Noted TV journalist Alan Whicker joined QE2 during her 1983 Circle Pacific cruise to film four episodes of his famous BBC1 programme ‘Whicker’s World’ (which ran from 1959 to 1988). The QE2 programme, ‘Fast Boat to China’, was broadcast in 1984 and the episodes covered the cruise from Papeete (Tahiti) on 9 February to her maiden arrival at Qingdao (Tsingtao) on 19 March.
The episodes were called:
1. “I’m a well adjusted old lady…”
(Tahiti – Wellington)
2. “We’re a little breed on our own…”
(Sydney – Whitsunday Islands)
3. “She’s allowed to – and he’s not…”
(Port Moresby – Pattaya)
4. “A different adventure every day…”
(Hong Kong – Tsingtao)
Alan Whicker interviewed passengers and crew about their lives and association with the ship and he was given a great deal of access to behind-the-scenes areas and crew living spaces and accommodation. The programme caused some upset among some passengers once the interviews with crew members had been broadcast as the crew did not hold back on their thoughts and this resulted in Cunard forever being cautious with future television projects and access behind-the-scenes. I also heard that crew members’ wives and girlfriends at home were not pleased to see some of the antics of their men, especially in Thailand.
Also included was an interview with Nigel Broackes, Chairman of Trafalgar House, who was travelling on board in the Queen Mary Suite. He made several points about QE2 in response to questions, including:
“The ship fills from the top downwards. The marketing problem is with the middle and lower priced accommodation. We’re aiming to fill the ship, and the marketing effort, which is quite an expensive matter, really is directed at the middle and lower accommodation because the luxury and grand luxe sells itself.
“The ship cost about £33 million to build. She’d cost today about £200 million. The P&O Company are building a new one in Finland [Royal Princess] which is about half the size of this and that’s costing £80 million.
“We couldn’t have built the QE2. It was much more sensible to buy Cunard.
“[Cunard]… was in too much trouble in an executive sense to sort itself out. It had to be sorted out by a new owner.
Alan Whicker pointed out that Broackes had concentrated on buying legends (newspapers, the Ritz, QE2 etc) and Broackes agreed saying they were “good” names. In response to a question on whether if he’d known in 1971 what he knew in 1983 Broackes answered “definitely”.
When asked about QE2’s future, Broackes responded:
“A very happy future for 12 years minimum and it could be 25. The only things that will put this ship out of business will be technical obsolescence. If new techniques come along that are far less fuel intensive and things like that but I don’t see the slightest prospect of that happening. I’m very optimistic indeed about this ship”.
Various other facts to be revealed about QE2:
• She cost £140,000 every day to operate.
• Broackes claimed it was luxury, size and speed what sold her.
• She earned 85% of her revenues from foreigners which were a very important source of foreign exchange for the country.
• In 1983 QE2 was expected to cost about £45 million to operate and she was expected to earn £50 million in 1983 – a 10% margin which Broackes described as “really extremely good”.
• Oil costs were greater than labour costs but Trafalgar House / Cunard were benefitting from having their costs in pound sterling and their revenues in US dollars.
Cunard President Ralph Bahna was also interviewed at the World Cruise Dinner held in Sydney.
The programme also showed had badly QE2’s light grey hull was coping and amazing footage of the ship being repainted and refreshed by hundreds of workers during her stay in Hong Kong (13 – 16 March) was shown. Work included repainting the hull, superstructure and funnel, chipping old paint off the lifeboat davits and repainting them, cleaning ceilings and recaulking the teak decking. In addition one of the three boilers was worked on at a cost of £250,000. The Six Deck working alleyway and crew staircases were lined with Chinese setting up stalls to sell goods to the crew.
One memorable scene showed crew members throwing carpet which had been damaged during a flood in the Columbia Restaurant being thrown out of one of the Quarter Deck windows (outside the Library) into the sea while the ship was moving.
A football match between the crew and citizens of Tsingtao was held.
During the programme Alan Whicker described QE2 in excellent terms including:
“She’s more than just a ship; she’s an event!”
