TV satisfies history fix on Titanic disaster
Drowning in Titanic commemorations? Well, hang onto your lifejacket, because airing tonight are several shows in one: Titanic is a four-part costume drama, written by Downton Abbey and Gosford Park creator Julian Fellowes, to mark the centenary of the world’s most famous disaster at sea.
The series aired in weekly instalments nearly a month ago on Global, but if you missed it, ABC is showing Parts 1 to 3 tonight, followed by Part 4 tomorrow — the actual day the ship sank in 1912.
Shot in Budapest on a massive two-tier set, Titanic uses both fictional and historical characters to recreate the disaster. Their narratives are developed, and gradually interwoven, over tonight’s first three episodes, each of which ends in a cliffhanger as the ship begins to founder. Tomorrow’s final episode will draw the different stories together, and reveal who survives.
Because of the strict class segregations on the ship, it’s kind of like the British TV series, Upstairs, Downstairs, but on water. You’ve got your first-, second- and thirdclass passengers, your engineers, your cabin stewards, your servants and your waiters.
Reviews have been mixed, but Postmedia News’ Alex Strachan wrote, “It is worth seeing, though, thanks in no small part to Fellowes’ decision to tell his story using flashbacks and fast-forwards. Each hour-long instalment begins and ends at a different point in the Titanic’s voyage, and the pace never flags.”
As a point of interest, the sets constructed for the series in Budapest were themselves titanic, containing a representation of 60 metres of the ship’s promenade deck and 50 metres of the boat deck. Other sets featured 75 metres of internal corridors and rooms, such as the ship’s bridge, pursers’ offices, staterooms for the different classes, dining rooms and boiler rooms.
The production also involved the construction of the largest indoor water tank in Europe. The 900-square-metre tank contained an immersible section representing part of the ship’s interior and decks. (ABC; Part 4 tomorrow) • Still not sunk by all things Titanic? In the documentary, Titanic: The Canadian Story, you’ll learn that, among the 2,200 passengers and crew aboard, 130 men, women and children were bound for Canada. Using first-hand accounts of the tragedy and recollections of family members still alive today, this film tells the stories of those who lived and those who perished. This is Part 1; Part 2 airs tomorrow. (CBC News Network) • Long before Titanic, the miniseries, there was A Night to Remember, the 1958 classic re-creation of the sinking adapted from the bestselling book by Walter Lord. Compared to James Cameron’s 1997 blockbuster, historians say this docudrama is more accurate — despite its modest production values. (Turner Classic Movies)
• Ellen Degeneres has her own talk show, has starred in sitcoms, written books, and championed animal rights. But she started her career as a standup comic, and returns to those roots tonight with a solo special called Ellen Degeneres: Here and Now. Taped at New York City’s Beacon Theatre before a live audience, the special showcases the kind of humour that first made her a star, offering her offbeat insights into everyday life. (Comedy Network)