Documentary
National Geographic

About Back to the Titanic

In this unique one-hour special, we dive down for the first time in nearly 15 years to the world’s most famous ship, RMS Titanic.

The programme follows Caladan Oceanic’s deep-ocean exploration team, led by explorer Victor Vescovo and included Titanic expert Parks Stephenson and marine ecologist Lori Johnson. A world-renowned team of experts and scientists examined the remains of Titanic, capturing for the first time extraordinary native 4K footage using specially adapted cameras, to produce footage and stills of the Titanic wreck as never been seen before. Using the submersible camera systems, the team performed dedicated photogrammetry passes on the wreck, allowing highly accurate and photoreal 3D models of RMS Titanic to be produced. The team observed one major area of deterioration, which was the officers’ quarters. This included the room of Captain Edward John Smith and discovered that the iconic Captain’s bathtub has now disappeared from view. Data from the dives has been analysed by Lori Johnson, who has accessed the state of the wreck, which is being slowly destroyed by metal eating bacteria and strong currents.

Credits

Producer
Anthony Geffen

Director
Tom Stubberfield

Narrator
Nigel Barber

Original Music
Graham Hadfield

Location Directors
David Lee
Lina Zilinskaite

Director of Photography
Paul Williams

Camera Operator
James Blake

Sound Recordists
Tamara Stubbs
Paul Thompson

Assistant Camera
Matthew Hodgen

Head of Production
Ian Syder

Production Executive
Josh Pitt

Production Managers
Juliet Hofmann
Abi Walker

Production Coordinators
Sharon Owen
Sophie Power

Assistant Producer
Sam Clarke

Researcher
Kathryn Child

Development Producer
Dudley Cruise

Program Consultant
Parks Stephenson

Archive Producer
Martin Philip

Archive Assistant Producer
Emily Harris

Production team
Edwin Lok
Sophie Wood
Jack Bass
Austen Killingbeck-Jones
Thomas Richards
Amelia Hainstock

Managing Director
Claudia Perkins

Director of Commercial and Legal Affairs
Mimi Gilligan

Production Accountant
Vincent Pretorius

Offline Editor
Marco Ruffatti

Additional Editing
Gwyn Moxham

Visual Effects
Zoo VFX Ltd

Post Production
Rowan Brook
Clear Cut Productions

Online Editor
Dan Preston-Bear

Colourist
Danian Gataroo

Audio Mix
Ben Newth

Special Thanks
Caladan Oceanic
Eyos Expeditions
Triton Submarines
Deep Sea Power and Light
Bill Sauder

Stock Footage
Alamy
FR Browne SJ Collection/Davidson Associates Ltd
Getty Images
Library of Congress
Lori Johnson
NG Image Collection
NOAA

For National Geographic
Jessica Connell
Hannah Chismar
Alexander Lawson
Teresa Tate
Helen Hawken
Bernadette McDaid
Hamish Mykura
Geoff Daniels