Pictured above: Oliver Emanuel wins the 2019 Tinniswood Award with presenter Sarah Woods. Photo credit: BBC

Oliver’s audio drama, When the Pips Stop, was described by the judges as ‘beautifully written’ with ‘compelling characters’. The shortlist also included Vivienne Harvey for Playing Dead and Martyn Wade for Holbein’s Skull. See the shortlist here. This year’s judges were Nicholas McInerny, Ming Ho and Sarah Woods.

What the judges said:

This beautifully written and highly original play explores what happens when two sisters who live together on a remote Scottish island, and haven’t spoken for years, find themselves to be – possibly – the only survivors of the end of the world.

Every part of this play is technically assured and fully realised. It creates an experience that is both extraordinary and utterly recognisable, enabling us to reflect on the current state of the world through a domestic, intimate story.

The characters are compelling and believable in a drama rich with subtext and metaphor. The sparse and finely worked language is beautifully poetic and deeply human. Its use of the form is inspiring.

About Oliver Emanuel

Oliver Emanuel is an internationally award-winning playwright who has written over 40 plays for stage and radio. Flight won a Herald Angel at the Edinburgh International Festival 2017; his version of Jan Sobrie’s Titus won The People’s Choice Victor Award at IPAY 2015; while Dragon won Best Show for Children and Young People at the UK Theatre Awards in 2014. He was a lead writer on Blood, Sex and Money by Emile Zola, which won Best Adaptation at the BBC Audio Drama Awards 2017.  He is a Reader in Playwriting, University of St Andrews, an Associate Playwright, Playwrights’ Studio Scotland, and Writer in Residence at Gladstone’s Library.

What is the Tinniswood Award?

The Tinniswood Award was established by the Society of Authors and the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain to perpetuate the memory of Peter Tinniswood as well as to celebrate and encourage high standards in radio drama.

Plays this year were eligible if broadcast in the UK between 1 October 2017 and 31 October 2018. Previous winners include Sarah Woods, Morwenna Banks, Mike Bartlett, and Christopher William Hill. Find out more.

We are very grateful to the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society for their generous sponsorship, including the £3,000 prize.