I feel certain I wasn’t the only person to get that sinking feeling while watching Titanic on Meridian on Sunday evening.

I know Julian Fellowes (Lord Fellowes indeed) has made something of a name for himself with period dramas – Downton Abbey, Gosford Park – but this proved something of a disaster that had little to do with the iceberg.

Never seen so many stereotypes chucked together on one ship.

The snooty lady who wouldn’t fraternise with second class passengers, the token Irish there to raise the issue of oppressed republicans, the Italian waiter frowned on by the captain, the American heir and the Lord’s daughter who won’t conform, the brothers working their way across the Atlantic to a new life (guess which one lives and which one drowns by the final episode). And this was just the first serving. In weeks to come we have the whole saga over again as we meet more of those who will be thrown together in terror as the mighty ship slips beneath the icy waves.

In coming episodes I predict the daft crew member telling passengers not to damage company property, a band member who reveals he is to leave to start his own group when they reach New York, and the lady who bemoaned the fact her precious dog was holed up below for the voyage will drown trying to rescue Bonzo.

To be fair, the Titanic tale has been told and re-told so many times it is hard not to re-hash a lot of the drama. But do we have to be trapped on board with all the usual suspects?