BBC Factual and BBC Northern Ireland have announced Titanic Sinks Tonight, a new four-part docudrama that will chronicle the sinking of the famous ship in real time. The series will reconstruct the events of the night of April 14, 1912, on a minute-by-minute basis.
The production uses a cast of actors to portray the first-hand accounts of the 2,208 passengers and crew. These dramatized scenes are based on a vast archive of eyewitness testimony, including personal letters, telegrams, memoirs, and records from the official U.S. and U.K. inquiries into the disaster. The first images from the series feature Rhys Mannion as First Class passenger Jack Thayer and Vicky Allen as First Class stewardess Violet Jessop.
In addition to the dramatizations, the series will include analysis from a range of contributors. Ex-marine JJ Chalmers, historian Professor Suzannah Lipscomb, Admiral Lord West, and authors Nadifa Mohamed and Jeanette Winterson will provide expert commentary on the events.
Titanic Sinks Tonight was filmed in Northern Ireland, utilizing virtual production technology at Studio Ulster. The cast also includes Tyger Drew-Honey as Harold Bride, Patrick Buchanan as Bruce Ismay, and Gerry O’Brien as Captain Smith. A premiere date has not yet been announced.
