This year’s shortlists for the British Audio Awards, also known as the Speakies, have been revealed – and nominees include creators with genre connections aplenty, including Young Hercules, a groundbreaking graphic novel adaptation.
The full list of nominees can be found here (Please note some links below are AmazonUK Affiliates)
The Speakies, run by The Bookseller and its sister magazine The Stage, are dedicated to celebrating excellence in audiobooks, audio drama and podcasts – 18 shortlists across categories including, in audiobooks, Crime & Thriller, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Young Adult, and more; and in performance, awards will be given out for Narrator, Ensemble, New Voice and more.
Sally Phillips will host the award ceremony for a second year at its new venue, the Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, on Monday 23rd November 2026.
The AudioBook categories celebrate the process from text to listener, including the work of the narrator and audio production team. The Bookseller (registration required) notes this is the second year of the awards “reflecting the exponential rise and growing consumer demand for audio content, demonstrated by the profound impact audiobooks are having on the UK publishing market”.
In the Best Audiobook: Science Fiction & Fantasy Shortlist, encompassing audiobooks specific to the science fiction/fantasy genres, including new adult books, as well as titles for older readers, the nominees are Femme Feral by Sam Beckbessinger, Ice by Jacek Dukaj, Ursula Phillips (translator), King of Ravens by Clare Sager, The Last Starborn Seer by Venetia Constantine, The Red Winter by Cameron Sullivan, and There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm.
Best Audiobook: Children’s Shortlist, for children’s audiobooks for ages up to young adult titles, supported by The Week Junior features nominations for British Museum: So You Think You’ve Got It Bad? A Kid’s Life in Tudor Times by Chae Strathie, the Harry Potter (Full-Cast Editions) by JK Rowling, Super Great Kids’ Stories: From Storytellers Around the World by Kim Normanton, The Café at the Edge of the Woods by Mikey Please, Tiny Hercules, an adaptation of the graphic novel by Jon Lock, Nich Angell, and Yoto Classics: Peter Pan by JM Barrie.
Narrated by Tom Babbage, The Tiny Hercules audiobook set out to bring Jon Lock and Nich Angell’s eponymous graphic novel to life. The authors wrote entirely new dialogue for the audio adaptation, including an original rap – all narrated by Tom Babbage. Producer Elliot Beavis also composed a bespoke backing track.
The audio adaptation of their second book in the series, Tiny Hercules – Golden Cabbage Chaos, was released in August.
“Absolutely stunned, honoured, and stunned again that Tiny Hercules book 1 has been shortlisted,” says Jon, who’s currently working on releasing Afterlife Inc. Volume 7: Imitation of Life into the world, a Kickstarter launching next month. (Sign up to be notified of launch here: Imitation of Life takes everyone’s favourite undead corporation through the looking glass and into strange new territory.).
“I’m so, so proud of everything we achieved with this book and I can’t wait to get it out into your hands. I hope you’ll join us on launch to help make Imiation of Life a reality. Cheers all!
“How do you adapt a comic into an audiobook? Well, that’s a fascinating question – and working that out for ourselves has been a wonderful journey of discovery. We’re so proud of the finished audiobook, which turned out so much better than we could have hoped for – and, dare we say, pushed the limits of what’s possible when turning sequential art into audio.
Full credit to the incredible Tom Babbage for his stellar performance, and for bringing our characters to life with such aplomb. It’s been a pleasure getting to know you and an honour watching you work. We promise to write fewer aquatic raps for future instalments (maybe).
“Best of luck to all the nominees (we’re in excellent company) and thank you to Macmillan Children’s Books for this amazing opportunity.”
The Best Audio Drama: New/Original Work Shortlist includes a nomination for Wraith by James Dobbyn & Anthony Povah, narrated by an all-star cast including Edward Bluemel, Corinna Brown and Alix Wilton Regan, a cutting-edge thriller about an artificial intelligence takeover; and the original short audio drama The Garden, directed by Dan Dare Audio Adventures producer B7 Media’s Andrew Sewell for Kobold Productions, by first time audio drama writer/producer Shaun Mendum, and co-produced by B7 Media’s Helen Quigley.
(You may recognise Shaun for his voice work on Final Fantasy Tactics and the Netflix anime series Love Through a Prism).
The Garden has also been nominated in the Production & Sound Design category, as has the supernatural horror, Spores: Series 2 by Marietta Kirkbride, in which an intelligent and almost undetectable fungus has inexplicably spread across the world, its spores deadly to humans; and Wolf Valley by Charlotte Melén, a five-part eco-thriller.
The Garden is a disturbing psychological short drama featuring Katy Maw, Gary Turner, Louisa Gummer and introducing Amelia Sewell.
“I’m particular delighted by these nominations for several reasons, not least because The Garden was part of a wholly independently produced anthology series conceived and produced by Shaun Mendum and Jun Noh, with the support and guidance of B7 Media, says Andrew Sewell. “Given the illustrious talent of our fellow nominees for our ambitious little drama to make the Speakies shortlist (and the only non BBC or Audible production) is nothing short of amazing.
Kudos to everyone involved and in particular to our sound designer Matthew Kulewicz, MPSE for his well deserved sound design nomination, composer Imran Ahmad and of course Shaun for never wavering from his singular vision for this ambitious anthology series.
Actor, comedian, screenwriter, director, producer and novelist Mark Gatiss, whose many credits include Doctor Who, Sherlock and Jekyll, is among the nominees for Best Performance Shortlist.
The full list of British Audio Awards nominees can be found here
Tickets to the British Audio Awards event can be purchased through gaby.pitts@thebookseller.com
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
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