Peacock’s ‘Lockerbie’ to Focus on Parents’ Search for Justice After Bombing
Peacock and Britain’s Sky TV are teaming up for a new mini-series dramatizing the events of Lockerbie, the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.
The show will follow the search for justice made by Dr. Jim Swire and his wife Jane who lost their daughter, Flora, in the disaster. A five-part event, the series is being written by Academy Award-nominated talents, Jim Sheridan and Kirsten Sheridan (above).
All 259 passengers and crew perished when a bomb exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, 38 minutes after taking off. Additionally, 11 residents of the town lost their lives as a result of the crash. Thirteen years later, in 2001, Libyan national Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was convicted of the crime. But that wasn’t the end of the saga as he was later released on compassionate grounds in 2009.
Dr. Jim Swire (Graham Barclay/bwp media/Newsmakers)
Following the bombing, which is still considered one of the worst terrorist attacks in history, families of the victims joined together to launch a campaign seeking justice for their loved ones. Among them were the Swires whose efforts have taken Dr. Jim Swire to the sand dunes of Libya for a face-to-face meeting with Colonel Gaddafi along with 10 Downing Street to meet with Prime Ministers.
Dr. Swire’s work has also taken him to America where he’s worked with victims’ groups, pressuring for tighter airport security even before 9/11. Based on Jim Swire and Peter Biddulph’s book The Lockerbie Bombing: A Father’s Search for Justice, the series will explore the events from 1988 leading up to the present day while also providing a more intimate account from the perspective of a husband and father.
“The bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 was one of the world’s deadliest terror attacks that continues to have widespread implications for the meaning of justice in the US, Scotland, and Libya,” Jim and Kirsten Sheridan said in a shared statement. “Over 30 years on, this series takes an intimate and very personal look at the aftermath of the disaster, and we are grateful to all of those, particularly Jim and Jane, who have entrusted us to tell their story, and the story of their loved ones, on screen.”
Set to begin production later this year, Lockerbie is a co-production between UCP and Sky Studios and is being produced with Universal International Studios’ Carnival Films for Sky and Peacock. Along with Jim and Kirsten Sheridan, Naomi Sheridan will step in as a guest writer for one episode. Lokerbie is executive produced by Nigel Marchant, Gareth Neame, Samantha Hoyle, and Oskar Slingerland.
Stay tuned for more on the upcoming series which is expected to air on Sky and stream on Peacock in 2023.
Lockerbie, Series Premiere, Expected 2023, Peacock and Sky
