As if Christmas Day isn’t exciting enough, ITV have announced that its to air the first 2 minute trailer of 2012 mini-series Titanic straight after the Downton Abbey Christmas Day Special. However viewers can see it ahead of it’s premiere on the ITV Player from midday on Friday the 23rd of December.

The 4×60 minute mini-series is written by Oscar winning screenwriter Julian Fellowes, who penned Oscar Winning Gosford Park and the hugely popular Downton Abbey. “TITANIC is the extraordinary re-telling of that doomed voyage as it’s never been told before. This is the first time the public will be introduced to some of the characters involved, before they come to screen to commemorate the centenary of the disaster.”

“TITANIC weaves action, mystery and romantic narratives featuring fictional and historical characters, before coming together in an explosive finale.” Titanic will focus on the society on-board the 1914 liner as BAFTA-winning producer Nigel Stafford-Clark was inspired by the hundreds of untold stories of those aboard, unlike the 1997 James Cameron movie that focused on a love story between two characters.

The mini-series has an all-star cast of no less than 89 actors including Linus Roache, Celia Imrie, Toby Jones, Geraldine Somerville, Sophie Winkleman and Timothy West.

The series featured the use of the biggest indoor tank in mainland Europe on the outskirts of Budapest for the all important key water sequences and a huge 360º green screen backdrop for the CGI including scenes in London, the shipyard in Ireland, and the Southampton departure dock and on to open water.

Director Jon Jones says about the 2 tier set created for the drama: “It’s an incredible, evocative playing space. We have built a huge section of the ship, that is jam packed with a warren of rooms arranged to allow us a sense that we have the run of the ship. Once you enter the studio, it is like boarding the ship – you get a real sense of the space. We want to get to grips with how it really was to be confined in a tiny cabin in steerage – or effortlessly ensconced in a First Class stateroom. Our set allows us to really enter that world.”

Rufus Radcliffe Director of Group Marketing and Research commented:  “Titanic promises to be a massive TV event in 2012, and what better moment to start building anticipation amongst our viewers than an epic trail coming out of ITV’s Downton Abbey Christmas special.”

The drama is directed by Jon Jones (Northanger Abbey, Diary of Anne Frank), and produced by BAFTA-winning Nigel Stafford-Clark (Bleak House, The Passion) and Chris Thompson (The No 1 Ladies Detective Agency, Love Actually, with executive producers Simon Vaughan, Kate Bartlett, Julia Sereny, Jennifer Kawaja, Howard Ellis, and Adam Goodman.

Broadcast partners around the globe include ITV1 in the UK, ABC Network in the US, Global Television in Canada, Seven Network in Australia, Antena 3 in Spain, TV3 in Ireland, Network Seven in Australia, SVT in Sweden, TVNZ in New Zealand and SIC in Portugal.

The mini-series will air globally in April 2012, to coincide with the landmark centenary anniversary of the ship’s sinking.