Speakies 2025: British Audio Awards Winners Announced
Audiobooks took center stage at last night’s inaugural British Audio Awards, known as the Speakies, with star narrators Ncuti Gatwa, David Tennant, and Nicola Coughlan among the big winners.
The standout success of the evening was Gatwa’s leading performance in BBC’s Gatsby in Harlem - a star-studded reimagining of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic - which scooped three major prizes. Alongside Gatwa winning Best Performance, the production also claimed Best Audio Drama: Adaptation and the coveted Audio of the Year award.
The Speakies, launched by The Bookseller and The Stage, mark the UK’s first annual ceremony dedicated to celebrating excellence in audiobooks and audio drama. Held at the Royal Opera House on Monday, 24 November, and hosted by actor Sally Phillips, the event honoured the full “ecosystem” of audio storytelling - from writers and narrators to producers and creative teams who bring stories to life through sound.
With 17 categories in total, there was plenty to celebrate. Explore the full list of winners and shortlists below:
Audio of the Year
Winner: Gatsby in Harlem (BBC)
Best Audiobook: Fiction
Winner: All My Precious Madness by Mark Bowles
His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
Precipice - Robert Harris
The Benefactors – Wendy Erskine
The Wood at Midwinter – Susanna Clarke
Best Audiobook: Crime & Thriller
Winner: Him - JD Kirk
Guilty by Definition - Susie Dent
Lovers of Franz K - Burhan Sönmez
Marble Hall Murders - Anthony Horowitz
The Hotel Avocado - Bob Mortimer
Best Audiobook: Science Fiction & Fantasy
Winner: Queen B - Juno Dawson
Bee Speaker - Adrian Tchaikovsky
Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil - VE Schwab
Doctor Who: Agent of the Daleks - Steve Lyons
The Shadow Rising - Robert Jordan
Best Audiobook: Romance
Bad Publicity - Bianca Gillam
Love - Elizabeth von Arnim
Love, Rebooted - Katy Summers
The Cinnamon Bun Book Store - Laurie Gilmore
Best Audiobook: Business/Self-Help
Winner: Am I Having Fun Now? - Suzi Ruffell
Buy Yourself the Damn Flowers - Tam Kaur
Make Change That Lasts - Rangan Chatterjee
The Cat Who Taught Zen - James Norbury
The DOSE Effect - TJ Power
What's Your Dream? - Simon Squibb
Best Audiobook: Non-Fiction
Winner: Why Are You Here, Mrs Hamilton? - Jo Hamilton
A Voyage Around the Queen - Craig Brown
Henry V - Dan Jones
Persian Pictures - Gertrude Bell
The History Gossip - Katie Kennedy
Best Audiobook: Non-Fiction Memoir
Winner: Careless People - Sarah Wynn-Williams
I'll Never Call Him Dad Again - Caroline Darian
I Love You, Byeee - Adam Buxton
Patriot - Alexei Navalny, trans. Arch Tait and Stephen Dalziel
Still Beautiful - Katie Piper
The Lives of Lee Miller - Antony Penrose
Best Audiobook: Children’s
Winner: Miffy Story Time Collection - Dick Bruna
Bunny vs Monkey - Jamie Smart
Choose Your Own Evolution - Jules Howard
Hamza's Wild World - Hamza Yassin
Loki: A Bad God’s Guide to Making Enemies - Louie Stowell
Skandar and the Skeleton Curse - AF Steadman
Best Audiobook: Young Adult
Winner: Different for Boys - Patrick Ness
Normal Women - Philippa Gregory
The Shape of Monsters - CL Hellisen
What Happens Online - Nathanael Lessore
Fearless - Lauren Roberts
Best Audio Drama: New/Original Work
Winner: Restless Dreams - Dan Rebellato
Doctor Who: The Stuff of Legend: The Live Show - Robert Valentine
Gershwin & Miss Swift - Andrew McCaldon
The English are Coming - Hattie Naylor
The Margate Murders - Tom Hofland, Pascal van Hulst, James Dobbyn
Up in Smoke - Guy Larsen, Cambria Bailey-Jones
Best Audio Drama: Adaptation
Winner: Gatsby in Harlem - F Scott Fitzgerald
Behind the Scenes at the Museum - Kate Atkinson
Casino Royale - Ian Fleming
It Can't Happen Here - Sinclair Lewis
Our Mutual Friend - Charles Dickens
The Mysterious Affair at Styles - Agatha Christie
Best Performance
Winner: Ncuti Gatwa - Gatsby in Harlem
Brian Cox - McLevy in the New World
Henry Goodman - Restless Dreams
Bettrys Jones - Our Mutual Friend
Alyth Ross - Four Gammons and a Unicorn
Sheridan Smith - The Margate Murders
Best Performance: Narrator
Winner: Mark Gatiss - From Russia with Love
Louise Brealey - Raising Hare
Emilia Clarke - The Instrumentalist
Stephen Fry - 356A To Marrakech
Kobna Holdbrook-Smith - The Great When
Kevin Shen - The Grace of Kings
Best Performance: Ensemble
Winner: Cast of Our Mutual Friend - Charles Dickens & Dan Rebellato
Casino Royale - Cast
Gatsby in Harlem - Cast
Restless Dreams - Cast
The Talented Mr Shakespeare - Cast
Up in Smoke - Cast
Best Performance: New Voice
Winner: Ezra Saifie
Paul Hilton
Mei Mac
Bella Maclean
Daniel Mick Ryan
Mae Munuo
Audio Business of the Year
Winner: Yoto
Boldwood
Hachette UK (Group Audio and Bookouture)
Small Wardour
Spiracle Audiobooks
Big Finish Productions
WF Howes
Penguin Audio
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