RFPs: International Audio Drama Competition

The global competition, hosted by BBC World Service and the British Council, offers the unique opportunity for writers from outside the UK to use the medium of audio drama to tell stories for an international audience.

Benefits

• “Prize”: The Cash Prize and the Trip
• “The Cash Prize”: £2,500 sterling (or the equivalent in a local currency at the BBC’s discretion)
• “The Trip”: a trip to the UK (standard airfare and accommodation for one person) to see the winning drama being recorded and attend a prize-giving event

Costs Covered

• Flight and accommodation expenses are covered by the BBC.

Eligibility Criteria

• Entry is only open to anyone who is over the age of 18 and not considered to be a resident of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Channel Islands or Isle of Man (“UK”). Professional and previously published writers are eligible to enter, but this is not a requirement of entry. They may require proof of eligibility.
• Entrants must not be BBC, BBC Group company, or British Council employees, close relatives of such employees or any person connected to the competition. Proof of age, identity and eligibility may be requested.
• There are two prize categories for entry. One is for entrants who speak English as their first language, and the other is for entrants with English as a second language. The BBC may require proof of eligibility for the selected category before announcing a winner.
• Entrants can enter individually or as part of a group. If entering as a group, all entrants must meet the entry requirements, be eligible for the same category and submit a single entry. No member should have also entered individually. Please note, the prize only includes payment for one airfare per category.

Application Requirements

• Entrants should write an audio drama script of approximately forty to fifty minutes’ length on any subject of their choice.
• The entrants warrant, by submitting scripts, that each drama
• Is the original work of the entrants and does not infringe the rights of any other party
• Is not an adaptation of an earlier work (for example, a novel)
• Will not be under contract for, or have been professionally produced in, any medium (an informal script-reading is acceptable; a script-reading with a professional director and in front of a non-paying audience is acceptable, but a performance involving payment to actors and/or a paying audience is not) before 30 September 2026
• Has not been created or developed with the use of generative AI tools
• The winning writers will be deemed to have entered into an undertaking not to accept offers for their entries from other broadcasters or publishers before 30 September 2026.
• All scripts submitted must be approximately 40-50 minutes in length – this usually equates to a minimum of 35 pages of A4 paper (or equivalent) and a maximum of 60 pages (note, a rough guide is a minute per page; please read and time your drama before you send it). The drama should have a maximum of six central characters (there may be up to 3 small “doubling” characters too, who don’t have more than a few lines each). Word count approx. 7000-9000 words.
• Your script should be accompanied by a short synopsis which outlines the complete story of the drama. This must be no more than 400 words.
• The drama script must be written substantially or entirely in English. Unfortunately, they do not have the facility to offer a translation service. Entries that have been translated must acknowledge this fact by giving a credit to the translator or translators. Entries that have been translated will be entered in the English as a first language category.
• For translated entries, it is the responsibility of the entrant to ensure that the translated script fully complies with these rules and entry requirements.
• Only one entry per person is permitted including any group entries. If you submit more than one entry, only the first entry received will be considered. Please do not submit plays you have entered to previous editions of the BBC World Service International Playwriting Competition.

For more information, visit BBC.