Can you feel loss for something you’ve never known? It’s the 24th Century and archivist Pan finds an old sound recording made in the Sumatran rainforest. Gibbons howl from treetops, flies buzz the microphone. But Pan has no idea what it is. Because forests no longer exist…

Dim the lights and enter the post-biological world of Forest 404, for an exclusive audio screening of this immersive new eco-thriller from BBC Sounds. Starring Pearl Mackie (Dr Who), Tanya Moodie (Sherlock) & Pippa Haywood (Greenwing), with archive recordings from BBC Bristol’s Natural History Unit and original music by Bonobo.

Confronting climate change and species extinction through the lens of a not-too-distant future, Forest 404 is the first UK audio drama to top the iTunes podcast charts. Each episode of the podcast is accompanied by a TED-talk style exploration of the facts behind the fiction, and by an immersive soundscape.

Listeners can also take part in The Forest 404 Experiment, exploring the effects of listening to the sounds of the natural world. Sounds that, one day, we may grieve the loss of.

In the Dark is an events series celebrating the best in audio storytelling from around the world. The communal lights-out listening to Forest 404 will be followed by an exclusive Q&A with the podcast’s Bristol-based creators – writer and Pervasive Media Studio resident Timothy X Atack and director Becky Ripley.

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