The BBC has announced the finalists for the 2026 BBC Audio Drama Awards, celebrating standout work in audio drama and comedy from across the UK and beyond.
Now in its 15th year, the awards recognise excellence in writing, production, performance and sound, with the BBC highlighting its ongoing role as the world’s largest commissioner of audio drama.
Among this year’s acting finalists is Ncuti Gatwa, nominated for Best Actor for his role as Gatsby in Gatsby in Harlem, Roy Williams’ reimagining of F Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, relocated to the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s.
Sir Derek Jacobi is also shortlisted in the Best Actor category for his portrayal of Laurence Olivier in When Maggie Met Larry, a drama that imagines how Olivier helped shape Margaret Thatcher’s public image ahead of her rise to political power.
Lydia Leonard has been nominated for Best Actress for her performance as Kay Swift in Gershwin and Miss Swift, telling the story of the first woman to score a hit Broadway musical and her creative partnership with George Gershwin.
In comedy categories, David Sedaris’ long-running and popular series Meet David Sedaris is shortlisted for Best Stand Up or Sketch Comedy, alongside Alfie Moore’s It’s a Fair Cop, which draws on real-life policing scenarios, and Kiri Pritchard-McLean’s Tough Crowd, a stand up special exploring her experiences of becoming a foster carer.
The BBC says the awards continue to champion audio storytelling for its imagination, intimacy and ability to transport listeners, with this year’s finalists reflecting the breadth of voices and formats across the sector.
The winners of the 2026 BBC Audio Drama Awards will be announced at a ceremony on Sunday 1 March at the BBC’s Radio Theatre.
The Imison Award, administered by the Society of Authors, and the Tinniswood Award, jointly run by the Society of Authors and the Writers’ Guild, will also be presented at the ceremony.
2026 FINALISTS
Best Original Single Drama
- The Final Touch by Roy Williams, producer Celia de Wolff (Pier Productions for BBC Radio 4)
- One Hundred and Fifty Days by Oliver Emanuel, producer Kirsty Williams (BBC Audio Scotland for BBC Radio 4)
- Sleaze by Joe von Malachowski & Will Close, producer Anne Isger (BBC Studios Audio for BBC Radio 4)
Best Adaptation
- Gatsby in Harlem adapted by Roy Williams from F. Scott Fitzgerald, producer Nathan Freeman (Granny Eats Wolf for BBC Radio 3)
- Kramer versus Kramer by Avery Korman, adapted by Sarah Wooley, producers Gaynor Macfarlane & Carl Prekopp (BBC Audio Scotland for BBC Radio 4)
- Saint Joan of the Anthropocene adapted by Linda Marshall Griffiths from George Bernard Shaw, producer Nadia Molinari (BBC Studios Audio for BBC Radio 3)
Best Original Series or Serial
- Aldrich Kemp and the Rose of Pamir, producer Sarah Tombling (Sweet Talk Productions for BBC Radio 4)
- Life and Time by James Fritz, producer Tracey Neale (BBC Studios Audio for BBC Radio 4)
- Mothercover by Fflur Dafydd, producer Fay Lomas (BBC Audio Wales & West for BBC Radio 4)
Best Actress
- Gabrielle Creevy, Astronomers, director John Norton (BBC Audio Wales & West for BBC Radio 4)
- Lydia Leonard, Gershwin and Miss Swift, director Tracey Neale (BBC Studios Audio for BBC Radio 3)
- Jodie McNee, Secrets and Lies: Mona Best and the Beatles, director Carl Prekopp (Essential Productions for BBC Radio 4)
Best Actor
- Ncuti Gatwa, Gatsby in Harlem, director Celia de Wolff (Granny Eats Wolf for BBC Radio 3)
- Sir Derek Jacobi, When Maggie Met Larry, director Richard Clifford (Catherine Bailey Productions for BBC Radio 4)
- Malachi Kirby, The Final Touch, director Celia de Wolff (Pier Productions for BBC Radio 4)
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 & Davy Banks, producers Claire Broughton & John Wakefield (Hat Trick Productions for BBC Radio 4)
- Up in Smoke written and produced by Guy Larson & Cambria Bailey‑Jones (Penny4, acquired by BBC Sounds)
Best Comedy Performance
- Chris Cantrill, Icklewick FM, producers Benjamin Sutton & Laura Shaw (Daddy’s SuperYacht Productions for BBC Radio 4)
- Jon Culshaw, Churchill’s Bust, producer Richard Clemmow (Perfectly Normal for BBC Radio 4)
- Michael Spicer, Michael Spicer: No Room, producer Matt Tiller (Tillervision for BBC Radio 4)
The Marc Beeby Award for Best Debut Performance
- Levi Brown, Brat Farrar, director Gemma Jenkins (BBC Studios Audio for BBC Radio 4)
- Connor Finch, Life and Time, director Tracey Neale (BBC Studios Audio for BBC Radio 4)
- Sofia Oxenham, The English Are Coming, director Nicolas Jackson (Afonica for BBC Radio 4)
Best Sitcom or Comedy Drama
- Crybabies Presents… Yours, Fatally by Michael Clarke, James Gault & Ed Jones, producer Benjamin Sutton (Boffola Pictures for BBC Radio 4)
- Icklewick FM by Chris Cantrill & Amy Gledhill, producer Benjamin Sutton (Daddy’s Superyacht Productions for BBC Radio 4)
- Lyra by Joe Barnes & Henry Perryment, producer James Robinson (BBC Studios Audio for BBC Radio 4)
Best Stand Up or Sketch Comedy
- It’s a Fair Cop by Alfie Moore, producer Carl Cooper (BBC Studios Audio for BBC Radio 4)
- Meet David Sedaris by David Sedaris, producer Steve Doherty (Giddy Goat Productions for BBC Radio 4)
- Tough Crowd by Kiri Pritchard‑McLean, producer Suzy Grant (Listen for BBC Radio 4)
Best Use of Sound
- The Bolt, sound by Catherine Robinson, producer John Norton (BBC Audio Wales & West for BBC Radio 4)
- The Girl of the Sea of Cortez, sound by Adam Woodhams, producer Nicolas Jackson (Afonica for BBC Radio 4)
- Secrets and Lies: Mona Best and the Beatles, sound by Lucinda Mason Brown, David Chilton & Alisdair McGregor; producers Lucinda Mason Brown & Stewart Richards (Essential Productions for BBC Radio 4)
Best European Drama
- Macbeth by Mathilda von Essen & Axel Wingqvist after William Shakespeare, producers Marie Wennersten & 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)
Imison Award
- Do Not Disturb: ‘Good Sex in Progress’ by Sherise Blackman, producer Victoria Lloyd (Platform Media, Audible)
- A Tale of Two Trumpets by Sylvia‑Anne Parker, producer Kirsty Williams (BBC Audio Scotland; BBC Radio 4)
- When Maggie Met Larry by Tim Walker, producer Catherine Bailey (Catherine Bailey Productions; BBC Radio 4)
Tinniswood Award
Finalists for the 2026 Tinniswood Award will be announced in the first week of February.
