The winners of the Imison and Tinniswood Awards have been announced by actor and writer, Paterson Joseph, as part of the BBC Audio Drama Awards.
Isley Lynn’s Tether — about Becky, a blind marathon runner and her relationship with her guide as they train for the Paralympics — has been named winner of the 2025 Imison Award for the best original script by a writer new to radio with a prize of £3,000.
The other shortlisted scripts for the Imison Award were The Mini-Break by Chloë Myerson, Tribe of Two By Malaika Kegode and Under Milk Woods Tywyn by Manon-Steffan-Ros.
The award was judged by members of the Society of Authors’ Scriptwriters Group: Ian Billings, Imogen Church, James Clarke and Sean Grundy, Robin Mukherjee and Rhiannon Tise.
We would like to thank all producers, writers and agents who have entered the awards, and the Peggy Ramsay Foundation and Hawthornden Foundation for supporting.
Edson Burton took home the 2025 Tinniswood Award for best original audio drama script, also with a prize of £3,000. His play Man Friday is an original re-imagining of Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe, from Man Friday’s point of view. The other shortlisted plays for the Tinniswood Award were Southall Uprising by Satinder Chohan, A Tale of Ossian by Robert Forrest and Orwell v Kafka: Restless Dreams by Dan Rebellato.
Read the Imison and Tinniswood shortlist announcement, here.
The Imison and Tinniswood Awards are presented each year as part of the BBC Audio Drama Awards and are administered by the Society of Authors and the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain. The 2025 awards are for a drama broadcast or made available online in the UK between 1 October 2023 and 31 October 2024. See the full list of BBC Audio Drama Awards finalists here.
The 2025 Imison Award WINNER
Tether by Isley Lynn | Listen here
Producer/Director Fay Lomas | A BBC Audio Wales production for Radio 4, 44 mins
It’s 2010. Becky’s a blind marathon runner after a new guide. Mark’s a former ‘Olympic Hopeful’, after a fresh chance at a medal. Together, they start training for the Paralympics. Tether spans the years and miles of their relationship. The drama starred BAFTA-Cymru winner Mared Jarman (creator of BBC 2’s How This Blind Girl…) and Tommy Sim’aan.
The judges said: ’It was a confident piece of writing and brilliant setting for an audio drama. It was also a wonderful way to play with the act of listening and how we form images in our minds. It had excellent, sharp dialogue and we enjoyed the slow unfurling of two beautifully defensive, spiky characters. There was a lovely blend of humour and awkwardness and the interruptions in the dialogue, which added to the sense of movement and direction. It was a great use of the medium and the short sentences added to the rhythm of the piece, the way it was structured and the way it moved. Overall, it was a lovely piece of radio and a confident piece of writing.’
Isley Lynn (she/they) is a writer and poet. Their latest play is Jobsworth, co-written with Libby Rodliffe (Pleasance Theatre, Edinburgh Fringe). It’s in development for television with Brock Media. Isley won a Most Promising Playwright Award at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards 2023 for THE SWELL (Orange Tree), which received a 2024 Olivier Awards nomination for Outstanding Achievement in Affiliate Theatre, and was nominated for Best New Play, Best Director and Best Production at the 2023 Offies. They are a graduate of Royal Court Young Writers Programme, the Royal Court Invitation Studio Group and Bush Theatre’s Emerging Writer’s Group.
ABOUT THE IMISON AWARD
The Imison Award is administered by the Society of Authors and was founded in memory of BBC script editor and producer Richard Imison. Previous winners Andrew McCaldon, Connor Allen, Faebian Averies, Fraser Ayres, Vicky Foster, Lulu Raczka, Adam Usden, Mike Bartlett, Gabriel Gbadamosi, and Nell Leyshon.
The 2025 Tinniswood Award WINNER
Man Friday by Edson Burton | Listen here
Directed by Mary Ward-Lowery | BBC Audio Wales and West, BBC Radio 4, 57 minutes
This is a comedy of not fitting in, a witty and original re-imagining of Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe, from Man Friday’s point of view. Colonialism, economics, race relations, religion: all are considered here through the prism of the developing relationship between Man Friday – or Kofi – and the shipwrecked Crusoe.
The judges said: ’A hugely entertaining take on the Robinson Crusoe story. Friday is an upper-class castaway outraged by Crusoe’s entitled behaviour. But we suspect there’s more to Friday than the arrogant posho we first encounter – and sure enough there is. A slow burn brilliantly achieved, this play skilfully uses the inspiration of a classic tale to reframe assumptions about race and class in a witty and engaging way. Long narrations are often the radio writer’s lazy option, but Edson Burton’s are exquisite. This is a terrific writer with a deep love of language and a thorough understanding of structure.’
Dr Edson Burton is a poet, drama writer, curator and historian. He has been writing radio drama since 2007. His work encompasses urban realism, period drama, horror and the supernatural. His many credits for BBC Radio 4 include the Deacon trilogy, starring Don Warrington, now available on Audible.
ABOUT THE TINNISWOOD AWARD
THE TINNISWOOD AWARD was established by the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain and the Society of Authors to perpetuate the memory of Peter Tinniswood as well as to celebrate and encourage high standards in radio drama. Previous winners include Shôn Dale-Jones, Anita Sullivan, Sonya Hale, Christopher Douglas, Ian Martin, Sarah Woods, Oliver Emanuel, Morwenna Banks, Mike Bartlett, and Colin Teevan. Find out more. We are very grateful to the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society for its generous sponsorship, including the £3,000 prize. The 2025 award is for a drama broadcast or made available online in the UK between 1 October 2023 and 31 October 2024.
