Titanic (2012) is a four-part tv-miniseries about the sinking of the Titanic which aired in 2012, in conjunction with the 100-year anniversary of the real-life sinking of the RMS Titanic. Written and produced by Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes, it has a cast of 96. Like many other dramas about the disaster, it explores class conflict and has many characters based on real-life victims and survivors. It stars Toby Jones, Linus Roache, Steven Waddington, Perdita Weeks, Noah Reid, Ruth Bradley, among others.
Associated Tropes
- Alas, Poor Villain: The snobbish Louisa refuses to leave her husband and won't get into a lifeboat.
- Big "SHUT UP!": Lord Manton does this to Muriel Batley when she calls his wife out for her self-centered attitude.
- Dirty Coward: A few of them. The Chief Steward dresses as a woman to sneak onboard a lifeboat, Ismay jumps into a lifeboat as it was being lowered and several of the crew and passengers refuse to go back for survivors. Most notable are the Duff-Gordons, who go as far as to bribe the crew into rowing away from the drowning passengers.
- Hate Sink: The Chief Steward, Ismay and the Duff-Gordons.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Happens multiple times as characters refuse places in the lifeboats, usually leading to their deaths.
- Historical Downgrade: Thomas Andrews only appears a handful of times during the sinking.
- Historical Hero Upgrade: Lightoller. While not nearly as much as A Night to Remember, he still gets many more scenes that simply could never have happened in real life.
- Historical Villain Upgrade: A ton of them. Including Ismay, Moody, Lowe, Wilde, the Duff-Gordons and Alice Cleaver.
- Ismay doesn’t force Smith to go faster, but is responsible for the lack of lifeboats as well as locking the Italian waiters up to drown.
- Moody reluctantly assists Ismay in locking the Italian waiters as well as the Third Class passengers up so that they can’t reach the boat.
- Wilde is much more of a Jerkass then other portrayals of his character. He is even hostile towards other officers, like Lightoller.
- The Duff-Gordons force themselves onto a lifeboat and demand to be lowered with only 11 people on board. They later bribe the crew into leaving the other passengers to drown.
- Lowe convinces Lightoller to let the Duff-Gordons leave with only 11 people onboard. He does so after being forced by the Duff-Gordons and later snaps out of it.
- Inspired by…: One of the many stories set aboard the ship.
- Nice Guy: Second Officer Charles Lightoller. He almost acts as a councilor to the main cast.
- Plucky Girl: Georgiana, despite being wealthy, is an idealistic suffragist and an Expy of Lady Sybil from Downton Abbey. She even has a few mild similarities with Rose from the James Cameron film, except she falls in love with a man of her own station.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: Ismay distrusts the Italian waiters, even ordering them to be locked up to drown.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Muriel gives a harsh one to Lady Manton:Muriel: As if you needed luck, you patronizing bitch! No more gracious put-downs. I am not in the mood. You think you're so smart, so fine, so aristocratic, but you are pathetic! You are cruel and unkind, ill-mannered!
- Ripped from the Headlines: Many of the subplots are inspired by media coverage of the disaster.
- Rich Bitch: Several, but Lady Manton is probably the worst of the bunch. She harshly criticizes her fellow passengers and has a habit of nitpicking on certain details. Muriel even calls her out as a "patronizing bitch".
- Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: Sir Cosmo bribes the crew into ignoring the screaming passengers.
- Squashed Flat: John Jacob Astor and George Widener are crushed by a collapsing funnel.
- Stock Scream: The Wilhelm Scream can be heard just as the ship breaks apart.
- Upper-Class Twit: A lot of them. Special mention goes to Lady Manton, who is arguably a lot less sensible than her husband.
- You Are What You Hate: A variation. Lady Manton is ashamed of her Irish roots and shows nothing but contempt for Muriel Batley.
