Lockerbie: A Search For Truth is a true-life drama that sees Colin Firth play a real-life doctor who lost his daughter in the 1988 terrorist bomb attack that saw a Pan-Am passenger plane explode over the quiet Scottish town of Lockerbie.
The series dramatizes the disaster, that happened on December 21, 1988, where 259 passengers and crew were killed when a Pan Am flight exploded just after take-off. Eleven residents also lost their lives when the plane crashed into the town.
Colin plays Dr Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora died that day and who, alongside his wife Jane, spent the rest of his life fighting for truth and justice. But his battle almost cost him everything.
Here’s everything you need to know about the hard-hitting drama Lockerbie: A Search For Truth…
Lockerbie: A Search For Truth release date
The five-part series Lockerbie: A Search For Truth premieres on Peacock in the US, Sky TV and NOW TV in the UK and Binge in Australia.
All episodes of Lockerbie: A Search For Truth will be available to watch at once on Thursday, January 2, however in the UK the series will also be broadcast on Sky Atlantic at 9pm with episodes airing weekly on Thursdays at the same time from January 2 2025 until the end of January.
How to watch Lockerbie: A Search For Truth — release dates, episodes, streaming options and more
Lockerbie: A Search For Truth trailer
An official trailer for Lockerbie: A Search for Truth was released in early December 2024, and you can see it below:
Lockerbie: A Search For Truth plot
Based on the book The Lockerbie Bombing: A Father’s Search for Justice by Jim Swire and Peter Biddulph, the five-part series Lockerbie: A Search For Truth follows Dr Jim Swire’s fight for the truth in the aftermath of the tragedy. We'll witness the terrifying disaster in which his daughter was killed, and see him nominated as spokesperson for the UK victims’ families who united to demand truth and justice. What followed was a relentless journey across continents, and political divides, taking on a justice system that had no desire for the facts to be exposed. We hear that, ‘as the truth shifts under Jim’s feet, his view of the world is left forever sullied’.
The opening episode begins with Jim (Colin Firth) and his wife Jane (Catherine McCormack) waving goodbye to Flora, only for the terrible news about the bombing to come through a few hours later. Meanwhile, just outside the small town of Lockerbie, local journalist Murray Guthrie (Sam Troughton) races to the scene of the crash, realising an enormous story is unfolding before his very eyes.
Lockerbie: A Search For Truth cast — Colin Firth on playing Dr Jim Swire
Lockerbie: A Search For Truth sees Colin Firth play Jim Swire, a father determined to uncover the truth behind the bombing of the Pan Am flight.
Colin Firth says: "I thought it was the most remarkable story, a painful one, but also in many ways an impressive one. His motivation was to find out the truth and also to gain understanding. He wanted to make sense of something which is inherently unfathomable.
"Jim Swire set out in good faith looking for answers and doubts crept in when they weren't as forthcoming as he expected them to be. When he went to meet Colonel Gaddafi he fully expected to be taken prisoner or even shot. He was going into the belly of the beast with this unofficial mission with no support, no back up!"
"I just wanted to be clear that whenever I talk about Jim, I'm going to have to at least partly talk about my Jim and David Harrower's [Writer] Jim, which we hope resonates with the real Jim. I think one of the things that's so extraordinary and so particular about the character of Jim Swire is the journey and its duration. The point where he finds himself today couldn't be further from his starting point. This is a man who, according to my understanding, had a basic trust in institutions and the institutions in which we live. He wasn't a natural activist, as far as I can see. He isn't someone who inherently distrusted establishment. I think he made the assumption that governments seek to tell us the truth, as do law enforcement and the legal profession. That was his starting point.
"So, I think he set out in good faith looking for answers, which he fully expected to be forthcoming as far as possible. Doubts crept in once he realised that they weren't as forthcoming as he expected them to be."
* Colin Firth previously won an Oscar for his role in The King’s Speech and has also starred in the BBC's hit TV adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. His other films include A Single Man, Bridget Jones’s Diary, Kingsman: The Secret Service, Mamma Mia!, Love Actually and Operation Mincemeat. He's also appeared in Fever Pitch, Pride and Prejudice and Before I Go to Sleep.
