The Giles Cooper Awards were honours given to plays written for BBC Radio. Sponsored by the BBC and Methuen Drama, the awards were specifically focused on the script of the best radio drama produced in the past year. Five or six winners were chosen from the entire year's production of BBC drama, and published in a series of books. They were named after Giles Cooper (1918–1966), the distinguished radio dramatist who wrote over 60 scripts for BBC radio and television between 1949 and 1966. These awards ran annually between 1978 and 1992, instigated by Richard Imison at the BBC and Geoffrey Strachan at Eyre Methuen. There was no prize money, but publication was a notable mark of permanence in the ephemeral world of broadcasting.

List of winners

1978 *

John Arden John Arden (26 October 1930 – 28 March 2012) was an English playwright who at his death was lauded as "one of the most significant British playwrights of the late 1950s and early 60s". Career Born in Barnsley, son of the manager of a glass f ...

— ''

Pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium carb ...

'' (Published separately as per special arrangement with Eyre Methuen) *

Richard Harris Richard St John Francis Harris (1 October 1930 – 25 October 2002) was an Irish actor and singer. He appeared on stage and in many films, notably as Corrado Zeller in Michelangelo Antonioni's '' Red Desert'', Frank Machin in '' This Sporting ...

— ''Is it Something I Said?'' * Don Haworth — ''Episode on a Thursday Evening'' * Jill Hyem — ''Remember Me'' *

Tom Mallin Tom Mallin (14 June 1927 – 21 December 1977) was a British writer of novels and plays, and also an artist. Beginning his working life in the art world, as a picture restorer as well as a practising painter, illustrator and sculptor, Mallin at t ...

— ''Halt! Who Goes There?'' * Jennifer Phillips — ''Daughters of Men'' * Fay Weldon — ''Polaris'' 1979 * Shirley Gee — ''Typhoid Mary'' *

Carey Harrison Carey Harrison (born 19 February 1944) is an English novelist and dramatist. Early years and education Harrison was born in London to actor Rex Harrison and actress Lilli Palmer, and raised in Los Angeles and New York, where he attended the ...

— ''I Never Killed my German'' *

Barrie Keeffe __NOTOC__ Barrie Colin Keeffe (31 October 1945 – 10 December 2019) was an English dramatist and screenwriter. Best known for his screenplay for the gangster classic, '' The Long Good Friday'' (1980), starring Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren, Kee ...

— ''Heaven Scent'' * John Kirkmorris — ''Coxcomb'' * John Peacock — ''Attard in Retirement'' *

Olwen Wymark Olwen Margaret Wymark (née Buck, 14 February 1932 – 14 June 2013) was an American writer and playwright. Biography Olwen Margaret Buck was born on 14 February 1932 in Oakland, California, the daughter of Philip W. (a professor of political ...

— ''The Child'' 1980 *

Stewart Parker James Stewart Parker (20 October 1941 – 2 November 1988) was a Northern Irish poet and playwright. Biography He was born in Sydenham, Belfast, of a Protestant working-class family. His birthplace is marked by an Ulster History Circle blue ...

— ''Kamikaze Ground Staff Reunion Dinner'' * Martyn Read — ''Waving to a Train'' * Peter Redgrave — ''Martyr of the Hives'' *

William Trevor William Trevor Cox (24 May 1928 – 20 November 2016), known by his pen name William Trevor, was an Irish novelist, playwright, and short story writer. One of the elder statesmen of the Irish literary world, he is widely regarded as one of th ...

— ''Beyond the Pale'' 1981 * Peter Barnes — ''The Jumping Minuses of Byzantium '' * Don Haworth — ''Talk of Love and War'' *

Harold Pinter Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramatists with a writing career that span ...

— ''

Family Voices ''Family Voices'' is a radio play by Harold Pinter written in 1980 and first broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on 22 January 1981. Summary ''Family Voices'' exposes the story of a mother, son, and dead husband and father through a series of letters t ...

'' *

David Pownall David Pownall FRSL (19 May 1938 – 21 November 2022) was a British playwright and prolific radio dramatist performed internationally, and novelist translated into several languages. Life and career David Pownall was born in Liverpool on 19 May ...

— ''Beef'' * J. P. Rooney — ''The Dead Image'' * Paul Thain — ''The Biggest Sandcastle in the World'' 1982 *

Rhys Adrian Rhys Adrian Griffiths (28 February 1928 – 8 February 1990) was a British playwright and screenwriter. He is best known for his radio plays, which are characterised by their emphasis upon dialogue rather than narrative. Radio dramatist Rhys A ...

— ''Watching the Plays Together'' *

— ''The Old Man Sleeps Alone'' * Harry Barton — ''Hoopoe Day'' * Donald Chapman - ''Invisible writing'' *

Tom Stoppard Sir Tom Stoppard (born , 3 July 1937) is a Czech born British playwright and screenwriter. He has written for film, radio, stage, and television, finding prominence with plays. His work covers the themes of human rights, censorship, and polit ...

— ''

The Dog It Was That Died ''The Dog It Was That Died'' is a play by the British playwright Tom Stoppard. Written for BBC Radio in 1982, it concerns the dilemma faced by a spy over who he actually works for. The play was also adapted for television by Stoppard, and broad ...

