Colin Firth will headline Lockerbie, a Sky drama about the real-life tragedy. Here are some details about the production…
Rightly or wrongly, the British television industry often uses true life tragedies as the basis for drama. As proven with Gwyneth Hughes’ brilliant Mr Bates And The Post Office, such dramas, when done right, can provoke discussion on a national scale.
The latest true-life tragedy to make its way to the screen is Lockerbie, which will chronicle the aftermath of the horrific events of the 21st December 1988, when a bomb caused Pam Am Flight 103 to crash over the Scottish town, killing 270 people.
Scottish playwright David Harrower, whose film Una, based on his play Blackbird, is well worth seeking out, will act as lead writer, with Maryam Hamidi writing an episode. They adapted their scripts from the book The Lockerbie Bombing: A Father’s Search For Justice, which Swire co-wrote with Peter Biddulph.
Otto Bathurst is lead director, with Jim Loach also directing an episode.
The synopsis for the series reads as follows:
Dr Jim Swire (Colin Firth) and his wife Pam, who tragically lost their daughter in the Lockerbie bombing, have doggedly pursued justice ever since. The series will see Swire nominated spokesperson for the UK victims’ families in the wake of the disaster, as they unite to demand truth and justice. Travelling across continents and political divides, Swire embarks on a relentless journey that not only jeopardises his stability, family and life, but completely overturns his trust in the justice system. As the truth shifts under Jim’s feet, his view of the world is left forever sullied.
Last year, there were reports of another transatlantic co-production of a Lockerbie drama between the BBC and Netflix, developed by filmmaker Adam Morane-Griffiths and written by Jim and Kirsten Sheridan, but there have been no further updates.
Lockerbie is a co-production between Sky and streaming service Peacock. According to Deadline, production is expected to begin early in 2024.
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