Catherine McCormack on playing Jane Swire
Catherine McCormack (Slow Horses, Temple, Lucan) also stars in Lockerbie, playing Jane Swire, wife of Dr Jim Swire.
Catherine McCormack says: "I was 16 when the Lockerbie bombing happened and I remember news footage on the TV at the time, but in terms of Jim Swire’s personal story and his campaigning over the years for an inquiry and the extraordinary lengths he went to find out who was responsible for his daughter Flora’s death, I knew very little, so the scripts were a revelation to me.
"Alongside Jim’s story was the Swire’s family tragedy. The scripts focused mainly on Jim and his wife Jane’s relationship and their struggles over a 30 year period to deal with the death of their daughter. This for me felt like the emotional heart of David’s scripts, so when I was offered the role of Jane, it was a real honour. Of course, it was also a rather daunting prospect playing a real life person who had suffered such a great loss."
Sam Troughton says: "‘When we first meet Murray he’s walking down Sherwood Crescent in Lockerbie. There are burning buildings everywhere, it’s almost like a Heironymus Bosch level of hell. It was an extraordinary and deeply affecting film set."
Who else is starring in Lockerbie: A Search For Truth?
Sam Troughton plays local Lockerbie journalist Murray Guthrie. Other stars incluide Ardalan Esmaili as Megrahi, Claire Brown as Ellen Walker, Jemma Carlton as Cathy Swire, Harry Redding as William Swire, Nabil Alraee as Gaddafi, Youssef Kerkour as Nabil Nagameldin, Mark Bonnar as Roderick McGill and Michael Landes as Robert Baer
Lockerbie: A Search For Truth episode guide
Here's a brief guide to all five episodes of Lockerbie: A Search For Truth...
EPISODE 1
After losing his daughter in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, Dr Jim Swire begins a quest for truth, searching for why this was allowed to happen and exactly who was responsible for his daughter’s death.
EPISODE 2
As Jim continues his campaign for truth and justice, two suspects are indicted for the bombing and his focus has to shift to the fight to bring the men to trial.
EPISODE 3
After twelve long years, the Lockerbie trial finally begins. But as the trial unfolds, Jim gradually begins to question the official evidence against the suspects.
EPISODE 4
Convinced they have the wrong man, Jim grows closer to the convicted Abdelbaset al-Megrahi. As he embeds himself within Megrahi’s appeal case and the conspiracy theories swirling around it, he becomes increasingly isolated from his family.
EPISODE 5
Jim is left at a loss when Megrahi gives up his appeal in return for release on compassionate grounds. Questioning everything he has come to believe, Jim wonders if he will ever know the truth.
All about the real Lockerbie bombing in 1988
On December 21, 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 was destroyed by a bomb 38 minutes after take-off. It had flown from London Heathrow and was on route to JFK airport in New York. All 243 passengers and 16 crew were killed and 11 residents of Lockerbie, a small Scottish town, also lost their lives as the plane crashed into its residential streets. It’s the deadliest terror attack in British history.
Warrants were issued for the arrest of two Libyan nationals in 1991 but it wasn’t until 1999, after protracted negotiations, that Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi handed them over for trial.
Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was jailed for life in 2001, but released on compassionate grounds in 2009, three years before his death from prostate cancer. However, it is widely disputed that he acted alone. And some relatives of the British victims, led by Dr Swire, believe Megrahi was innocent and the real culprits were Iran and the Palestinians.
In 2003 Gaddafi accepted Libya’s responsibility for the bombing but refused to admit that he personally ordered the attack, despite claims to the contrary. In 2020 the US indicted Libyan national Abu Agila Mohammed Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi for his role in the terror attack and he faces a federal trial next year.
Behind the scenes and more on the Lockerbie: A Search For Truth TV series
Filming on the series Lockerbie started in early 2024. The five-parter is a co-production between Carnival Films, which is part of Universal International Studios and Sky Studios. Renowned Scottish playwright David Harrower (Blackbird, Knives in Hens) is lead writer. Maryam Hamidi (Vigil) is guest writer on an episode. BAFTA Award-winning Otto Bathurst (Peaky Blinders, The Winter King) is lead director. Jim Loach (Save Me) will also direct an episode.
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