Bill Nighy's Agony Uncle Podcast Ill-Advised Wins Best Host at British Podcast Awards

Bill Nighy has added another trophy to a career more commonly associated with film sets and theatre stages, taking home the prize for best host at the British Podcast Awards. The 76-year-old actor was recognised on Thursday at the 10th annual ceremony for his series Ill-Advised, a show that has repositioned him from leading man to something approaching a national agony uncle. He prevailed in a competitive category that included figures such as Louis Theroux, Katherine Ryan and Lily Allen.

The award organisers described Ill-Advised as an "irresistibly endearing series", a phrase that captures the tone of a programme built around wry counsel rather than hard-hitting journalism or celebrity interrogation. Billed as "a podcast for people who don't get out much and can't handle it when they do", the show allows Nighy to offer listeners gently humorous advice while reflecting on subjects including life, music and books. It is a format that leans heavily on the host's established persona - urbane, self-deprecating and quietly eccentric.

For an actor whose screen credits include Love Actually, Living and the Underworld franchise, the win represents a notable second act in audio. Nighy is not the first established screen performer to find a receptive audience in podcasting, but his success illustrates how the medium rewards personality and consistency over production spectacle. The victory also follows recognition earlier in the year, when Ill-Advised was named podcast of the year at the Broadcasting Press Guild Awards in March, suggesting the show has resonated with critics as well as listeners.

The ceremony, held on Thursday, marked a decade of the British Podcast Awards and spread its honours across a wide range of genres and producers. Pete Wicks, a familiar face from reality television, collected two awards for Man Made, a series in which he attempts to "unpack modern masculinity". The show was named best interview podcast and best health and wellbeing podcast, a double that underscores the growing appetite for male-focused conversations about identity and mental health.

Sean Bean, another actor with a long screen career, also enjoyed a successful night. His birdwatching series Get Birding took two prizes, for best lifestyle podcast and best video innovation. The latter award points to an increasingly important dimension of the podcast industry, where visual components - filmed sessions, social clips and video-first distribution - are used to reach audiences who consume audio content through platforms such as YouTube.

The evening's most significant prize went to a very different kind of production. Hold or Fold, made by the Prison Radio Association, was named best podcast overall, taking the top honour known as podcast of the year. The series examines problem gambling, a subject with clear public interest dimensions, and it also won the award for best factual podcast. Its success places a socially focused project from a prison-based organisation at the centre of an industry event often dominated by commercial networks and celebrity vehicles.

Other winners reflected the breadth of the sector. Alan Carr and Lee Peart won best food and drink podcast for Bottoms Up!, their comedy and wine series. The BBC World Service was named best network or publisher, while BBC Audio Wales and West of England took best arts and culture podcast for Legend: The Bruce Springsteen Story. The Economist's daily show The Intelligence won best daily podcast, and The Guardian's The Birth Keepers was named best documentary podcast.

Political and current affairs coverage was represented by The Wargame, a collaboration between Sky News and Tortoise, which won best news, politics and current affairs podcast. In the fiction category, Project Bläckfisk from Cipher Atlas Productions took the prize, while Coining It won best true crime podcast. Specialist and impact awards went to The Dementia Perspective and SEND in the Spotlight respectively, highlighting how podcasting continues to serve niche and underserved audiences.

The Listeners' Choice award, decided by public vote, went to Hard Launch with Dan & Phil, hosted by the YouTube veterans Dan Howell and Phil Lester. Their win demonstrates the crossover between online video audiences and podcast listenership, and the loyalty that longstanding internet personalities can bring to an audio format. It also reflects a broader trend in which creators with existing digital followings move into podcasting with a ready-made audience.

The ceremony also recognised newer voices and independent production. Georgie Styles received the rising star award, while Do I Detect A Problem? was named best new podcast. The Factory Next Door won best business podcast, Talking Rubbish took best education podcast, and NewlyParents was named best entertainment podcast. In the growing parenting category, the ADHD Women's Wellbeing Podcast won, and Atonement: The John Paulk Story took best sex and relationships podcast.

Sport was represented by That Peter Crouch Podcast, which won best sport podcast, while The House at Number 48 won best history podcast and Audiomoves in Space was named best kids podcast. Hanes Mawr Cymru won best Welsh language podcast, and Dish from Waitrose with Nick Grimshaw & Angela Hartnett received the spotlight award. The range of winners, from prison radio to comedy wine shows, illustrates how far the medium has expanded since the awards began a decade ago.

For Nighy, the best host award caps a year in which his podcasting work has attracted attention beyond the usual entertainment pages. His appeal in the format rests on the same qualities that have sustained his acting career: timing, warmth and a knack for finding humour in ordinary anxieties. Whether the success of Ill-Advised will encourage more established actors to experiment with audio remains to be seen, but the show's reception suggests that listeners are receptive to famous voices when they are used in service of something more intimate than promotion.

The British Podcast Awards, now in their 10th year, continue to function as a snapshot of a maturing industry. The list of winners ranges from public service broadcasters and national newspapers to independent collectives and prison-based producers, with video innovation and listener voting reflecting changing consumption habits. Taken together, the results indicate a sector that is broadening its subject matter and its talent pool at the same time as it celebrates the star power that brings new audiences through the door.