Neverwhere and Good Omens’ Neil Gaiman has been given a special award at the 2015 BBC Audio Drama Awards held on February 1st.

The Outstanding Contribution Award was given for his strong commitment to radio drama, as exemplified by the two recent adaptations by Dirk Maggs, as well as the serial of The Ocean at the End of the Lane.

In his acceptance speech, Gaiman said, “I’m absolutely honoured, overwhelmed, thrilled by the award, it’s a wonderful, wonderful thing. I’ve loved radio since I was a small child. You can do amazing things inside someone’s head with radio and radio drama. Geniuses like Douglas Adams have paved the way before us. I’m thrilled I get to turn some of my stories into radio dramas.”

And talking about radio drama, Gaiman said: “I don’t remember a time that I didn’t care about Radio Drama: From Under Milk Wood to Unman, Wittering and Zigo, from the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy to Hancock’s Half Hour; Radio Drama can become part of the fabric of one’s life, exercising the imagination, making the listener into a collaborator with the actors and the writer and the director. It’s faster and more fun and cheaper to make than a feature film, and sometimes a hundred times more effective.”

Gaiman’s whole speech can be seen here.