The BBC Radio Drama Awards 2022

In 2016 I was approached by a Theatre Company called Pentabus who are a national company with a remit for rural touring and are based in Shropshire. The plays tend to tour to Village Halls, events that are run on a volunteer basis by individuals with a real commitment to bringing high quality theatre to rural communities. I was then commissioned by Pentabus and Salisbury Playhouse. After a few months, I delivered the play, a dark twisting gothic tale. However – and this is understanding your brief, essential as a scriptwriter - it was felt that the play that I had written was simply too dark to sell to the communities that attend these events.

I re-wrote it, renamed it AS THE CROW FLIES, and with the brilliant musician Dom Coyote, added songs. It was a sweet play with a happy ending and was received very well and beautifully directed by Elizabeth Freestone. It sold out as it toured, went beyond the borders of Shropshire, was broadcast live into Battersea Arts Centre in London, played at Salisbury Playhouse, and was published by Methuen. I then attempted to get the same play commissioned by Radio 4, it failed twice, and then I gave up.

However, in the back of mind the play I had originally wanted to write continued to stir.

And this goes back to one of the points made in the article I wrote about my play IVAN AND THE DOGS, if you feel you have a good idea, and if the idea won’t go away, and if no one wants to commission it, keep on it – because if it stays with you, it’s probably worth hanging onto and developing. I work with an excellent independent audio production company called AFONICA. And with their director, the gifted, Nicolas Jackson, I put a proposal for the play I had wanted to write into BBC Radio 4. This new play had maybe three of the original plot points, no songs, and the thriller element intact. I named this new play DEAD WEATHER which centred around a classical score - a sonata written for the protagonist by her husband.

This was then commissioned by Radio 4. I included in the proposal a request for an original score (which is expensive, so this was negotiated with Afonica) by the Bafta winning and double Ivan Novella winning composer: Dan Jones. I have worked on four productions with Dan, he is amongst the very best composers for Film and TV nationally if not internationally. A good score can be one of the main elements to making a good script an excellent one.

I wrote the play over a few months, delivered it, was delighted with the cast:

Juliet Aubery (Middlemarch, The Constant Gardiner), Matthew Graville (Broadchurch), Claire Price, Lloyd Meredith, and Megan Jones. The play was broadcast on 17th Dec 2020 and advertised by the BBC accurately as: “A contemporary gothic thriller set in rural Wales. A middle-aged woman is driven to the edge of madness when her composer husband abandons her for his childhood sweetheart. Following a move from London to rural Wales, Sam is abandoned by her composer husband, Dylan, for Freya, his childhood sweetheart.’ It was disappointingly not picked as ‘Choice’ in any of the broadsheets, nor was it in Pick of Week on Radio 4 itself.

And as with IVAN AND THE DOGS, once broadcast, I thought that was that. Though it is worth noting that about one million people listen to the Afternoon Play on Radio 4, which are considerably larger audience figures than even a long run at any theatre.

This January to my genuine surprise I was told it was shortlisted (down to six) for the BBC Radio Drama Awards. I knew that the selection process meant that it would then go down to three. And again, I was genuinely surprised when I found out in early March that we were down to the last three for: Best Supporting Actress, Best Actress, and Best Original Drama. And you can only enter THREE categories! Having secured a ticket (not something you can always assume!) I set off for the award ceremony at BBC, Broadcasting House. It was a glammy night with the actresses Rebecca Front, Monica Dolan, Julia Hesmondhalgh, Head of Radio Drama, and the Head of Radio 4 - presenting awards.

Bridget Christie won best comedy, giving an hilarious acceptance speech, and Miriam Margolyes (who has been in two of my Radio plays) won a Lifetime Achievement Award.

We then moved on to the Drama categories. First up was Best Supporting Actor. We won with Claire Price, who played the second lead - Freya. Nicolas Jackson, our director – went up to accept (Claire was unable to attend), thanked the brilliant Clare, and then bigged me up – as I sat in the audience.

Then we won Best Actress with Juliet Aubrey, playing our lead Samantha.

Nicolas went up on stage (as Juliet had just gone down with Covid) thanked the exceptional Juliet Aubrey, and then bigged me up (again) – as I sat in the audience.

And I guess some people might assume at this juncture that if you have two in the bag, you’re likely to get Best Drama but I had listened to the other two plays, and both were experimental. I therefore assumed that because two out of three were of that ilk, it was unlikely that my play, which was very much a drama would win, even though we had already won two awards. And I am historically second. So, I never think I am going to win anything, regardless of how good or bad a production or/and a script is

But then Susannah Clapp walks onto the stage. Susannah Clapp is the most important theatre critic in the country and writes for the Guardian and Observer. She gave me possibly the best review I have ever received for my version of Sarah Waters: The Night Watch for Manchester Royal Exchange, and then placed it in her top dramas of the year. So only then did I think that I might - actually - this time - win.

And then it come to Best Original Drama – the last category of the evening.

She described the play and production as a piece of work that: “Intrigued us and unsettled us. It had a haunting use of space, forceful performances. It was psychologically intricate and did what all really good radio drama does … it was transporting and penetrating.”

Nicolas, my director, was now jabbing me in the ribs whilst, I still unconvinced that I wasn’t the usual second, shook my head slightly.

And then they announced us.

And then I was on stage – shaking hands with Susannah Clapp and accepting the award, in a scrambled together acceptance speech.

By the time I had left the award ceremony and reception at Broadcasting House I had made contacts that may well enable future work. And then I was on stage – shaking hands with Susannah Clapp and accepting the award, in a scrambled together acceptance speech.

This is me with our director Nicolas Jackson - I have never received three awards in one night!!!

I am currently working on a film version of the script.

And here’s a link to the play: DEAD WEATHER on BBC Sounds (45min), have a listen