From April 2025 the BBC are making dramatic cuts to audio drama on Radio 3, completely eradicating audio drama from the channel.
This change will not only see essential employment opportunities for writers and other creative workers slashed, but programming of new material will be completely gone.
The BBC have made no formal commitment to saving audio drama and alongside Equity and the Society of Authors we have launched a campaign, calling on Tim Davie, Director-General of the BBC, to reconsider these devastating cuts and to Save Audio Drama at the BBC.
Our petition has now reached over 10,000 signatures, and for the next step in our campaign we are urging our members, followers and supporters to write to Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy MP.
We’ve put together some useful bullet points below, to help you when compiling your letter. But it will be impactful if you also say why audio drama is so important to you personally (for some inspiration, watch some of the videos that campaign supporters posted during World Radio Day last month).
You can find details of how to email Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy MP here.
Do drop us a line to let us know if you have sent a letter (email john@writersguild.org.uk) and send us a copy if you are happy to do so.
You can find out other ways of getting involved in the campaign here.
Points you can make in your letter to Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy MP
What does the Radio 3 audio drama cut mean for listeners?
- BBC drama on Radio 3 is the UK’s only free-to-listen, 90-minute feature-length ‘high end’ audio drama slot – a slot the BBC has pioneered for years. Yet from April 2025 the BBC are making dramatic cuts to audio drama on Radio 3, completely eradicating it from the channel.
- Drama on 3 features original drama, adaptations and audio versions of hit theatre productions, much enjoyed by audiences. If the cut goes ahead, feature-length drama – plus great writing and great actors – will no longer be free and accessible, wherever you are in the UK, or the world.
- The BBC is a Public Service Broadcaster. Its mission is “to act in the public interest, serving all audiences through the provision of impartial, high-quality and distinctive output and services which inform, educate and entertain” – moving away from original scripted audio drama seems to be actively going against this.
- The removal of Radio 3 drama will impact young listeners, students, anyone on a low income; older listeners or listeners who are unable to leave their house; disabled listeners, anyone unable to visit theatres or pay for Audible or other services; parents, carers and anyone sick or isolated at home.
- Radio 3 audio drama is a natural companion to music programming, blending genres through spoken word, poetry or featuring live music, earning it a unique reputation as the ‘National Theatre of the Airwaves’.
What does the Radio 3 cut mean for UK drama?
- BBC Radio 3 is an engine room for new British drama.
- Alongside classical music, Radio 3 allows dramatists, actor-writers and producers to find, and tune, their own voices and fuels the ecosystem of British drama – the removal of these opportunities will be devastating for writers and actors alike.
- BBC Radio 3 drama showcases new talent through themed or compilation shorts.
- BBC Radio 3 drama also gives experienced writers and actors a chance to create unique, experimental stories. A roll-call of leading writers and actors who have worked on drama on Radio 3 can be found below.
- BBC drama on 3 can achieve all of this because it is relatively cheap to make and open to new talent. The BBC says drama on 3 is too expensive, yet audio drama is a fraction of the cost of TV drama.
- While recognising the financial pressures facing the BBC, the cut to Radio 3 audio drama would be short sighted, as audio drama production is on the rise elsewhere. The only beneficiary of these cuts would be large commercial US platforms such as Audible, allowing them to keep rates low and ignore the high contractual standards set by the BBC, which are often used as a benchmark within the wider audio drama industry.
- New writing and audio commissions from Radio 3 provide content for BBC Sounds, which would also be lost.
- The creative trade unions that represent the workers that fuel BBC Radio 3 audio drama have been given repeated assurances about the BBC’s commitment to audio drama, but have not seen that translated into action. Given that audio drama slots are also diminishing on Radio 4, the creative unions would like to see concrete commitments from the broadcaster to Save Audio Drama at the BBC as a matter of urgency.
Examples of some writers and actors who have worked on Radio 3 audio drama
Writers
Simon Armitage, Sebastian Baczkiewicz, Howard Barker, Neil Bartlett, Alan Bennett, Lolita Chakrabarti, Caryl Churchill, David Greig, Tanika Gupta, Lee Hall, David Hare, Zinnie Harris, David Harrower, Katie Hims, John Hodge, Charlotte Jones, Jackie Kay, Kwame Kwei-Armah, Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Tony Marchant, Linda Marshall-Griffiths, Abi Morgan, Phyllis Nagy, Joe Penhall, Mark Ravenhill, Jack Thorne, Debbie Tucker Green, Roy Williams, Winsome Pinnock, Timberlake Wertenbaker.
Actors
Adjoa Andoh, Lorraine Ashbourne, Simon Russell Beale, Sudha Bhuchar, Simon Callow, Peter Capaldi, Martin Freeman, Richard E.Grant, Toby Jones, Paterson Joseph, Tim McInnerny, Maxine Peake, Timothy Spall, Meera Syal, Samuel West.