Chances are, if you know one thing about the Titanic, it’s that it sank. Like 85 percent of the population, you probably watched Rose and Jack cling to a door in the North Atlantic at the climax of James Cameron’s epic romance Titanic. The fact that the Titanic sank is probably the only reason you know about the ship at all, right?
But what if everything you knew was based on a lie?
Tim Batt, comedian and podcast maker, joins Australian comedian and writer Carlo Ritchie in a comedy podcast series to answer a question no one was asking.
This is Did Titanic Sink?
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It all began in 2019 when Carlo casually mentioned to Tim that he thought Titanic didn’t sink.
Alarm bells starting ringing in Tim's head immediately.
The RMS Titanic is among the most famous man-made disasters of all time. Everyone has heard of "The Unsinkable Ship" that hit an iceberg on its maiden voyage and proved to be very sinkable indeed.
After decades of his own “independent research”, Titanic-obsessive Carlo has become convinced the narrative printed in history books washes over the real events of the disaster. Over six episodes, Carlo presents what he believes really happened in a tale of a grand conspiracy involving one of the world’s richest men and possibly, history's largest switch-a-roo.
Joined by comedy heavyweights Rhys Darby, Urzila Carlso, Guy Montgomery plus the voice talents of Kim Hill, Jeremy Wells, Leigh Hart and many others, this series will make you laugh, think and question; Did Titanic Sink?
A headshot of comedian Tim Batt. Photo: Andi Crown Photography
Tim Batt is an award-winning comedian, podcaster and producer. His podcast The Worst Idea of All Time is New Zealand’s most successful comedy podcast, with over 20 million downloads. Tim has made headlines several times for his comedy shenanigans over the years, including buying the URL for Hannah Tamaki’s political party and redirecting it to the first episode of TVNZ OnDemand’s The Male Gayz - a show he produced, hosted by Chris Parker and Eli Matthewson. He also caused a stir online for his NZ Christmas Comedy Gala appearance after calling America’s healthcare system worse than that of violent video game Grand Theft Auto. During the first Auckland lockdown, Tim created HAPPENING!, a livestreaming comedy and art show, for which he won the NZ Comedy Guild Award for Best Online Production. Most recently, Tim hosted an episode of TVNZ’s Laughs Unleashed.
Headshot of comedian Carlo Ritchie. Photo: Supplied
Carlo Ritchie is an improviser, actor and writer. As one half of acclaimed improv comedy duo The Bear Pack, he has sold out tours both at home and abroad, notably at the Edinburgh Fringe and the invite only Cat Laughs festival in Ireland.
Carlo has performed stand-up across his native Australia even as far as the remote desert opal town of Andamooka, the comedy capital of South Australia. As a complete disclaimer, most of his stand up centres around the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912 or as we say in the business, the 'comedy goldmine'. In addition to being a regular guest in Dictionary Corner on SBS Australia's Celebrity Letters and Numbers, his television credits include ABC's Mikki Versus the World and Prank You Very Much and A Beginners Guide to Grief for SBS on demand. Carlo wrote and performed for the ABCs Lockdown comedy success Home Alone Together and is currently a writer for children's television institution, Play School.
Carlo is also one of the last speakers of Wymysorys, a minority language of Poland, in which he published the first Children’s book Ynzer Boümmüter ('Our Mother the Tree'). He has performed in Wymysorys, German and Polish.
Executive Producers Justin Gregory & Tim Watkin
Associate producer Katy Gosset
Director Chelsie Preston Crayford
Audio engineer Blair Stagpoole
Graphic Designer Hannah Lawless, Robert Whitaker
Music Eilish Wilson, Hikurangi Schaverien-Kaa and Phoebe Johnson.
Inquiry transcripts courtesy of the Titanic Inquiry Project.
Marconigram transcripts courtesy of Sean Coghlan
This work would not be possible without the work of the Titanic Inquiry Project.
Photo: RNZ
