The shortlist for the BBC Audio Drama Awards 2020 has been revealed, with Alexei Sayle, Kevin Eldon and Terry Alderton among those in contention for one of the comedy awards.

Their shows are nominated in the Best Scripted Comedy Sketch Show category alongside The Damien Slash Mixtape, Dead Ringers and The Halloween Skewer. Details below.

The Best Scripted comedy longform category features Giles Wemmbley-Hogg Goes off… Article 50 by Marcus Brigstocke and Jeremy Salsby, Mark Steel’s in Town – the Forest of Dean by Mark Steel and Pete Sinclair, Phil Ellis Is Trying by Phil Ellis and Fraser Steele, Phil Wang: Wangsplaining by Phil Wang and Suggs: Love Letters to London by Suggs and Owen Lewis.

The finalists will be announced on Tuesday 7 January 2020, and the winners at a ceremony in the Radio Theatre at BBC Broadcasting House London on the evening of Sunday 2, February 2020.

The BBC Audio Drama Awards 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.

See all the BBC Audio Drama Awards 2020 nominations below.

Best Actor

• Stephen Dillane, Sea Longing, director Karen Rose, Sweet Talk
• Edward Hogg, Epitaph for a Spy, director Sasha Yevtushenko, BBC Radio Drama London
• Matthew Kelly, Nine Bob Notes, director Gary Brown, BBC Radio Drama North
• Joel MacCormack, First Do No Harm, director Jessica Dromgoole, BBC Radio Drama London
• Sule Rimi, I Am Kanye West, director John Norton, BBC Cymru Wales
• Stanley Townsend, The Macefield Plot, director David Hunter, BBC Radio Drama London

Best Actress

• Christine Bottomley, Lullaby, directors Nicolas Jackson and Steve Bond, Afonica
• Louise Brearly, The Not Knowing, director Karen Rose, Sweet Talk
• Rebecca Front, Love in Recovery, director Ben Worsfield, King Bert
• Katherine Kelly, A Badge, director Tony Pitts, Savvy Productions
• Charlie Murphy, The Country Girls, directors Sally Avens and Jessica Dromgoole, BBC Radio Drama London
• Lydia Wilson, Black Water: An American Story, director Gaynor Macfarlane, BBC Scotland

Best Adaptation

• Body Tourists by Jane Rogers, producer Clive Brill, Brill Productions
• Black Water: An American Story by Joyce Carol Oates, adapted by Sarah Wooley, producer Gaynor Macfarlane, BBC Scotland
• Live and Let Die by Ian Fleming, adapted by Archie Scottney, producers Martin Jarvis and Rosalind Ayres, Jarvis and Ayres Productions
• Macbeth by William Shakespeare, adapted by Carl Prekopp, producer Charlotte Melén, Almost Tangible podcast
• Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time, adapted by Timberlake Wertenbaker, producer Celia de Wolff, Pier Productions
• Orlando by Virginia Woolf, adapted by Caroline Bird, Amanda Dalton, Zena Edwards, Hannah Silva and Karen McCarthy Woolf, producer Nadia Molinari, BBC Radio Drama North
• Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray, adapted by Jim Poyser with additional material by Al Murray, producer Gary Brown, BBC Radio Drama North

Best Debut Performance

• Mohammed Amiri, Savages, directors Nicolas Jackson and Steve Bond, Afonica
• Nadia Clifford, Good News Stories, director Mary Peate, BBC Radio Drama London
• Gabrielle Creevy, Found, director Helen Perry, BBC Cymru Wales
• George Kent, A Kestrel for a Knave, director Fiona McAlpine, Goldhawk Essential
• Sade Malone, Torn, director Gary Brown, BBC Radio Drama North
• Abraham Popoola, An Angel in Miami, directors Joby Waldman and Steve Bond, Reduced Listening

Best Director

• Mair Bosworth, Deaf Republic, BBC Bristol
• Nicolas Jackson and Steve Bond, Savages, Afonica
• John Norton, Deacon: Moonlight on Water, BBC Cymru Wales
• Mary Ward-Lowery, Talk to Me: HP Lovecraft, BBC Bristol
• Celia de Wolff, Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time, Pier Productions

Best European Drama

• Buzz Suppression – Recording Strictly off the Record by Ulrich Bassenge, producers Ulrich Bassenge, Martina Müller-Wallraff and Anina Barandun, WDR (Germany) and SRF (Switzerland)
• Byzantine Soap Opera by Jasna Mesarić, producer Katja Šimunić, HRT Croatian Radio
• The Invisible by Jaroslav Havlíček, adapted by Marie Nováková and Renata Venclová, producer Renata Venclová, CZR Czech Radio
• The Lesson by Manu Barceló, producer Miguel Deza, Resonar (resonar.org) and Cuonda (cuonda.com), Spain
• When the Stars Fall – Life Fragments of Maria Callas by Cesare Ferrario, producer Francesca Giorzi, RSI Italian Swiss Radio Television

