After finishing a successful theatre tour of Of Mice and Men I will be back in front of the camera this week in a new TV drama called The Titanic Inquiry, an intense courtroom drama based on the actual transcripts of the official British Government Inquiry into the Californian Incident in Westminster later that same year. This production is being produced by The Hole in The Wall Gang, in Belfast for BBC NI.
I will be playing the role of Ernest Gill, an assistant engineer on the SS Californian – a ship that was in the vicinity of the Titanic when it sank.
A small newspaper in New England, the Daily Item, printed a shocking story claiming that the Californian had refused aid to Titanic. The source for the story was the ship’s carpenter, James McGregor, who stated that his ship had been close enough to see Titanic’s lights and distress rockets. By sheer coincidence, on the same day, the Boston American printed a story sourced by the Californian’s assistant engineer, Ernest Gill, which essentially told the same story.
With a star studded cast it’s due to hit the screens next year for the anniversary of the stricken vessel. It will definitely be one to look out for (even if I do say so myself…!)
Chris Patrick-Simpson 