• by Fern Siegel , January 16, 2024

A novel awareness campaign underscores the pain of those whose loved ones go missing every year.

The new audiobook narrated by actor Stephen Fry — "The Missing Lines"  — which frustrated listeners with its abrupt ending, is a campaign for the U.K. charity Missing People.

The House 337 agency created the work. The podcast is here on Apple or Spotify.

Listeners found the story ended abruptly after three minutes — when Marcus, the main character, goes missing after being coerced into working with a drug gang. The next eight chapters are silence. There is no resolution to the story, similar to the pain experienced in real life.

Fry, a patron of the organization, explains in the final chapter that the podcast is not broken, but a partnership with the U.K. Missing People charity.

Fry's participation is personal. He went missing in 1995, abruptly leaving a play in the middle of the run and found later in Belgium. Diagnosed with bipolar disorder, he eventually got the treatment he needed and was reunited with his family.

The actor was also involved in a digital OOH push to promote the UK Child’s Rescue Alert to speed up reports of missing children.

The agency has been promoting "Missing People" on audio network Acast, via other podcasts and hosts, and through influencers across social platforms.

In addition, House 337 designed a cover for the book; the artwork was displayed on more than 60 DOOH sites donated by Ocean Outdoor, and across 250 sites donated by JC Decaux across the U.K.

Steve Hawthorne, creative director at House 337, said: “We needed to do something a bit unusual to even begin getting across how it feels for the families and loved ones of people who go missing. And we were only able to do that thanks to an army of talented people donating their time and talent. From the vocal skills of Stephen Fry, to the audio wizardry of Wave, to the podcast expertise of Adelicious and Listen."

More than 170,000 people run away and go missing each year in the UK, according to the charity. Its site has additional information.