TV show re-builds the Titanic
ALMOST 100 years after Titanic sank, the mighty ship is coming back to life in a new TV series.
Production company Twenty Twenty Television is reconstructing key elements of Titanic - such as the anchor, first and third class cabins and the ship's bow - in a bid to showcase the level of expertise of British manufacturing in the Edwardian era.
Filming for the five-part "We Built Titanic" series is under way and producer Spencer Kelly explained that as well as re-building parts of the original ship, they are also interviewing people who worked on it.
"It was a time of high manufacturing in Northern Ireland and across the UK - Titanic was a showcase for this manufacturing," he said.
"A lot of stuff was made all over the UK to go to this vessel - we want to use that as a way of exploring Edwardian society.
"We are interviewing riveters and relatives of other people who would have worked on Titanic.
"There is a lot of stuff centred around Belfast in the first programme and then it broadens out quite a lot. For example, Titanic's anchor was made by Hinkley & Sons in the West Midlands."
However, Mr Kelly said it was not all plain sailing as in some cases they had to go on guesswork for some of the details.
"There are no colour pictures of the first class smoking room so we are having to look for any little clues, there are a lot of mysteries," he said.
The parts are being made in England but the bow will be brought to the Northern Ireland Science Park - beside the Thompson Dock where Titanic was originally built - to be assembled, while the first and third class cabins will be assembled at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum.
Mervyn Watley, of the Northern Ireland Science Park, said the production company had already filmed the first programme of the series at the Thompson dock and the pump house and they are set to return in June for two weeks to film the assembling of the bow.
The bow will measure around 10 metres tall and is just a quarter of the height of the completed ship - however, Mr Watley said it will still give a good sense of scale.
"People will be able to look at a cross section and see just how thick the steel is," he said.
"The production company will be using the authentic ways of building it, using hot riveting with heated-up long pieces of metal hammered together.
"We would hope Channel 4 might leave the bow here after they finish as a gift to Belfast."
Meanwhile, the anchor is being made to scale at Forgemasters in Sheffield - one of the few places left in the world capable of such an undertaking.
The cost of producing the anchor is approximately 50,000 and in a bid to recoup some of these costs, the production company has quoted a price of 20,000 to Belfast City Council to secure the anchor.
The council has already ringfenced 6,000 towards the purchase of the replica Titanic anchor, subject to the remaining costs being provided by other funders and organisations.
We Built Titanic is expected to be screened on Channel 4 in September.
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