The BBC won 22 awards at the British Podcast Awards, including seven gold, eight silver and seven bronze, including the coveted Podcast of the Year award.
The British Podcast Awards celebrate the best British podcasts, judged by independent media industry experts.
BBC podcasts have enjoyed success across the world, news, network radio, sport, BBC Studios and BBC Sounds.
The evening’s big winner was Positive Living: HIV from Terrence Higgins to Today from BBC Wales and BBC Sounds, which won the coveted Podcast of the Year award. Narrated by singer Sam Smith and produced by Overcoat Media, it tells the story of Terrence Higgins, one of the first people in the UK to die from an AIDS-related illness. Over eight episodes, Sam explores the last 40 years of HIV in the UK and continues to explore how life with HIV has changed radically since the AIDS crisis in the 80s and 90s.
The award was presented to the production team by Richard Angell, co-founder and CEO of The Terrence Higgins Trust, and Martin Butler OBE.
Positive Living also won gold in the Factual category, while BBC Radio 5 Live’s You, Me and the Big C won silver.
Other big winners for the BBC included I Am Not a Monster: The Shamima Begum Story, which won silver in three categories (True Crime, Current Events and Documentary).
Nicky Campbell won gold in the Interview category for Different with Nicky Campbell.
The BBC won gold, silver and bronze in the Climate category for Radio 4’s Buried, BBC Audio Lab’s Flowering Trees and Burnt-Out Cars and Radio 5 Live’s Burn Wild.
In the Sports category, BBC football podcasts scored well, with a Silver for Cammy and Ben’s Proper Football podcast and a Bronze for the Footballers’ Footballers podcast.
Radio 4 comedy podcasts The Skewer and Bang On It were awarded Gold and Bronze in the Comedy category, while The Skewer also came in second place in the Podcast of the Year category.
Hannah Ajala, presenter of BBC World Service’s Love Janessa, won silver in the Rising Star category.
Jonathan Wall, Director of BBC Sounds, says: “I’m delighted to see BBC podcasts being recognized in almost every category, from comedy to climate and beyond. This is a testament to the quality of our content and the power of storytelling, exceptional talent and creative production team.”
“It’s great to see the BBC playing such a key role in helping the UK podcast industry thrive. And all these award-winners, as well as many other brilliant works, are playing their part in attracting record audiences to BBC Sounds.”
Mohit Bakaya, Director of Speech and Controller at Radio 4 and 4Extra, says: “It’s great to see the new Speech commissioning division awarded at Radio 4 and Radio 5Live with so many gold, silver and bronze awards at this year’s BPA . It’s testament to the brilliant work our team did on Speech’s commission and the wonderful creativity of our production colleagues across the BBC and the independent sector.”
Ruanedd Richards, director of BBC Cymru Wales, said: “Positive Lives is an outstanding example of brilliant storytelling that brings much of recent history to life for audiences across the UK. Some may be all too aware of HIV and the impact it has had on so many, while others have learned a lot from Sam Smith’s expert storytelling and the incredible production from the Overcoat Media team.
“My thanks and congratulations to them, and to the team at BBC Radio Wales who commissioned this fantastic podcast.”
Podcast of the Year
Winner: Positive Living: HIV from Terrence Higgins to Today, Overcoat Media for BBC Wales and BBC Sounds
Runner-up: The Skewer, unusual for BBC Radio 4
Actual
Gold: Positive Living: HIV from Terrence Higgins to Today, Overcoat Media for BBC Wales and BBC Sounds
Silver: You, Me and the Big C, BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds
Interview
Gold: The Other with Nicky Campbell, BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds
New podcast
Gold: 28 Days Later, listen to BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds
Entertainment
Gold: Alice James and John Robins, BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds.
Climate
Gold: Buried, Smoke Trail Productions for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds
Silver: Flowering Trees and Burnt-out Cars, BBC Sounds Audio Lab
Bronze: Burn Wild, BBC Audio for BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds.
Comedy
Gold: Shish kebab, unusual for BBC Radio 4
Bronze: Bang On It, BBC Studios for BBC Radio 4.
Rising star
Silver: Hannah Ajala, Love Janessa, BBC World Service
true crime
Silver: I’m Not a Monster S2: The Shamima Begum Story, BBC News Long Audio for BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds
Bronze: Please Protect Abraham, BBC Radio 4
Documentaries
Silver: I’m Not a Monster S2: The Shamima Begum Story, BBC News Long Audio for BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds
Bronze: A Very British Cult, BBC News for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds
News and current events
Silver: I’m Not a Monster S2: The Shamima Begum Story, BBC News Long Audio for BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds
Sex and relationships
Silver: Brown Girls Do It Too, BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds
Sport
Silver: Cammy and Ben’s football podcast, foldable pocket for BBC sounds.
Bronze: Footballers Football Podcast, BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds.
Fiction
Bronze: one, five, seven years, Afonica for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 4Limelight.
Arts and culture
Bronze: In the World of Ralph and Cathy, Always Audio for BBC Sounds.
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