Frankestein Titanic in Peaky Blinders + Why do TV shows keep amalgamating ships?

[Harland Duzen]

Viewer discretion is advised...if you don't like ship designs being butchered.

Just looking though Google and on another forum came across this weird screenshot taken from the BBC TV Show ''Peaky Blinders'' showing a weird amalgamation of the Titanic at Liverpool (in 1923!)

(Image found here: Cunard on "Peaky Blinders" - what was the Ship? )

Here we see the Titanic (Enclosed Promenade, basic blueprint and portholes) with parts of the Lusitania / Mauritania (Red lined funnels, Larges vents and no shelter decks) combined akin to something like the Philadelphia Experiment (and don't even mention the 4th funnel smoke)!

One thing though I noticed is that many dramas like to merge old ocean liners (like the Titanic) together, buy why? Is it as a tough-in-cheek reference, an attempt to anger maritime experts or a nod or a attempt to avoid legal issues.

Another example I seen previously includes Boardwalk Empire...

And google shows that Cunard isn't safe either as this ship from Thomas the Tank Engine looks suspiciously familiar to the Lusitania / Mauritania (renamed below Top left as the SS Roxstar).

What are everyone's else's thoughts on this weird trend for combining ships into TV shows? Is it for fun, a nod or other reasons?

 

[Ioannis Georgiou]

The one from BBC Peaky Blinders is a combination of Titanic & Mauretania. (The docks are also on the wrong side by the way.)
Somewhere it was explained that there are computer models of different items for the cgi effects, regarding old ships the main model or only model is Titanic. For most of the studios it is to expensive to do a new one and they used what is there, the Titanic model and modify it for their show.

 

[Aaron_2016]

Here's another oddity. It also looks like the ship is 'leaving' New York. I guess they're really keen to go back to Europe.





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[Rob Lawes]

I'm disgusted that the children's show Thomas the Tank Engine, absolutely adored by my six year old son and the books of which I read in my childhood, could not be bothered to get a historically accurate image of an ocean liner in the fictional Brendam Docks on the fictional island of Sodor.

 

[Aaron_2016]

I think the ship from Thomas and Friends is meant to resemble a generic liner of its time like the SS Belgenland, and the funnels resemble the old German liners like the SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse.

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[Harland Duzen]

I'm disgusted that the children's show Thomas the Tank Engine, absolutely adored by my six year old son and the books of which I read in my childhood, could not be bothered to get a historically accurate image of an ocean liner in the fictional Brendam Docks on the fictional island of Sodor.

Blimey, who thought we could get so angry over Thomas the Tank Engine!

On fictional ships being messed up, it appears the Berengaria / ex Imperator also got used / rip-offed in Thomas or some alternative version of the show called TUGS.

Here she's now called Duchess.

I think the ship from Thomas and Friends is meant to resemble a generic liner of its time like the SS Belgenland, and the funnels resemble the old German liners like the SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse.

Why did they give her the same coloured funnels as that of the American Line?

 

[Aaron_2016]

Why did they give her the same coloured funnels as that of the American Line?

They probably wanted to attract a growing American audience. I hear they made a movie starring Alec Baldwin some years ago. It could also be they wanted to sell the ship as a toy and they knew a copy of a real ship would probably have copyright laws to overcome, so they built a model (or converted a pre-existing model) and made up their own ships for the series.

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[Rob Lawes]

Blimey, who thought we could get so angry over Thomas the Tank Engine!

It's not the strangest theory ever put forward on this site.

 

[Harland Duzen]

Here's another oddity. It also looks like the ship is 'leaving' New York. I guess they're really keen to go back to Europe.


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Off topic here, but despite the minor (or major) historical inaccuracies, this looks like a really good film. Thank you Aaron for bringing it to my attention.

 

[DerpyPossum_Official]

Viewer discretion is advised...if you don't like ship designs being butchered.

Just looking though Google and on another forum came across this weird screenshot taken from the BBC TV Show ''Peaky Blinders'' showing a weird amalgamation of the Titanic at Liverpool (in 1923!)
View attachment 39508
(Image found here: Cunard on "Peaky Blinders" - what was the Ship? )

Here we see the Titanic (Enclosed Promenade, basic blueprint and portholes) with parts of the Lusitania / Mauritania (Red lined funnels, Larges vents and no shelter decks) combined akin to something like the Philadelphia Experiment (and don't even mention the 4th funnel smoke)!

i think the show was trying to have the RMS Mauritania, since that ship WAS operational in 1923, but they couldn’t get a good 3d model of said Mauritania so the had to, uh, improvise...

:/