Whitley, 21st September 2017 – Today Land Rover launches its first ever family‑friendly binaural podcast series that uses the immersive experience of 3D sound to encourage adventurers of all ages to get out and experience a British outdoor adventure in the car ‑ making it the perfect adventure whatever the weather. The entertainment series aims to bring the adventurous spirit of Land Rover to life, reflecting the brand’s ethos to get off the beaten track and discover.

Research into the car as a unique shared family environment published by Dr Jessica Pitt in 2017* found that a car journey provided the perfect ‘in between’ space allowing the chance for quality time together, whilst the nature of the space, down to the configuration of the seats, offered the ideal opportunity for a shared family experience without distraction. It was these findings that led Land Rover to see the value for its customers in Discovery Adventures.

Triple Olivier award‑winning sound designer, Gareth Fry, uses binaural recording to capture genuine 360° sound at fascinating UK locations, creating an immersive listening experience for this unique podcast series. Fry said “Binaural sound describes the way we, as human beings, perceive sound. Recording binaurally on‑location gives us a real sense of panorama, of landscape and our place within it, because binaural microphones pick up everything around us. So it really allows us to imagine we’re part of the story, in the heart of the action. To feel like we're actually experiencing the places we visit on our adventures.”

The Discovery Adventures podcasts offer a unique blend of fact and fiction drama guided by authentic and unique characters, including some of the country’s most renowned outdoor experts and national treasures; Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Chris Packham, Sir Ben Ainslie and Kate Silverton to name a few. Each episode will take listeners on an exhilarating journey, telling authentic stories based on specific UK destinations; engaging the listener beyond a traditional travel podcast. While the podcasts are primarily designed for an in‑car experience, people can also tune into each podcast wherever they are.

The podcast series will be released every Thursday for seven weeks from today and will be distributed by industry leading podcast experts, ACAST. To kick‑off the series, the first episode launched today is set in London’s Natural History Museum and can be downloaded here. The synopsis sees a child named Sam, his uncle and his dog, Rover, unravel a modern mystery of discovering who is behind nationwide GPS disruptions that transports them through some of Britain’s most evocative locations. The listener plays the role of ‘Sam’, and solves the mystery using radio expertise and the help of real National Treasure experts as characters they meet along the way.