British audio production companies Bafflegab and B7 Media have triumphed at the New York Radio Awards, announced on June 22nd.

The New York Festivals Radio Programming Awards recognise the world’s best work in radio broadcasting, awarding radio stations and independent producers from around the globe. The awards ceremony was held at Manhattan Penthouse last night, and is considered to be the ‘Oscars’ of radio. This is the first year that audiobooks have been included.

Spooky comedy series The Brenda and Effie Mysteries, starring Anne Reid, won Gold for Best Audiobook (Fiction) for the second story Bat out of Hull. B7 Media’s adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles by Richard Kurti and Bev Doylefor last year’s Dangerous Visions series on Radio 4 won Silver for Best Drama Special.

Bafflegab producer and director Simon Barnard explained: ‘It’s wonderful to get this award from an international jury of respected radio peers, particularly since we’ve just been making it up as we go along. The award really belongs to two people: to our narrator, and national treasure, Anne Reid, who told the story so beautifully; and to our author Paul Magrs, who really should be a national treasure and who wrote it so beautifully.’

Writer Paul Magrs added: ‘I was actually in Whitby yesterday, exactly ten years since I started to write the first novel about Brenda and Effie. To write a script about these characters I love, and then win a a prestigious award like this is just wonderful. Thank you! Bafflegab and Simon Barnard and the cast are geniuses and I love their brand of spooky mayhem. I’m proud of the work we’ve done together.’

B7 Media producer and director Andrew Mark Sewell told Sci-Fi Bulletin, “I couldn’t be more delighted that our dramatisation of ‘The Martian Chronicles’ has received this international accolade. It’s not only a tribute to our exceptional cast and crew, but also reflects the strength of independent radio drama production in the UK.”

Read our review of Bat out of Hull here

And our review of The Martian Chronicles here