David Tennant leads a list of nominees for the inaugural BBC Audio Drama awards for his role in BBC Radio 3's Kafka – the Musical, written by Doctor Who composer Murray Gold. 

The play is a biography of Franz Kafka's life but the story is told using the idea that Kafka is trapped into performing himself in a musical. Suitably nightmarish, it's about how we have so little time to grasp what is happening to ourselves before we face a final curtain.

RT's radio editor Jane Anderson said of Tennant's performance: "From nervous stutters through to grunting intercourse [it] is nuanced with such sadness that it's impossible to get to the end without weeping."

Other stars included in the nominations are Damian Lewis for Giovanni's Room on Radio 3 and June Whitfield for A Monstrous Vitality on Radio 4. 

Best audio drama production nominees include Shelagh Stephenson's Alone in Berlin, Matthew Solon's Five Days in May and Brian Sibley's The History of Titus Groan.

The awards are specifically meant to acknowledge audio, rather than solely radio, drama so that they include both broadcast and online works. The ceremony will be presented by David Tennant himself at the BBC Radio Theatre in Broadcasting House on 29 January.