2026 Charles Parker Prize - Winners announced
Charles Parker Day 2026 was held at the University of Salford’s magnificent Media City campus on Friday 8th May. The enthusiastic audience in the Digital Media Performance Lab heard extracts from the ten nominated programmes selected by the panel of judges, chaired by Charles Parker trustee and former BBC Creative Director, Simon Elmes.
Paying tribute to the consistently high quality of all the nominees, Hugh Levinson, BBC Commissioning Editor, then announced the five nominated programmes he has selected for this year’s New Storytellers series on Radio 4 in the summer.
They are:
After Confession - Sarah Frosh (In The Dark Radio)
Justice For Harry Stanley - Tara Darby (In The Dark Radio)
Minor Swing - Willem Fisk-Nicholson (University of Sunderland)
Proud - Kyra Edwards (University of West London)
Unzipping a Community - Luned Roberts (University of Manchester)
Congratulating the winner for the excellence of her piece, Simon Elmes announced the jury’s unanimous decision in presenting the Charles Parker Gold Award for Student Audio Feature to Sarah Frosh, of In the Dark Radio for her programme, After Confession.
“The element of surprise is very present in the piece,” said the judges in their citation. “I like the maker’s curiosity about the receivers of confessions – an original subject for an audio feature and a great concept well delivered. At virtually no stage was I not held and carried forward by the material, the sound and above all the ideas that this feature dealt with. Top class work.”
The remaining citations:
Justice For Harry Stanley - Tara Darby (In The Dark Radio)
“I found this compelling”. It was “a meticulously made piece of gripping and tragic history, beautifully recorded and subtly realised. The use of sound was really clever and the whole piece was moving, well researched and put together. Remarkably high quality work.”
Minor Swing - Willem Fisk-Nicholson (University of Sunderland)
“A nice idea for a feature: hating the constant intrusion of the music his mam played every morning and then taking the time to find out more about it. One of those ‘room to breathe’ pieces that got me thinking about how much we take for granted as children and how it pays to re-evaluate things from time to time. With great, lively narration it sounds like a broadcast-ready piece. All in all a lovely, informative listen.”
Proud - Kyra Edwards (University of West London)
“I really liked this. I appreciated being taken right into the heart of family life not often represented in mainstream audio. Heartwarming conversations, funny, lively; and the contributors speak so honestly and openly about the pressures of religion and culture, it becomes quite acute at times. It’s sad to hear the young woman struggling in real time with the issue.”
Unzipping a Community - Luned Roberts (University of Manchester)
“This programme is made with passion, and well narrated. Memorable, with really strong interviews with a great range of voices, layered with nice music. A great circular structure, mixing the fun of the zip line with the tragedy of the quarry. All in all a very strong piece.”
The programmes will be broadcast as part of the New Storytellers series on BBC Radio 4 from Monday to Friday, 27–31 July 2026 at 1.45pm.