Julian Fellowes: Titanic is the perfect disaster in a very compact form

Downton scribe Julian Fellowes describes Titanic as ‘the perfect disaster’ as his epic new show revisits the event for TV.

Ship shape: (from left) Steven Waddington, David Calder and Will Keen (Picture: ITV)

âThere are certain disasters that latch on to the psyche,â declares Julian Fellowes, in typically boisterous mood as his Â£11million Titanic drama prepares to launch on our TV screens this weekend. âThey talk about the perfect storm: Titanic is the perfect disaster in a very compact form. One ship that holds every element of a proud and confident society heading for a smash-up. When you take the world and shrink it into a bottle, it makes it very potent.â

Fellowesâs Titanic is one of the bigger fish in a year of Titanic-related events to mark the 100th anniversary of the sinking. On March 31, Titanic Belfast, a major visitor attraction, opens at the former Harland and Wolff shipyard. For the remainder of this month and next there are a host of special happenings in Southampton, where the ship set sail for her doomed maiden voyage. And on April 6, JamesÂ  Cameronâs film version hits cinemas again, this time in 3D.

Fellowesâs version, meanwhile, as youâd expect from the writer of such ensemble dramas as Downton Abbey and Gosford Park, is ânot just the story of Leo and Kateâ but that of an entire ship. The tales of 80-odd characters representing all echelons of society weave across its four time-skipping episodes.

They include, in second class, Toby Jonesâs ingratiating John Batley, a lawyer who works for Linus Roacheâs secretive Earl of Manton: the class chasm means their two disgruntled wives â played by Downton firebrand Maria Doyle Kennedy (pictured below with Jones) and Harry Potterâs Geraldine Somerville â constantly pour scorn on each other with varying degrees of subtlety.

âFellowes has an elegant way of telling you all about the social rules,â says Jones, who believes the class divide played out on the Titanic still exists in Britain today, albeit in a more complex form.

âThe mental imprisonment and control of where we are in the class structure is as strong as itâs ever been,â he says. âYou can legislate and makes things such as the internet and education available to everyone. But for people to feel confident, articulate and self-assertive enough to change their place in the world, that takes a long time.â

âItâs a confusing picture,â adds former Corrie and Law & Order star Roache, whose family dominates the first episode as it rules the roost in first class. âI can see how the current economy can exacerbate the divide but we have greater personal freedoms in the West than ever. Anyone can make their voice heard.â

Fellowesâs drama comes two months after the capsizing of Italyâs Costa Concordia, which killed at least 25 people. That and the artefacts, testimonies and news articles soon to be unveiled in Titanic Belfast bring into sharp focus the tragedy behind maritime disaster.

Fellowes does feel a responsibility to descendants of those on board â to a point. âTo have my Harry Widener [a real businessman aboard in 1912] flirt with a fictional girl is not so very terrible: he was a young man, he wasnât married, it seemed fair enough,â he says in a manner that suggests heâs braced for any backlash from family members or nitpicking Titanoraks. âBut you have a responsibility not to be false to who people were. If they were brave, they must stay brave.â

The issue of calibrating their charactersâ emotional response was a big acting hurdle for Jones and Roache. âYou canât fake an adrenaline rush,â says Roache.

âThe challenge is not to think of it as a disaster â itâs only one in retrospect,â chips in Jones. âIn the moment itâs a situation youâre trying to get out of: itâs âget off this surface on to that one because itâs stableâ.â He lets out a wry smile. âIn real life, I donât have a hugely high opinion of my ability to shape up in a crisis. Iâd be looking for someone to follow.â

Titanic begins on ITV1 this Sunday at 9pm.



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