Lockerbie

It is telling that part of the title of this miniseries is "a search for the truth." The implication being that it has not yet been found. I remember the incident well, the explosion and field of debris in the area of Lockerbie, Scotland, as the airliner was on its way from London to New York City.

Colin Firth is cast in the lead role, and is very effective, as Doctor Jim Swire. His young adult daughter was on that plane, he and the rest of his family were devastated by the news. Swire was not happy with what he and others were being told, it seemed that important information was being left out and/or not addressed. So he took it upon himself to dig deeper, and that search included traveling to Libya and meeting with Muammar Gaddafi. The program is based on his writings and thus has some bias to it.

A big part of what troubled Swire and others, a communication was found which warned of a bomb ahead of time, but apparently was only shared within USA and UK agencies. Then, right after the plane went down from the on-board explosion, agents showed up quickly as if they were already in Scotland and expected the event. That was very troubling if indeed that is what happened.

I found this five-part miniseries streaming on Peacock. I would have preferred a single movie of 90 to 120 minutes but I understand the business model, more running time generates more revenue. While it isn't a stellar watch it does provide interesting content for those who have an interest in the event.

This Sky TV series (now on Peacock) won't be everyone's cup o' tea. It's largely an intense recounting of the decades-long investigation into the Pan Am 103 bombing that technically remains unresolved. Episode 1 was riveting with a gut-wrenching reenactment of the airliner crash over Lockerbie Scotland. Some will find the rest of the series tedious, unless they enjoy investigative journalism and/or legal dramas. Colin First plays Dr. Jim Swire, the father of one of the bombing victims. Swire was obsessed with uncovering the truth - both for his daughter and eventually for the convicted Libyan man who he came to believe was innocent. The lengths he went to were incredible and startling. The attempts to spur an independent inquiry and the uncovering of the intricate details of the event were fascinating. I learned so much about this case. Like many people, I thought it was all settled, but another criminal trial is coming up in 2025. Overall, I found this to be a very compelling series.

The horrendous 1988 plane crash disaster from Jim Swire's point of view (respectable performance from Firth), a parent who lost a daughter on that flight, and for over twenty years Jim just kept seeking justice that got buried by the powers-that-be to suit their own agenda. A tightly structured mini-series that will have you binge-watching in one seating. And it only took five episodes to tell this riveting true story (depending on your political point of view), instead of the standard 6 to 10 episodes of stretching a story with useless meandering to other characters, instead focusing on the commitment of one father wanting answers in honour of his daughter...

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.

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.