Dramas

The second of the award-winning dramas form the BBC World Service and British Council’s latest International Playwriting Competition.
Hyukin Michaela Kwon from South Korea is the winner of the English as a Second Language prize. Set in a near-future Seoul, this is a science fiction drama that explores the impact of family dysfunction and historical upheaval against the backdrop of mass alien abductions. Luah suffers terribly from anxiety and when the invasion threatens to separate her from her mother and grand-mother, she’s forced to confront the origins of the crippling fear that has defined her life.
Starring Pricilla Chung as Luah; Wendy Kweh as her mother, Soon-ja and Sarah Lam as her grand-mother, Jeong-hee. Arthur Lee plays Professor Han, Josh Bryant-Jones is Adey and Tina Chiang plays the Newsreader.
The director is Gemma Jenkins.
It is a BBC Studios Audio production for the World Service.
Image: Stylised picture of the Seoul skyline (Credit: Getty Images/BBC)

The first of the award-winning dramas from the BBC World Service and British Council’s latest International Playwriting Competition. Julien Marvin Neaves from Trinidad and Tobago is the winner of the English as a First Language prize. The drama is set in contemporary Trinidad and is a story of identity, love, and memory set to the tunes of calypso music.
Brian Gonzales (The Mighty Cocrico) is spurred into reviving his career after news that his musical rival is to receive a national award. He wants a chance to show he can be the best and achieve his lifelong ambition. It is a rivalry that goes back a long way. They both reached the Calypso Monarch finals, but Lord Morpheus took the crown and Brian could never accept defeat or forgive his rival. Lord Morpheus rubbing salt in the wounds even went on to compose a hit song making fun of Brian called ‘De Mighty Corbeau.’ But Brian’s quest for glory is thwarted by an unseen force that threatens to destroy him and everything he loves. A birds-eye-view at one man’s dreams and its repercussions for him and his family.
Don Warrington stars as Brian, Suzette Llewellyn plays his wife Sheila and Gershwyn Eustache Jnr plays their son, Sheldon. Damian Lynch plays Carlos, Shiloh Coke is Mickey G and Burt Caesar plays Observer. The Calypso Verses and Rap composed by Dominique Le Gendre. The director, Tracey Neale.
It is a BBC Studios Audio production for the World Service.
Image: Don Warrington in The Mighty Corbeau (Credit: BBC)

The Snowman by Neil Flynn is a lyrical monologue telling of an Antarctic explorer’s desperate attempts to make it back to base camp with two colleagues. It was inspired in part by Irish polar explorer Tom Crean’s efforts to save a sick crew member during his first Antarctic expedition. The man is played by Damien Molony.
It won the English as a First Language prize of the International Playwriting Competition hosted by the BBC World Service and the British Council. The competition offers a unique opportunity for playwrights to use the medium of audio drama to reach a global audience. The competition has two first prizes – one for writers with English as a First Language and another for writers with English as a Second Language. Both winners attend an awards ceremony in London and see their plays recorded for broadcast and streaming on the BBC World Service.
Writer: Neil Flynn
Music composer: Jon Nicholls
Sound design: Keith Graham
Director: Tracey Neale
(Photo: Illustration of an Antarctic explorer sitting in the snow outside his tent. Credit: Getty Images)

After Aisha's family is killed, she is pulled from the river by her uncle. Now in a refugee camp, she finds herself facing a marriage to a man she does not love. Instead, she decides to embark on a dangerous journey with the man she does.
Aisha's Horizon is the story of that journey, from northern Nigeria, across the desert and towards Europe. Written by Idi Nasiru, it won the English as a Second Language category in the 2026 BBC World Service International Audio Drama Competition.
Aisha: Doyin Ajiboye
Hamza: Emeka Sesay
Musa: Yinka Awoni
Safiya: Faith Alabi
Mariama: Clara Emanuel
Tanko: Delroy Brown
Malik: Abdelaziz Sanusi
Woman in camp/Mother: Lorraine Amako
Woman in camp/Nigerien woman: Aimee Amaka
Dela/Driver/Raider: Azuka Ononye
Border guard/Officer: Amro Mahmoud
Sailor/Guard/Handler: Adam Ali
Sound design: Rhys Morris
Production co-ordinators: Lindsay Rees and Eleri McAuliffe
Executive producers: John Norton and Emma Harding
Director: Fay Lomas
A BBC Audio Drama Wales production

In a graveyard on a hilltop in South-West Ireland, four teenagers gather, pass the time and reflect on life. Something terrible has happened.
Here, on A High Hill is a moving, surprising, poetic drama for voices. Written by Finegan Kruckemeyer, it won the English as a First Language category in the 2026 BBC World Service International Audio Drama Competition.
Cast: Orla Scally, Zakaria Meknas, Máiréad Tyers and Oskar Smith.
Production co-ordinator: Eleri McAuliffe
Sound design: Rhys Morris
Producer: John Norton
A BBC Audio Wales production