holmes, Unusual Productions, BBC Radio 4

Best Use of Sound
The Grey Man and Other Lost Legends, sound by Steve Bond, producers Joby Waldman and Steve Bond, Reduced Listening, BBC Radio 4
Commendation – Cane, sound by Nigel Lewis, producer John Norton, BBC Cymru Wales, BBC Radio 4

The Year of Reinvention
Lockdown Theatre Festival, producers Bertie Carvel, Jeremy Mortimer, Steve Bond, Jack Howson and Joby Waldman, Reduced Listening, BBC Radio 3 & BBC Radio 4
Commendations – Connections, producer Polly Thomas, Naked Productions, BBC Radio 4; The Plague, producer Turan Ali, Bona Broadcasting, BBC Radio 4

OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION
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 in the pandemic year.

IMISON AWARD 2021
Fraser Ayres, for Maynard, produced by Mel Harris for BBC Radio 4

TINNISWOOD AWARD 2021
Christopher Douglas for Tristram Shandy: In Development, produced by Gary Brown for BBC Radio 4