The BBC’s four-part dramatised documentary series detailing the sinking of the Titanic is set to air on BBC Two and iPlayer from December 28th.
First announced last year, Titanic Sinks Tonight tells the tragedy’s story in real time and uses documents such as public enquiry findings, eye witness accounts, letters, radio interviews, and memoirs to provide a complete picture of the most famous 160 minutes in maritime history.
The BBC says “Nothing is invented, there are no “‘composite characters’, just the real words and memories of Titanic passengers and crew, revealing what it was like to be there that night.”
The first episode introduces audiences to the liner’s crew and passengers as it makes it way to New York.
Subsequent episodes capture the ship’s evacuation and show how panic set in when people started to realise there were not enough lifeboat places for everyone on board.
The final episode details how those still on board faced their fates, including designer Thomas Andrews’ desperate bid to help others and crew members who resorted to a farewell drink to the people in the lifeboats who watched in horror as Titanic split in two.
Titanic Sinks Tonight was produced by Stellify Media and was the first production to use Studio Ulster’s virtual production technology.
Series Director Hugh Ballantyne has said use of the technology “allowed the team to world build in an entirely new way, creating depth and scale for our series.”
“Most of our visual effects were created in advance so we could shoot them ‘in camera’ rather than building them and assembling in post-production.”
“Once we had broken our scenes down, we were able to recce a 3D scale model of the ship with a VR headset to discover where each sequence would take place.”
“The drama was all shot in the studio, apart from one scene, which we shot on a replica of the Titanic’s staircase, at the Titanic Museum.”