'' *

— ''Autumn Sunshine'' 1983 * Wally K. Daly — ''Time Slip'' * Shirley Gee — ''Never in my Lifetime'' * Gerry Jones — ''The Angels They Grow Lonely'' * Steve May — ''No Exceptions'' * Martyn Read — ''Scouting for Boys'' 1984 * Stephen Dunstone — ''Who is Sylvia?'' * Robert Ferguson — ''Transfigured Night * Don Haworth — ''Daybreak'' *

Caryl Phillips Caryl Phillips (born 13 March 1958) is a Kittitian-British novelist, playwright and essayist. Best known for his novels (for which he has won multiple awards), Phillips is often described as a Black Atlantic writer, since much of his fictional ...

— ''The Wasted Years'' * Christopher Russell — ''Swimmer'' *

Rose Tremain Dame Rose Tremain (born 2 August 1943) is an English novelist, short story writer, and former Chancellor of the University of East Anglia. Life Rose Tremain was born Rosemary Jane Thomson on 2 August 1943 in London to Viola Mabel Thomson and ...

— ''Temporary Shelter'' 1985 * Rhys Adrian — ''Outpatient'' * Barry Collins — ''King Canute'' *

Martin Crimp Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Aust ...

— ''Three Attempted Acts'' *

— ''Ploughboy Monday'' * James Saunders — ''Menocchio'' * Michael Wall — ''

Hiroshima – The Movie ''Hiroshima: The Movie'' is a radio play written by Michael Wall in 1985. It was produced by BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United K ...

'' 1986 * Robert Ferguson — ''Dreams, Secrets, Beautiful Lies'' *

Christina Reid Christina Reid (12 March 1942 – 31 May 2015) was an Irish playwright. Life Reid was born in North Belfast. She left school in 1957 and married in 1963. She enrolled at Queen's University Belfast in 1981 but winning a BBC playwrighting competit ...

— ''Last of a Dyin' Race'' *

Andrew Rissik Andrew Rissik (born 23 April 1955) is a British scriptwriter, journalist and critic best known for the BBC Radio 3 trilogy, ''Troy'' and the five-part thriller serial for Radio 4, ''The Psychedelic Spy''. He was theatre critic at '' The Independ ...

— ''Anthony'' * Ken Whitmore — ''Gingerbread House'' * Valerie Windsor — ''Myths and Legacies'' 1987 * Wally K. Daly — ''Mary's'' * Frank Dunne — ''Dreams of Dublin Bay'' * Anna Fox — ''Nobby's Day'' * Nigel D. Moffatt — ''Lifetime'' * Richard Nelson — '' Languages Spoken Here'' * Peter Tinniswood — ''The Village Fête'' 1988 * Terence Frisby — ''Just Remember Two Things: It's not Fair and Don't be Late'' * Ken Blakeson — ''Excess Baggage'' *

Anthony Minghella Anthony Minghella, (6 January 195418 March 2008) was a British film director, playwright and screenwriter. He was chairman of the board of Governors at the British Film Institute between 2003 and 2007. He won the Academy Award for Best Directo ...

— ''Cigarettes and Chocolate'' *

Rona Munro Rona Munro (born 7 September 1959) is a Scottish writer. She has written plays for theatre, radio, and television. Her film work includes Ken Loach's '' Ladybird, Ladybird'' (1994), ''Oranges and Sunshine'' (2010) for Jim Loach and ''Aimée & J ...

— ''Dirt Under the Carpet'' * Dave Sheasby — ''Apple Blossom Afternoon'' 1989 * Elizabeth Baines — ''Baby Buggy'' * Jennifer Johnston — ''O Ananias, Azarias and Misael'' *

David Zane Mairowitz David Zane Mairowitz (born 1943 in New York City, United States), is a writer. He has written radio dramas, graphic novels, and nonfiction books & essays. Mairowitz studied English literature and philosophy at Hunter College, New York; and drama ...

— ''Stalin Sonata'' * Richard Nelson — '' Eating Words'' * Craig Warner — ''By Where The Old Shed Used To Be'' 1990 * Tony Bagley — ''The Machine'' * David Cregan — ''A Butler Did It'' * John Fletcher — ''Death and the Tango'' * Tina Pepler — ''Song of the Forest'' * Steve Walker — ''The Pope's Brother'' 1991 * Robert Glendenning — ''The Words are Strange'' *

John Purser John Purser (born 1942) is a Scottish composer, musicologist, and music historian. He is also a playwright.cover notes from ''Scotland's Music'' CD Purser was born in Glasgow. He initiated the reconstruction that commenced in 1991 of the Iron ...

— '' Carver'' *

— '' In the Native State'' * Steve Walker — ''Mickey Mookey'' * Craig Warner — ''Figure with Meat''

References

External links

Giles Cooper Awards
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper Awards Awards disestablished in 1991 Awards established in 1978 British literary awards Dramatist and playwright awards British radio awards BBC awards 1978 establishments in the United Kingdom 1991 disestablishments in the United Kingdom