“Lockerbie”: How is the new drama series with Colin Firth?

The series, which has a great cast, tells the true story of a catastrophe that still raises numerous questions today.

“Did you kill my daughter?”: This harrowing question with which a grieving father an imprisoned one Terror suspects is immediately the central motif of the new one Series “Lockerbie: A Search for Truth”. By Sky Originalthat on January 16th on Sky and the associated streaming service Wow, takes on Oscar winners Colin Firth (64) this arduous search for the truth. Like other film and series productions before it, “Lockerbie” proves that reality usually writes the most nerve-wracking scripts.

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Hundreds of victims – and one scapegoat? That's what “Lockerbie” is about

On December 21, 1988 Shortly after 7pm, a block of flats in Lockerbie was suddenly engulfed in flames. The Debris from a passenger plane were on the contemplative side Scottish small town rained down. When Jim Swire (Firth) and his wife Jane (Catherine McCormack, 52) hear about the disaster in the news, they already have an unimaginable idea: their daughter Flora had recently boarded a plane from London to the USA to meet her American boyfriend visit.

A little later the Swires' phone rings and the family is sadly certain. The plane that crashed was actually Pan Am Flight 103, which Flora was on. All 243 passengers and 16 crew members are dead, and eleven residents of Lockerbie were also killed by the falling debris. When further details about the disaster become public and it becomes known that a bomb smuggled on board tore the plane in two, Jim Swire only has one goal in mind: He wants the culprits for his daughter's death to be found as soon as possible be brought to court.

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Questions about questions

“Lockerbie” is not a brutal revenge thriller of the “Death Sentence” brand with Kevin Bacon (66) or the various Liam Neeson films. This only assumes the fact that the story of the series comes from reality and is based on the autobiographical book “The Lockerbie Bombing: A Father's Search for Justice” by Jim Swire (89). Seen this way, he never wanted to take the law into his own hands – rather, he wanted the justice system to do it, i.e. to do its job properly.

But without wanting to give too much away: In the course of his own investigation, Swire makes discoveries that make him increasingly despair of the authorities. Had the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) really received a warning more than two weeks before the terrorist attack – and dismissed it as a morbid prank? Why did the Prime Minister himself announce that there will be no independent government inquiry into this? And where does the supposed certainty come from that the perpetrators have been arrested in the two Libyans Abdelbaset al-Megrahi (Ardalan Esmaili, 38) and Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah (Mudar Abbara)?

Swire's pursuit of the truth not only takes him to different continents and sometimes puts his life in danger. It also extends over several decades and up to a time when a verdict had long since been made. Instead of throwing himself into blind rage at the main suspect, al-Megrahi, and accepting him as the culprit without any solid evidence, the grieving father becomes convinced that the wrong man may have been accused.

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When does a sense of justice become an obsession?

The acting ensemble of “Lockerbie” manages to convey the difficult premise of the series to the audience in a nerve-wracking way. Colin Firth and Ardalan Esmaili deserve particular mention here. In his irrepressible desire for justice for what he has lost, Swire increasingly risks everything he still has – his family.

The series is consequently Family, legal and crime drama in one and illuminates the numerous facets that a tragedy such as a terrorist attack inevitably has. Although thematically far removed, “Lockerbie” is still comparable to the outstanding series “Chernobyl”. A real disaster that seems to raise more questions than can ever be answered. Authorities that do anything but cover themselves with glory may even stand in the way of finding the truth. And the consequences for all those affected are still serious even decades later.

“Lockerbie: A Search for Truth” also tells its exciting story succinctly in a total of five episodes, each with a running time of just under an hour.

When can you see Lockerbie: A Search for Truth?

The Sky Original series starts on January 16, 2025 exclusively on Sky.