| Forest 404 | |
| Starring: | Pearl Mackie |
| Genre: | Science fiction podcast |
| Creator: | |
| Director: | Becky Ripley |
| Voices: | |
| Language: | British English |
| Length: | 10–20 minutes |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Production: | Graham Wild |
| Theme Music Composer: | Bonobo |
| Num Seasons: | 1 |
| Num Episodes: | 27 |
| Began: | 5 March 2019 |
| Ended: | 1 April 2019 |
| Provider: | BBC Radio 4 |
| Fetchwikidata: | ALL |
Forest 404 is a science fiction podcast written by Timothy X Atack and starring Pearl Mackie. The project was a collaboration among BBC Radio 4, the BBC Natural History Unit, the University of Bristol, the University of Exeter, and the Open University. The show is composed of nine episodes each accompanied by a soundscape and discussion on the show's themes. The narrative of the show follows a data analyst from the 24th century who discovers recordings of the natural world and finds that the audio has a profound effect on its listener. The show received mostly positive reviews and in 2020 won both a WGGB award and an ARIAS award. The show also included an academic study led by Alex Smalley.
The project was a collaboration among BBC Radio 4, the BBC Natural History Unit, the Open University, the University of Bristol, and the University of Exeter. The show was written by Timothy X Atack, produced and directed by Becky Ripley, with theme music by Bonobo, and sound design by Graham Wild. Timothy X Atack credited works by Ursula K. Le Guin, and his own experiences in the BBC Archives of natural history sounds, as influences in the creation of Forest 404.
The 27-part series is composed of nine narrative episodes each accompanied by a soundscape and a discussion on the themes. The show uses binaural recording. The show was first released on BBC Sounds and later broadcast on BBC Radio 4, and was also made available as a box set.
The story is set in the 24th century after a catastrophe where most of the world's digital information was lost. The protagonist of the story, a data analyst named Pan, is tasked with reviewing the remaining recordings that survived the catastrophe and deleting any unnecessary data. While going through the audio files, Pan encounters a recording of a rainforest from the 21st century. Having never seen a rainforest or even a tree, the recording intrigues her and she begins investigating. She discovers more incomprehensible recordings and learns that these sounds can be dangerous or even deadly to the listener. When Daria—Pan's boss and potential love interest—informs the authorities, they begin to track her down to stop the spread of what they consider a virus. Fleeing from the authorities, Pan finds a woman named Theia who is caring for the last living tree. Pan discovers that the recordings are of the natural world, which has since been destroyed by humans. Listening to the sounds causes some to go mad with the realization that humans were responsible for the destruction of nature. The story ends with Pan broadcasting the audio file titled "Forest 404" from a radio tower.
| overall | in series | Title | Length (minutes:seconds) | Original release date |
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The Guardian called Forest 404 "darkly funny but also infuriating", and "a drama that niggles as much as it intrigues." Sam Fritz at the Mississippi Valley Conservancy recommended the podcast, noting that "The diverse topics around each episode ground the fiction within an application of our own world, helping listeners analyze each episode and picture themselves in the world." The Australian Broadcasting Corporation praised the show for its experimentation.
| Award | Date | Category | Result | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prix Europa | 2019 | Best European Digital Audio Project | |||
| BBC Audio Drama Awards | 2020 | Best Podcast or Online Audio Drama | |||
| Writers' Guild of Great Britain Awards | 2020 | Best Radio Drama | |||
| Audio and Radio Industry Awards | 2020 | Best Fictional Storytelling | |||
| Earphones Awards | 2021 | Science Fiction |
Forest 404 also featured an embedded academic study, led by Alex Smalley at the University of Exeter. Designed to deepen understanding into people's responses to the sounds of nature, the study marked one of the largest natural soundscape experiments ever conducted, with 7,596 people taking part.
Findings from this research were published in the peer-reviewed journal Global Environmental Change in May 2022. Outcomes demonstrated that soundscapes featuring the sounds of wildlife, such as bird song, were considered more psychologically restorative than those without. Participants who had memories triggered by these sounds were also more likely to find them psychologically restorative, and exhibited a greater motivation to preserve them—an outcome with implications for conservation efforts.