I tweeted about this yesterday after reading it over at Entertainment Weekly, but a spate of articles confirms the Titanic mini-series commissioned by ABC to be penned by Downton Abbey scribe, Julian Fellowes.
From the BBC:
Downton Abbey and Gosford Park creator Julian Fellowes is to write a TV mini-series about the 1912 sinking of the Titanic, to air next year on ITV1.
The series – set to start filming in Hungary this spring – will mark the centenary of the liner’s demise.
Titanic will be “the must-see original drama for this landmark centenary anniversary,” said Maria Kyriacou, of ITV Studios Global Entertainment.
Dame Helen Mirren and Romola Garai have been linked to roles in the drama.
Viewers will be taken on a “heart-wrenching journey through Titanic’s last hours,” pledged ITV in a statement.
The six-part series, it said, would combine “action, mystery and romantic plot lines” and feature both fictional and historical characters.
The ship – claimed to be unsinkable by its builders – sank after hitting an iceberg on its maiden voyage across the Atlantic in April 1912.
The programme will also be screened in the United States [Link to Deadline] and Australia.
Fellowes – who became Lord Fellowes of West Stafford last November – enjoyed success with Downton Abbey last year.
The first episode of the lavish period drama began with news of the Titanic’s sinking.
I speculated that Fellowes could add the doomed Crawley cousins to the cast of characters in this mini-series, but what do you think? Will it do justice to the tragic maiden crossing of the ocean liner? Can anyone—even the talented Fellowes—ever shake the image of Leo and Kate embracing on Titanic’s bow? Has anyone seen the 1996 CBS series starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Peter Gallagher?
I’m not a huge fan of the Cameron Titanic, but can a miniseries beat it in special effects? I don’t think so.
I don’t know about this. The one consolation I have is that it IS Julian Fellows, so if someone was to do a Titanic mini-series, I can’t think of anyone better. He really does his research, and is passionate about the details. Being a history major myself, and my favorite period being the Edwardian Era, I really loved Downton Abbey and Godsford Park. That being said, while I enjoyed Cameron’s Titanic, it was historical fiction, and it’s been done quite a few times…I’d like to see Lord Fellows take a purely historic route. There’s so many different stories relating to the Titanic that I’d like to see explored.
I have the Catherine Zeta-Jones version and love it. Not many have even herd of it. Who can resist Tim Curry as the bad guy? But Titanic has been done numerous times over the years. Not all of them good. Anyone seen the German animated version with the Mexican Mice and the Rapping dog? Trust me, you don’t want to. Since it is Fellows, I’m willing to give it the benefit of the doubt.
And I think he could stick the Crawley’s in there. That was my first thought.
I’m surprised the Catherine Zeta Jones version is so obscure. It aired a year before the Cameron film, and she became famous a few years later, so you would assume it would be quite well known. The only other version I’ve seen is the 1953 Fox version starring Barbara Stanwyck and Clifton Webb. It isn’t terribly accurate (and many times not at all, being very 1950s, but the acting is superb and the storyline is gut-wrenching).