Best Original Series or Serial

• D for Dexter by Amanda Whittington, producer Mary Ward-Lowery, BBC Bristol
• First Do No Harm by Al Smith, producers Sally Avens and Jessica Dromgoole, BBC Radio Drama London
• Good News Stories by Katie Hims, producer Mary Peate, BBC Radio Drama London
• House Rules by Ben Lewis, producer Kirsty Williams, BBC Scotland
• Life Lines by Al Smith, producer Sally Avens, BBC Radio Drama London
• Love Thy Synth by Hannah Silva, producers Nicolas Jackson and Steve Bond, Afonica
• Undercover Mumbai Series 3 by Ayeesha Menon, producers John Scott Dryden and Nadir Khan, Goldhawk Productions

Best Original Single Drama

• Five Rachels by Katie Hims, producer Allegra McIlroy, BBC Northern Ireland
• The Invisible by Linda Marshall Griffiths, producer Nadia Molinari, BBC Radio Drama North
• Martians by Lucy Caldwell, producer Celia de Wolff, BBC Northern Ireland
• The Not Knowing by Dan Maier, producer Karen Rose, Sweet Talk
• Red Earth, Red Sky by Janice Okoh, producer Pauline Harris, BBC Radio Drama North
• Sea Longing by Elizabeth Kuti, producer Karen Rose, Sweet Talk
• Torn by Eve Steele, producer Gary Brown, BBC Radio Drama North

Best Podcast or Online Audio Drama

• Forest 404 by Timothy X Atack, producer Becky Ripley, BBC Bristol
• Passenger List created by John Scott Dryden, Lauren Shippen and Mark Henry Phillips, Goldhawk Productions
• Rusty Quill Gaming Podcast created by Alexander J Newall, Lydia Nicholas, Helen Gould, Bryn Monroe and Ben Meredith, producers Lowri Ann Davies and April Sumner, Rusty Quill
• The Ordinary Epic by Brandon M. Crose, producer Jordan Stillman, Crose to Home Productions
• The Verb Dramas on Radio 3 by Allison Davies, Jesse Schwenk, Willow Mirza and Matthew Ingram, producers Emily Demol, Lorna Newman, Sally Richardson and Andrew Smith, BBC Radio Drama North
• We’re Alive: Goldrush by Kc Wayland, producers Kc Wayland, Brett Newton, Anthony Reyes, Sean Lewin and Christian Vieira, Wayland Productions

Best Scripted Comedy (Longform)

• Charles Paris: Star Trap by Jeremy Front, producer Mary Peate, BBC Radio Drama London
• Giles Wemmbley-Hogg Goes off… Article 50 by Marcus Brigstocke and Jeremy Salsby, producer David Tyler, Pozzitive
• Mark Steel’s in Town – the Forest of Dean by Mark Steel and Pete Sinclair, producer Carl Cooper, BBC Studios
• Phil Ellis Is Trying by Phil Ellis and Fraser Steele, producer Sam Michell, BBC Studios
• Phil Wang: Wangsplaining by Phil Wang, producer Matt Stronge, BBC Studios
• Suggs: Love Letters to London by Suggs and Owen Lewis, producer Richard Melvin, Dabster Productions

Best Scripted Comedy (Sketch Show)

• Alexei Sayle’s Imaginary Sandwich Bar by Alexei Sayle, producer Joe Nunnery, BBC Studios
• The Damien Slash Mixtape by Damien Slash/Daniel Barker, producer Matt Stronge, BBC Studios
• Dead Ringers by Nev Fountain, Tom Jamieson, Laurence Howarth, Ed Amsden, Tom Coles, Sarah Campbell, James Bugg, Max Davis, Simon Alcock, producer Bill Dare, BBC Studios
• The Halloween Skewer by Jon Holmes with Paul Kearney, Davian Dent, Dan Rayner, Alex Rees, ‘Mark’, Dave Wol, Tony Churnside, Phil Lindsey, Stretchy’s Studio, Mike Gilyatt, Beth Granville, producer Jon Holmes, Unusual Productions
• Kevin Eldon Will See You Now by Kevin Eldon with Jason Hazeley and Joel Morris, producer David Tyler, Pozzitive
• Terry Alderton’s Whole Half Hour by Terry Alderton and Richard Melvin with Julia Sutherland, Paul Tonkinson, Steven Dick and Bobby Davro, producers Al Lorraine and Richard Melvin, Dabster Productions

Best Use of Sound

• An Angel in Miami, sound by Steve Bond, producers Joby Waldman and Steve Bond, Reduced Listening
• Black Water: An American Story, sound by Gary Newman and Mike Etherden, producer Gaynor Macfarlane, BBC Scotland
• The Halloween Skewer, sound by Tony Churnside and Jon Holmes, producer Jon Holmes, Unusual Productions
• Hello Caller, sound by Michael Harrison and Alison Crawford, producer Alison Crawford, BBC Bristol
• The Invisible, sound by Steve Brooke, producer Nadia Molinari, BBC Radio Drama North
• Love Thy Synth, sound by Steve Bond, producers Nicolas Jackson and Steve Bond, Afonica