Hannah Wengård plays Finnish passenger Anna Sjöblom, one of the 2240 souls whose stories unfold across four episodes that begin seconds before the iceberg collision. The series stitches together survivor testimonies, ship logs and forensic evidence to reconstruct the 14-15 April 1912 disaster as it happened, with each episode covering roughly 40 minutes of the tragedy's timeline.
Vicky Allen portrays stewardess Violet Jessop, who survived both the Titanic and later the Britannic, while Patrick Buchanan embodies White Star Line chairman Bruce Ismay whose decision to reduce lifeboats from 48 to 20 becomes central to the narrative. The production uses the actual wireless transmissions between Tyger Drew-Honey's Harold Bride and other ships, broadcasting the desperate CQD and SOS calls that went unanswered for crucial hours.
Director Kieran Doherty employs split-screen techniques showing simultaneous events across the ship's 10 decks, from Gerry O'Brien's Captain Smith on the bridge to Adam Rhys-Charles's Second Officer Lightholler organising lifeboat operations. The series reveals how the ship's band played for 37 minutes after the collision, how third-class passengers remained locked below decks for 47 minutes, and how the Californian's captain ignored 21 separate distress signals from the sinking vessel.
The final episode documents the 2 hours 40 minutes from the first lifeboat launch to the moment the stern disappeared beneath the Atlantic, with Charlotte McCurry's Eleanor Cassebeer describing how water reached her knees in collapsible boat D just before rescue. Contemporary maritime experts provide context throughout, explaining how the ship's watertight compartments were designed to stay afloat with any four compartments flooded, but the 300-foot gash breached five compartments making sinking mathematically inevitable.
Production Details
BBC Two / 1 Season / 4 Episodes / 2025
Showrunner(s): Matthew Worthy, Kieran Doherty
Producer(s): Rebecca Fairbank
Main Cast
Hannah Wengård as Anna Sjöblom
Vicky Allen as Violet Jessop
Candida Gubbins as Lucy Duff Gordon
Sara Diab as Celiney Yasbeck
Patrick Buchanan as Bruce Ismay
Gerry O'Brien as Captain Smith
Adam Rhys-Charles as Charles Lightholler
Lisa Dwyer Hogg as Charlotte Collyer
Steffan Boje as Cosmo Duff Gordon
Killian Filan as Daniel Buckley
Charlotte McCurry as Eleanor Cassebeer
Andy Doherty as Eugene Daly
