Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Mackenzie Crook and Sarah Kendall are among the winners of this year's Writers' Guild Awards.

The Writers’ Guild of Great Britain (WGGB) announced the winners for outstanding achievement in writing for film, television, radio, theatre, comedy, books and videogames categories at a ceremony at the Royal College of Physicians in London on Monday night. Hosted by writer and actor Joanna Scanlan (Getting On, No Offence), the prestigious event honoured the cream of British UK writing talent in front of an audience from a range of creative industries. Presenters included Josie Lawrence, Stephen McGann, Peter Bowker, Helen Lederer, Paul Mayhew Archer, Jay Parini, Debbie McAndrew, Doon Mackichan and Sheena Kalayil.

Phoebe Waller-Bridge picked up the award for Best Long Form TV Drama for the smash-hit drama Killing Eve for Episode 5, I Have A Thing About Bathrooms, starring Golden Globe winner Sandra Oh. Acclaimed comedy Detectorists, written by and starring Mackenzie Crook, scooped the Best TV Situation Comedy award.    

Sarah Kendall took home the award for Best Radio Comedy for the second year in a row, for Sarah Kendall: Australian Trilogy Volume 2 - Part 1 - 'Seventy-Three Seconds', while Best Radio Drama went to Alex Ganley,  and Richard Monks for Stone.

Best Long Running TV Series award went to BBC drama Coronation Street, Episode 9451/2 written by Jonathan Harvey, and picking up the award for Best Children’s TV were Vicki Lutas and Anna McCleery for Free Rein - Episode 207 Bob.   

The award for the Best Play went to Frances Poet for Gut, and Tim Crouch scooped the award for Best Play for Young Audiences with Beginners. Other winners included Mary Lynn Bracht, who picked up the Best First Novel award for her debut White Chrysanthemum; Best Writing in a Video Game was won by  for Reigns: Her Majesty, while Hannah George and Tasha Dhanraj walked away with the Best Online Comedy award for Where Are You From?  The Game.  

It was a big night for celebrating female writers, who won in 9 of the 16 awards across theatre, TV, radio, comedy, books and videogames categories. This is particularly significant given the findings of WGGB’s 2018 Equality Writes research. The shocking figures revealed that only 16% of all working screenwriters in film in the UK are female and the percentage of UK TV episodes that were predominantly female-written stood at just 28%. This dips to only 14% for women writing for prime-time TV, and just 11% in comedy. It also reinforces the finding that women’s writing is more commercially and critically successful than average, so the inequalities are not market-driven.

During the ceremony WGGB Chair Gail Renard and WGGB Comedy Co-Chair Dave Cohen paid tribute to television host and leading comedy writer Denis Norden CBE and radio and television scriptwriter Ray Galton, plus other WGGB members who sadly passed away in the last year.

Host Joanna Scanlan said of the event; "It’s an honour to host the Writers’ Guild Awards.  The event is a wonderful opportunity to recognise and celebrate the writing talent we have.  There have been so many amazing pieces of work across all disciplines and it is thrilling to see new stories from writers established or brand new being celebrated. It is especially encouraging to see women writers scooping a number of the awards for their brilliant and entertaining work, highlighting that it’s about time that there is more equality for women writers.”

Full list of Writers’ Guild Awards 2019 Winners:  

Outstanding Contribution to Writing

Presenter: Dame Pippa Harris

Heidi Thomas

Best Online Comedy 

Presenter: Doon Mackichan

Where Are You From?  The Game by Hannah George and Tasha Dhanraj

Best Long Running TV Series

Presenter: Peter Bowker

Coronation Street, Episode 9451/2 by Jonathan Harvey

Best Writing in a Video Game

Presenter: Dan Pinchbeck

Reigns: Her Majesty by Leigh Alexander

Best Children’s TV Episode

Presenter: Debbie Moon

Free Rein - Episode 207 Bob by Vicki Lutas and Anna McCleery

Best Radio Comedy

Presenter: Paul Mayhew Archer

Sarah Kendall: Australian Trilogy Volume 2 - Part 1 - 'Seventy-Three Seconds' by Sarah Kendall

Best Long Form TV Drama

Presenter: Stephen McGann

Killing Eve, Episode 5, I Have A Thing About Bathrooms by Phoebe Waller-Bridge

Best First Novel

Presenter: Sheena Kalayil

White Chrysanthemum by Mary Lynn Bracht

Best First Screenplay

Presenter: Tom Williams

Apostasy by Daniel Kokotajlo

Best Radio Drama

Presenter: Tim Stimpson

Stone by Alex Ganley, Martin Jameson, Vivienne Harvey, Cath Staincliffe and Richard Monks

Best Play for Young Audiences

Presenter: Roy Wiliams 

Beginners by Tim Crouch

Best Play

Presenter: Debbie McAndrew

Gut by Frances Poet

Best Screenplay

Presenter: Jay Parini

American Animals by Bart Layton

Best TV Situation Comedy

Presenter: Helen Lederer

Detectorists by Mackenzie Crook

Best Short Form TV Drama

Presenter: Josie Lawrence

A Very English Scandal by Russell T Davies

Best Musical Theatre Bookwriting

Presenter: Samuel Adamson

Everybody’s Talking about Jamie by Tom MacRae