"There was, of course, a surge of interest in the Titanic in the late 90s thanks to James Cameron's Oscar-bothering blockbuster and there has been a steady stream of documentaries, dramas and podcasts about its demise ever since, some more sensitive than others (among the less tactful offerings: the 2010 film Titanic II directed by Dick Van Dyke's grandson Shane a cash-in about a replica ship ravaged by a tsunami)."
"Occasionally, the subject matter lurches starkly from the past back into the present. In June 2023, five people died on board an experimental submersible made by the company OceanGate; its passengers had hoped to see the liner's rusting wreckage up close. Titanic Sinks Tonight is a part-documentary, part-drama series playing across four nights, its episodes constructed from letters and diaries written by those on board, as well as interviews the survivors would give in the decades after."
"On the strength of the two episodes released for review, there's no denying that it sates our appetite for Titanic-themed content. However, in centring the words and memories of those who lived through the terror of that night, it restores much-needed agency to those people. It also does well to bring a sense of reality to events that can sometimes feel unreal on account of their ubiquity, and that uncanny valley of Titanic-themed media."
Interest in the Titanic surged after the late 1990s blockbuster and continues through a steady stream of documentaries, dramas and podcasts. Some derivative works have been tactless, including a 2010 cash-in film about a replica ship. A 2023 OceanGate submersible tragedy linked past wreck fascination to present risks. Titanic Sinks Tonight combines documentary and drama across four nights, using letters, diaries and survivor interviews to reconstruct the night. The series centers survivors' words to restore their agency and humanize familiar events. Historians and experts, including Suzannah Lipscomb and former Royal Navy admiral Lord West, provide factual sharpening.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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