I have read the final (subject to changes on set)script for this program and from what i saw it is a thorough telling of the tragedy. The official story was - "On 20th August 1989 the gravel dredger BOWBELLE collided with the pleasure vessel MARCHIONESS. As a result of the collision, 51 people lost their lives." This is basically what happened, the program itself tells the story from before the accident to years after with interviews with the survivors, the families of those who lost their lives and various officials. It also tells the viewer of the atmosphere at the time which was still predominantly homophobic, and how the public's first reactions clashed and ranged from subtle sympathy to outrage to suspicions that it was in fact a premeditated hate crime towards the large number of gay passengers.
Excellently told and painfully remembered.
Excellently told and painfully remembered.