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Giles Cooper Awards

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The Giles Cooper Awards were honours given to plays written for BBC Radio. Sponsored by the BBC and Methuen Drama, the awards were specifically focused on the script of the best radio drama produced in the past year. Five or six winners were chosen from the entire year's production of BBC drama, and published in a series of books. They were named after Giles Cooper (1918–1966), the distinguished radio dramatist who wrote over 60 scripts for BBC radio and television between 1949 and 1966.[1]

These awards ran annually between 1978 and 1992, instigated by Richard Imison at the BBC and Geoffrey Strachan at Eyre Methuen. There was no prize money, but publication was a notable mark of permanence in the ephemeral world of broadcasting. Among the winners listed below are such luminaries as Harold Pinter, Fay Weldon, Anthony Minghella, Tom Stoppard and Rose Tremain.

List of winners

1978

  • John ArdenPearl (Published separately as per special arrangement with Eyre Methuen)[2]
  • Richard HarrisIs it Something I Said?
  • Don Haworth — Episode on a Thursday Evening
  • Jill HyemRemember Me
  • Tom Mallin — Halt! Who Goes There?
  • Jennifer Phillips — Daughters of Men
  • Fay WeldonPolaris

1979

  • Shirley GeeTyphoid Mary
  • Carey HarrisonI Never Killed my German
  • Barrie Keeffe — Heaven Scent
  • John Kirkmorris — Coxcomb
  • John Peacock — Attard in Retirement
  • Olwen WymarkThe Child

1980

  • Stewart ParkerKamikaze Ground Staff Reunion Dinner
  • Martyn Read — Waving to a Train
  • Peter Redgrave — Martyr of the Hives
  • William TrevorBeyond the Pale

1981

1982

1983

  • Wally K. DalyTime Slip
  • Shirley GeeNever in my Lifetime
  • Gerry Jones — The Angels They Grow Lonely
  • Steve May — No Exceptions
  • Martyn Read — Scouting for Boys

1984

  • Stephen Dunstone — Who is Sylvia?
  • Robert Ferguson — Transfigured Night
  • Don Haworth — Daybreak
  • Caryl PhillipsThe Wasted Years
  • Christopher Russell — Swimmer
  • Rose TremainTemporary Shelter

1985

1986

  • Robert Ferguson — Dreams, Secrets, Beautiful Lies
  • Christina Reid — Last of a Dyin' Race
  • Andrew Rissik — Anthony
  • Ken WhitmoreGingerbread House
  • Valerie Windsor — Myths and Legacies

1987

1988

  • Terence FrisbyJust Remember Two Things: It's not Fair and Don't be Late
  • Ken Blakeson — Excess Baggage
  • Anthony MinghellaCigarettes and Chocolate
  • Rona MunroDirt Under the Carpet
  • Dave Sheasby — Apple Blossom Afternoon

1989

1990

  • Tony BagleyThe Machine
  • David Cregan — A Butler Did It
  • John Fletcher — Death and the Tango
  • Tina PeplerSong of the Forest
  • Steve Walker — The Pope's Brother

1991

References

  1. ^ International Radio Drama – Social, Economic and Literary Contexts, Tim Crook
  2. ^ Arden, John (1979). Pearl: A Play about a Play Within a Play. London, Eyre Methuen. ISBN 0-413-40090-5