I can perhaps shed some light on the problems that this production faced, for one thing, I was in the movie, and secondly I am also a Member of the Marchioness Contact Group who at the time supported it being made. My link to the original disaster was very tenuous indeed, as my god mother's son was due to attend but was unable to go.
First of all the finished film is indeed a very poor product, I would have to agree. Large amounts of the original script, which I read in its entirety while on set, were never filmed, and a great many more scenes which would have added flesh to the bones of the characters were cut from the finished edit. There is no attempt, it seems to give the audience palatable characters for them to invest their emotions in, something that is sorely needed when you are in fact watching the lives of real people and not a fictional story. Once the disaster itself occurs, because no time whatsoever has been taken to establish the Characters, there is no sense of drama or loss from the audience. It is extremely difficult to know who is who once the sinking occurs or really care about them. This obvious error was further then compounded by flashback scenes which try and rectify this problem but only worsen it further by suddenly taking us away from the story to an unfamiliar location with unfamiliar characters, this only makes the narrative even harder to follow. The long tracts of dialogue at the end of the film really added nothing extra beyond the content already there and one can't help but thinking this valuable screen time could be better spent establishing character or covering some of the controversial issues not covered in the film. Criticisms directed at the portrayal of gay characters on the boat are unfair, the majority of the passengers were gay friends of the two individuals whose birthdays it was and their portrayals are not far off from the mark. Some of the scenes that were removed were done so for political reasons including one showing the Government taking the decision not to have a public Inquiry. While one of the Marchioness Groups supported the film and the other did not, I know the families wanted the film to be shown none the less even though many were unhappy with the finished production. The reason given by ITV drama head, and I think it was a valid one, was that the programme simply wasn't up to the standard of other ITV1 Dramas of a similar vernacular. The whole thing needs completely Re-editing in sequence with the scenes that were dropped re-added to establish some emotional depth and realism to those portrayed in the film. On the subject of The Royalty, which is the sister ship of 'The Hurlingham' the plan to use the original Hurlingham had to be scrapped as it was under repair during the filming dates. The families do deserve a film about this tragedy, but this unfortunately isn't it.
First of all the finished film is indeed a very poor product, I would have to agree. Large amounts of the original script, which I read in its entirety while on set, were never filmed, and a great many more scenes which would have added flesh to the bones of the characters were cut from the finished edit. There is no attempt, it seems to give the audience palatable characters for them to invest their emotions in, something that is sorely needed when you are in fact watching the lives of real people and not a fictional story. Once the disaster itself occurs, because no time whatsoever has been taken to establish the Characters, there is no sense of drama or loss from the audience. It is extremely difficult to know who is who once the sinking occurs or really care about them. This obvious error was further then compounded by flashback scenes which try and rectify this problem but only worsen it further by suddenly taking us away from the story to an unfamiliar location with unfamiliar characters, this only makes the narrative even harder to follow. The long tracts of dialogue at the end of the film really added nothing extra beyond the content already there and one can't help but thinking this valuable screen time could be better spent establishing character or covering some of the controversial issues not covered in the film. Criticisms directed at the portrayal of gay characters on the boat are unfair, the majority of the passengers were gay friends of the two individuals whose birthdays it was and their portrayals are not far off from the mark. Some of the scenes that were removed were done so for political reasons including one showing the Government taking the decision not to have a public Inquiry. While one of the Marchioness Groups supported the film and the other did not, I know the families wanted the film to be shown none the less even though many were unhappy with the finished production. The reason given by ITV drama head, and I think it was a valid one, was that the programme simply wasn't up to the standard of other ITV1 Dramas of a similar vernacular. The whole thing needs completely Re-editing in sequence with the scenes that were dropped re-added to establish some emotional depth and realism to those portrayed in the film. On the subject of The Royalty, which is the sister ship of 'The Hurlingham' the plan to use the original Hurlingham had to be scrapped as it was under repair during the filming dates. The families do deserve a film about this tragedy, but this unfortunately isn't it.