Lockerbie: A Search for Truth

Very interesting drama series based on the true terrible events of 1988. It gets you thinking about who were really responsible for the bomb that brought down Flight 103.

Though hard to watch the opening episode is pretty absorbing and gives you a sense of what those poor people in the air and on the ground had to endure. Colin Firth does a good job of portraying Jim Swire's relentless pursuit of the truth though if being honest thought 5 episodes was probably one too many. But the acting honours was definitely led by Sam Troughton who was excellent as the journalist Murray Guthrie All in all an educational watch.

I remember sitting with my parents when the news bulletin came in about Lockerbie, an event which shocked our nation. I had returned from my first trip to the USA that summer, working on a summer camp near Syracuse. A number of students from Syracuse had also worked there over the holiday. A group of them were on that flight, returning from a trip to London. I would not find out that friends of friends had lost several people on board that flight, several from one class alone, until many years later.

The narrative presented to the public about who & why was responsible was always confusing & convoluted and I was never entirely convinced by the official version.

Here we finally get the television drama this story deserves, told, perhaps wisely (though I am sure some will think it unfair) primarily from one family's perspective searching for the truth. I consider myself fairly educated on this subject, but this show brought several things to light that I was previously unaware of. What is very clear is that these families were lied to from the outset and facts were deliberately withheld from them.

Catherine McCormack gives the performance of her life as the grieving mother, with Colin Firth doing what he does best in the leading role. This series is not an easy watch, but as I have said before about similar productions, it is absolutely 100 percent essential viewing. Another stand out performance is that of Sam Troughton as the intrepid reporter chasing all the pieces of the jigsaw, while newcomer Jemma Carlton holds on her own against the heavyweights. Remember under Thatcher (don't get me started) there was no Public Inquiry into Hillsborough, Marchioness nor Lockerbie.

Naturally any drama taking on a topic as emotional tragic as this must be handled with care, sensitivity and respect for those directly impacted by the events. I won't presume to know their views, but I think they would be very satisfied with the powerful results we have here.

The crash itself is especially well handled. We see enough to know the utter horror of what they went through both in the air and on the ground but no more than is required.

This sequence is extremely well directed by Otto Bathhurst.

I urge you to watch it. The main theme here is everyone should always be held accountable for their mistakes. Otherwise those damaged by such events can't even begin to heal.

I highly commend the entire production team.

First class drama - watch it now.

Just watched 1st episode on stack tv. Who have.this listed as a comedy this needs to be changed immediately this is an insult to the victims families. My sister and brother law were living in Lockerbie when this happened. This was a tragedy so please change this listing immediately. Great acting by Colin Firth this is a disturbing t.v. Show but we didn't have cell phone back then and there was not much coverage of it on the Canadian news media so it will be informative to see the rest of the series. It will be difficult for the families of these victims to have this t.v series being aired now.

As Episode 1 of "Lockerbie: A Search for Truth" (2025 release from the UK; 5 episodes ranging from 48 to 61 minutes each) opens, it is "21st December 1988" and we are introduced to the Swire family in Bromsgrove, England. Flora Swire is about to leave for a trip to the US from Heathrow. Then disaster strikes as Pan Am 103 crashes, and all passengers and crew perish, as do 11 people on the ground in Lockerbie, Scotland. What exactly happened, and who did this? At this point we are 10 minutes into Episode 1.

Couple of comments: this min-series is based on Jim Swire's book of these events and its long aftermath, and hence the series reflects his perspective, and his only, as he searches for those responsible for this barbaric act of terrorism. As the years go by, Swire finds himself chasing ghosts, and battling his own government. Incredibly, the British government to this day, now 37 years later, have refused to instigate an independent investigation of the terrorist attack and has refused the release of multiple documents that could shed light on all of this. As to this mini-series, there is very little to be uplifted by this. Not that the script is weak or the performances are off (Colin Firth stars as Jim Swire), but because all of this is so incredibly depressing.

"Lockerbie: A Search For Truth" started streaming on Peacock some days ago. I watched all episodes over 2 evenings. This mini-series is currently rated 68% Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, and sounds about right to me. If you are curious what really happened when Pan Am Flight 103 was downed over Lockerbie, Scotland all those years ago, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

This five-part Sky TV dramatisation of the events surrounding the Lockerbie bombing in 1988, which killed a total of 270 people, has already attracted controversy by taking as its point of view, claims of the innocence of the one man convicted so far of the crime, Libyan Baset el-Megrahi. The point is made in a subtitle at the end of the final episode that of course another high-ranking Libyan of the time has now been extradited to the United States and will face trial in May of this year so that there may yet be another twist in this appalling tale. El-Megrahi, after years of appealing his conviction, on being diagnosed with terminal cancer, finally abandoned this course of action to qualify for his eventual release and repatriation where he duly died of prostate cancer some three years, not the expected three months, later.

Now, cards on the table, although I was and remain a supporter of the ruling Scottish National Party in my home country which made the decision to grant Megrahi his liberty on compassionate grounds, I remember at the time being outraged, strongly believing that such a mass-murderer deserved to die in jail. This programme on the other hand, tells the story from the viewpoint of Dr Jim Swire, an English doctor who lost his beloved young daughter in the crash. Swire tirelessly endeavoured to get to the truth, no matter how unpalatable and came to the firm conclusion that Megrahi was innocent, effectively being set up by the American FBI or CIA, possibly in collusion with the British government of the day. One of the reasons there was and continues to be such speculation over what happened on board Pan-Am Flight 103 is precisely because there has been no official government enquiry into the surrounding events as there tends to be for disasters of this magnitude. Swire, with the sometime.assistance of an equally unconvinced Scottish journalist, comes to believe that the real perpetrators were Iran and Syria, both strategically important nations to the west for different reasons by the time of the trial, but mainly, inevitably, for oil. Libya, as a rogue state under the dictatorship of the notorious President Gaddafi, was duly blamed for the attack with Megrahi put forward as the ultimate patsy.

The sad fact is that the truth may never be known, with so many of the official documents remaining classified, but the production here leaves little doubt as to what it believes to be Megrahi's innocence, going a long way to painting him as a sympathetic figure, the sacrificial victim of a deliberate miscarriage of justice.

My conclusion is that it's better to take a side in matters like these, rather than sitting on the fence and that is certainly the case here. Swire too then is presented in a mostly favourable light, indefatigable in his pursuit for truth even if it loses him some of the love and respect of his family and even his wife who herself is struggling with her mental health in the wake of their loss.

The first episode in particular was difficult to watch, as it recreated in detail I know what still couldn't have been even a fraction of the actual carnage which occurred on that fateful December night. Thereafter we follow Swire in his campaign and unsurprisingly the dramatic tension fades somewhat as we endure lengthy courtroom scenes. Nevertheless, this was a compelling series, skilfully and sensitively directed (apart from one jarring moment when a young Scottish woman claims ignorance of the tragedy, believe me, like the awful Dunblane massacre in the next decade, I think all Scots know exactly how emotive the very word Lockerbie is in our country).

Colin Firth carries the weight of the production on his broad shoulders and does so convincingly with a performance throughout of sensitivity and restraint, well matched by Catherine McCormack as his troubled wife.

While I may have felt somewhat guided and even manipulated by the programme-makers to accept their version of events, I was nevertheless emotionally engaged throughout by this strong, well made and ultimately provocative drama.