BLACK Country monument maker Luke Perry is turning his skills to TV presenting, fronting a Channel Four series on the building of the Titanic.

The 27-year-old, who family has been chain making in Cradley Heath for 200 years, said the chance to work on the five-part documentary We Built Titanic was “a dream come true.”

A highlight of the project came on Sunday when the cameras focused on a 20-ton replica anchor of the ill-fated liner, which he helped to make, as it journeyed from Dudley to Netherton in front of a 10,000-strong crowd.

The anchor is one of several replicas of the ship, including its bow, the third class cabin and smoking room, which have been made for the series and which will be donated to towns and museums nationwide.

It willl be displayed at the Black Country Museum for a year, before taking up permanent residence in Netherton, where the original anchor was made in 1911.

Stourbridge-born Luke, who lives in Wollaston, said Sunday had been the best day of filming so far because of the warm response of the Black Country crowd.

“Making this series is better than winning the lottery to me,” he said, adding: “Channel Four and 2020TV have spent more than £3million making what is a milestone series for them. No-one has ever done anything like this. It is social history containing sentimentality and thoughtfulness and action-packed with us making things.”

He is one of a team of four filmed helping to make the replicas and does much of the social history commentary - talking to relatives of the people who worked on the Titanic to tell their stories.

The series has been in production for 18 months and is scheduled for screening on Mondays at 9pm from October 25.