This must have been quite a spectacular and ambitious piece of television in its day. To modern eyes of course it looks quite primitive (hard to simulate scenes of mass panic with 20 people) but I was very impressed to think it was all broadcast live and some moments were quite moving (the dissolve from a crowd of Third Class passengers looking helplessly for a lifeboat to a shot of an empty davit from which the last boat was launched).
It was also interesting to see a few parallels with the later film version (the slow close-up on to the silent headphones on the Californian, for example). Even some of the dialogue seems to have 'inspired' Eric Ambler's script (although both versions were based on true-life accounts, so they have the same factual basis).
A few other points: Patrick Macnee who plays Thomas Andrews here would star opposite Honor Blackman (who took a major role in the film version) in the 'The Avengers'. I also spotted Michael Gorrin, who would play the old man in the original 'Taking of Pelham 1-2-3, as a Third Class passenger.
All in all very well done indeed.
It was also interesting to see a few parallels with the later film version (the slow close-up on to the silent headphones on the Californian, for example). Even some of the dialogue seems to have 'inspired' Eric Ambler's script (although both versions were based on true-life accounts, so they have the same factual basis).
A few other points: Patrick Macnee who plays Thomas Andrews here would star opposite Honor Blackman (who took a major role in the film version) in the 'The Avengers'. I also spotted Michael Gorrin, who would play the old man in the original 'Taking of Pelham 1-2-3, as a Third Class passenger.
All in all very well done indeed.
