Spencer Kelly has been awarded The Donald Gosling Award for best television documentary at the Maritime Media Awards which took place on on Tuesday, 22 November 2011 at the Institute of Directors, 116 Pall Mall, London. The award was given to Spencer Kelly for the production - Titanic: The Mission, a Twenty Twenty Television production.
The Awards are made annually in memory of the late Desmond Wettern, writer on maritime affairs for some thirty years. The Awards are to commemorate Desmond’s single minded dedication to the belief that the United Kingdom’s wellbeing and security are inextricably bound up with the sea and to encourage publicists and writers to draw attention to this linkage. Nominations are considered by the Awards Committee who make their recommendation to the Trustees of the Maritime Foundation.
Titanic: The Mission was a landmark 5-part series exploring the Edwardian industrial era that culminated in the building of the most famous ship in modern history, Titanic - the largest man-made moving object in the world.
Through a host of awe-inspiring, dramatic building projects Twenty Twenty re-created elements of Titanic's magnificent features as a launching pad to investigate the Edwardian era, from the manufacturing city hubs to the everyday men and women who worked on the frontlines of industry. It explored the nation's industrial heritage, the lives of the people that made this iconic ship, and uncovered the social history of the era. The production uncovered what still exists today, what has been lost and what has changed in a hundred years of chance.
The series was about the excitement of a modern audience rediscovering the noisy, clunking, tactile joy of a manufacturing world at full flow, where just four generations ago, our forefathers made epic and beautiful machines with their bare hands.
To bring the drama, technological accomplishment and social history of Edwardian manufacturing industry to life, a team of modern day engineering experts attempted to rebuild and restore key components of RMS Titanic. The construction team reflected the idea that Titanic was the defining construction project of the age. As such, it brought together a team of people who have been involved in the biggest, most expensive, most complex construction or engineering projects of today. Their genuine experience and knowledge did not only make the projects feasible as hands on experiences, but it enabled the team to gain a honest professional appreciation of the skill, danger and ultimately achievement that was building the Titanic.