Titanic Sinks Tonight

[Aquarius1234]

Couldn't see another thread..

Docu Drama about that fatal night in 4 episodes with a countdown clock.

Surprised it's quite good, very binge worthy!!!

Also I felt there was a bit of implied criticism of Officer Boxhall who'd been ordered to go round to the other side of the ship and collect passengers for his lifeboat. When he saw a vast number of desperate people, he chose to stay back because he worried they would mob the boat and it would sink with the numbers of people trying to get in it.

What the commentator said about him exercising his authority and doing his job was quite harsh I thought. Boxhall was probably right in his thinking, and how could he, one man, control a desperate group of people? Was he supposed to shoot them like the other officer had done?!

I found the bit about the upturned lifeboat sobering. That men were balancing on the hull and someone swam up and asked if he could come up and was told no. So pretty much said good luck chaps and swam off (to die).

I also hadn’t realised that the Carpathia stopped 4 miles away from them and they had to row the lifeboats that distance to her. They must have been so cold and exhausted and had to keep going.

I read a bit more about the Carpathia stopping 4 miles away because it seemed really bizarre.

Apparently it stopped at the first lifeboat it came across, and because the other lifeboats were spread out over a large area it would have been difficult for it to go to them all.

They would all have seen where it was so better for them to go to it.

But 4 miles!!! Bloody hell.

There were apparently 33 on top of that upturned boat! No wonder they eventually turned people away.

@TeideHeart same. Also because apparently they were worried about not seeing a small lifeboat (and I assume worried about running one over). They had to dodge icebergs en route as well.

Watching the 2nd episode now and it's really hitting home how horrific the whole situation was for everyone involved 😢

I wonder what it was like for the Carpathia when it turned up and there were 18 lifeboats floating about with a few hundred people in them, and no Titanic.

Did the crew think there'd still be signs of it in the water? It must have been so unreal for them just to come across those lifeboats and nothing else.

How long would it take to row 4 miles? Can you imagine if the sea hadn't been calm that night. I still think then having to clamber up a rope ladder when exhausted and frozen is almost unthinkable. But that sense of relief once you were on board - safe and warm. Unbelievable.

Not the no spoilers lol

Would you worry though until you were safely on dry land? I'm sure a lot of them were hyperaware of any creak or groan the Carpathia made en route to NY.

What a whole load of generational trauma there must have been in the 1910s as a whole.

This was everything that god awful James Cameron film should have been. Thank you BBC

Oh, yes, I'm sure you'd still be on edge. I was going to say that the Carpathia would be fully aware of the iceberg danger so it would be as safe as it could be but, of course, the nurse did end up in the Brittanic when that sank 😦

A very well constructed and executed series. I've watched all four episodes across several days, plus the 11 min 'Extra' on the later lives of a few survivors. It's so intense, I had to take long breaks in some episodes, just to let the story settle before continuing.

What made this a standout for me, was the commentary and contextualisation from authors and historians. I thought Jeanette Winterson and Nadifa Mohamed were particularly excellent. Really aided my reflection and interpreted the myriad of experiences and actions in terms of the era as well as wider human nature.

I don't watch much TV nowadays, or even many films, but am so very glad I made an exception for this.

I thought it was excellent and am listening to the podcast recommended above right now- which is also excellent.

The engineers were so brave. The largest of the Titanic memorials in Southampton (near me) is actually to the engineers, who were all lost. They kept the power going as long as they could.

Thank you for this thread OP.
Most of my thoughts have been mentioned already, but two things that had never occurred to me and I think how stupid I am not to realise and understand:

No tannoy or loud speaker system to tell passengers and crew what is happening, they had to work it out for themselves. The lower decks.

The hierarchy within the crew meant that those in the boiler room couldn’t just run up through 10 decks to tell the Captain what was going on.

It was 110 years ago though. A brilliant series, I’ve watched it twice.

Like others I was absolutely gripped by this, I had to really pay attention. There was so much going on.

The commentators were also brilliant. The contrast they set, especially how it was incomprehensible that this giant brand new ship could fail - really made me think.

And the overt hierarchies, minute by minute accounts.

I read more about the Californians response - it seemed like there were mixed accounts, it sounded like the weather conditions weren't favourable, mirages of light making it difficult to see, signs appeared to be missed through human interpretation, it was maddening as they were so near and could have saved everyone.

Thanks for the podcast link.

Think that obviously among many things makes it so sad and tragic. That so many deaths could've been avoided and it just depended for some on who was in charge of the lifeboats. To send some away so empty when so many on board..

There was so much that could have been avoided that went wrong

The closest ship not responding to flares
The wireless operator on the other ship going off duty and not picking up messages from Titanic
The near empty lifeboats
The misunderstanding about 'women and children only' and 'women and children first'
The lifeboats not prepared to go back and pick up those in the sea when they would not have been overwhelmed as most people had died.

There's more probably.

To add to your list, @simpsonthecat - the very strict hierarchy which meant that the men in the boiler room felt that, even in this desperate and life threatening situation, they could not report what was happening to the officers, let alone the Captain.

Plus the incompetence of Captain Smith - his incomprehensible passivity and the fact that he didn’t convene an urgent brainstorming with his officers, let alone go and investigate what was actually going on below deck and talk to the engineers and workers.

Not to mention the gross negligence and callousness related to the lack of information given to the passengers in 3rd class.

One thing that didn't get mentioned on the program, and is very rarely talked about, is the lookouts not having binoculars. There were some aboard the Titanic but due to some changes made to the bridge staff, the person who had the keys to the locked store cupboard left the ship (at Southampton I think), with them still in his pocket and didn't realise until after the Titanic had set sail to France. It was suggested in the enquiry that had the lookouts had binoculars they would have spotted the 'berg sooner.

I second this - an incredibly well researched, thoughtful and poignant podcast series I’d recommend to anyone with any interest in Titanic.

Titanic Sinks Tonight was really well done; the actors who played Harold Bride, Lady Duff-Gordon and Officer Lightoller were particularly engaging. I enjoyed the contributions of the various commentators although I did think Nadifa Mohamed’s take on Officer Boxhall was rather simplistic and actually quite cruel.

I did think Nadifa Mohamed’s take on Officer Boxhall was rather simplistic and actually quite cruel.

I wasn't impressed with that.

Tell me of anyone with any sense who would have gone to where a crowd of hysterical and frightened people were, and risked them all drowning because how could one man control that situation on his own.

Boxhall did the right thing for both himself and the people already in the lifeboat.

He shouldn't have been directed away to attempt that.

Plus the incompetence of Captain Smith - his incomprehensible passivity

I think the structure of this series with the testimonies showed just how he lacked any kind of leadership qualities.

Drifting about like he was!

Yes I agree @Dontcallmescarface I watched something a few weeks ago which referenced the lack of binoculars too. I can’t remember where, possibly YouTube (I know).

A brilliant piece of television. Heartbreaking.