Two of our brilliant past winner have new podcasts available for free. Have you been listening to?…..

Tim X Atack: Forest 404

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 an 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.

Listen here

Tim X Atack won the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting in 2017 for his play HEARTWORM.

Meet the Shortlist- Tim X Atack

Tim Foley: North West Footwear Database

Stories from a strange institution hidden in the Peak District. Please take off your socks and shoes…

“The North West Footwear Database is a weird audio serial about a strange institution in the Peak District. It’s full of spooks and synths and scares and shoes, as you try to get to the heart of the facility’s many mysteries.

I was researching crime scene forensics for another project, and I came across a reference to a footprint archive used by the police. I assumed it was an actual place, until a few pages later it was clear that it was all online. But I’d already started constructing the building in my head. It was a creepy warehouse in a rural landscape. This workplace would be magical, yet mundane, and I wanted the staff to be lovable and bizarre. I started writing some scenes and playing around with synths, and before I knew it I’d decided to make a podcast. It was the perfect medium – a solo voice against a strange soundscape. Plus it was something I could do on my own in a rather warm cupboard” Tim Foley

Listen here 

Tim Foley won a Bruntwood Prize Judges Award in 2017 for his play ELECTRIC ROSARY

Meet the Shortlist- Tim Foley