Titanic To Rise Again In Belfast

The iconic Titanic is to come home for its centenary with news that an £18m television drama about the ill-fated luxury liner has been commissioned to mark the anniversary of its sinking.

A replica ship will even be made as part of the Belfast-based production for the 12-part series by Future Films - a firm that has already worked in Ireland (Cracks) in the past.

The Freemantle Corporation, Play Productions in France and Wiltshire Films will also be involved in the docu-soap tale of the three-year contract to build the huge liner.

It will be broadcast on European and US channels in time for the April 14th centenary in 2012 and is being filmed close to where the legendary ship came to life in Belfast.

It is being billed as a prequel to the 1997 blockbuster movie starring Leonardo di Caprio and Kate Winslet.

Titanic: The Untold Story of How It All Began will begin filming next May in the shadow of the Harland and Wolff (H&W) cranes above the shipyard where the White Star Line vessel was made.

The Paint Hall at the shipyard has already been turned into a film studio and has housed big name productions like City of Ember and Game of Thrones, currently filming there.

The key figure of the piece is likely to be Comber man Thomas Andrews, Managing Director at White Star Lines who helped design and indeed went down with the doomed ship.

(BMcC/KMcA)