Titanic: The legacy
THE sinking of the Titanic has left a long legacy in the realm of popular culture, starting with the disaster’s survivors.
Charles Lightoller, second officer on the ship, wrote an autobiography in 1935 entitled Titanic and Other Ships, in which he described herding passengers on to lifeboats and huddling with other survivors until dawn broke.
“Bravery and self-sacrifice such as this was of common occurrence throughout the night,” he wrote.
A 1955 non-fiction book by Walter Lord called A Night To Remember contained interviews with many of the survivors of the disaster.
The Left-Handed Hummingbird (1993) by Kate Orman was a Doctor Who spin-off book in which the seventh doctor visits the Titanic as it is sinking while simultaneously trying to rectify faults in the space-time continuum and survive the attacks of the living god Huitzilin.
The slightly bizarre take on the disaster inspired a later episode of the better-known TV series, in which the interstellar cruise liner Titanic collides with the Doctor’s Tardis.
On the silver screen, the 1997 blockbuster Titanic starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet made the story of the disaster the most profitable film ever, grossing $1.8 billion (£1.13 bn) worldwide for its director James Cameron.
More recently, period drama Downton Abbey’s first episode opens on the day after the Titanic sinks, a metaphor for the troubled family’s fortunes as the heir apparent to Downton is thought to have been drowned.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Edinburgh
Sunday 26 May 2013
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 8 C to 16 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: West
Tomorrow
Light rain
Temperature: 8 C to 12 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: South
