In April & May 2007, the winners completed two intensive radio drama writing workshops at Channel 4. They worked with top radio drama experts, all chosen for their commitment to new talent and for their adventurous approach to the medium. Writer Annie Caulfield and director / producer John Dryden contributed as adjudicators and feature writers for Maud Hand in the earlier stages of this pioneering drama venture while writers Mike Walker, Katie Hims and Mike Bartlett; producer / sound designer & composer Nick Russell-Pavier and radio soap specialist, Penny Leicester added to the rich mix. A special thanks to Claire Grove, BBC Radio drama producer for sowing the seeds and making introductions. Adam Gee, Channel 4 New Media Commissioner and Nathalie Schwarz, then Head of Channel 4 Radio also contributed.

Annie Caulfield, travel writer, dramatist and broadcaster, has written and broadcast for the BBC from Australia to Zanzibar. She also co hosted a comic chat show with Sandi Toksig on LBC.  Recent radio projects include a comic drama on the life of Flann O'Brien for Radio 3 and a book on how to write for radio for Crowood Press 2009. She is currently writing a play about Algeria and researching a book about Ethiopia.

Mike Bartlett was part of the Royal Court’s Young Writers’ Programme in 2005. My Child, his first stage play was premiered there during his stint as writer in residence. Not Talking was his radio debut, directed by Claire Grove for BBC Radio 3 in 2006 for which he received the 2007 Tinniswood Award for Radio Drama Broadcast. Artefacts, his most recent play, produced by Nabakov, a new writing theatre company, toured nationally in 2008.

Katie Hims’ first stage play, Bill, produced at the Contact Theatre, was nominated for Best New Play in the Manchester Evening News Awards. Her second play The Breakfast Soldiers, produced in Manchester later at London’s Finborough Theatre, was  Time Out Critic’s Choice. Her stage play Wild Lunch was produced at the Alma Tavern in Bristol by Theatre West. Katie’s first radio play The Earth Quake Girl  won the Richard Imison Award and was nominated for a Writer’s Guild Award. She was writer in residence at BBC Radio Drama in 2001/02 and has written extensively for radio.  She’s written three episodes for Casualty and is a graduate of the National Film and Television School.

Mike Walker is one of the UK's leading radio dramatists and is also a feature and documentary writer and published author. His awards include the Drama Award (World Service) in 2001's Sony Radio Awards for his original play ALPHA, the 1991 Sony Award for Best Original Script and most recently a Sony Silver Community Award for the drama OXFORD ROAD. As well as writing original plays, Mike has adapted numerous books for Radio 4, both contemporary and classic, including WAR AND PEACE, DAVID COPPERFIELD, A DAY IN THE LIFE OF IVAN DENISOVICH and a number of Agatha Christie titles. He was part of the WESTWAY writing team for several years and wrote the script for THE DARK HOUSE - BBC Radio 4's first foray into interactive drama - which was broadcast in September 2003 and recently won a BAFTA interactive award. He has written several books, most recently LONG WAY HOME about a real life convict escape story, published by Wiley.

Nick Russell-Pavier wrote and directed his first play aged nine and he hasn’t stopped since. Following a BBC production traineeship, producing everything from parliamentary debates to the Proms, Nick established his own business in 1988, working as a composer, producer and writer in film, TV and radio. Credits include film scores for the only work for which Dennis Potter commissioned original music & music for John Pilger’s award winning TV documentaries. He’s a freelance composer and radio producer (for BBC Radio 4 and 3). In 2007 he produced and performed on Mark Fry’s new album Shooting the Moon for Boredidlebaby. He’s currently writing his second novel.

Penny Leicester grew up in the BBC as a studio manager, and worked across all output before settling in the Drama Script Unit as a reader and producer. She’s produced an array of programmes, from readings and poetry to soaps, classic serials and the single play. She now freelances producing and writing for the BBC, commercial groups, and independent companies. She is a consultant for BBCMPM: Romanian and Russian Soaps. Penny works with BBC Training & Development designing "tailor-made" courses, Drama workshops, and courses on Readings and Location Recordings.

John Dryden is an award-winning director and writer who has worked on many dramas for broadcasters in the UK including the BBC and Channel 4. He is currently working with producers Jane Scott and Martin McCallum on the feature film A SUITABLE BOY from the novel by Vikram Seth. His screenplay was selected for the six-month script development programme at the Binger FilmLab a script development programme based in Amsterdam.

Much of John’s work as a director has been for BBC radio for which he has pioneered what The Times newspaper described as, “a kind of movie for the wireless” with his productions of BLEAK HOUSE and FATHERLAND. He won this year’s Sony Radio Academy Award for best drama production for the ten-part serial “Q & A” which he directed. Other recent radio dramas include THE CAIRO TRILOGY staring Omar Sharif, which also won a Sony Radio Academy Award in 2007. He is currently writing and directing a thriller commissioned by the BBC set in Japan and directing an adaptation of Orhan Pamuk’s MY NAME IS RED in Turkey. He directed the short films THE BONE TRADE and ROAST CHICKEN, which was produced by Rutger Hauer’s Film Factory and screened at this year’s Rotterdam Film Festival.

Claire Grove is an award-winning BBC Radio Drama director & producer renowned for working with new writers on new plays. Though she trained initially as an actor, working for years with a clutch of small theatre companies - M6 Theatre Company, the Women’s Theatre Group and Spare Tyre, it was the directing breaks during that time that launched her. The well-known writer Bryony Lavery - Claire was "just an actor in her company at the time" - took her as director to the Edinburgh Festival. Claire then built up a bank of freelance work and fixed her sights on becoming a full-time artistic director, joining the BBC in 1990.

Adam Gee, New Media Commissioner, Factual
Channel 4is one of the most experienced commissioners in UK broadcasting of multiplatform interactive projects around TV. His projects range from Big Art Mob to Embarrassing Bodies, and of course The Play’s The Thing. He was responsible for setting up 4Talent, the Channel’s major cross-platform talent development initiative. He has won over 50 international awards for his productions - including a BAFTA, two RTS Awards, the inaugural Media Guardian Innovation Award, and the Grand Award at the New York International Film & Television Festival.

Nathalie Schwarz is Chair of 4 Digital Group, the consortium that won the licence from Ofcom to run the second national commercial DAB multiplex in June 2007. Led by Channel 4 Radio, it brings together a formidable multi-media alliance comprising some of the biggest names in radio, television, publishing, retail, technical expertise and data innovation. The 4 Digital Group Shareholders are Channel 4 Radio, H Bauer (formerly EMAP Digital Radio Limited), UTV Radio (GB) Limited, BSkyB, The Carphone Warehouse Group plc and UBC Media Group plc.

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