Lockerbie: the BBC’s new drama is based on the true story of the UK’s worst terrorist attack

Lockerbie: the BBC’s new drama is based on the true story of the UK’s worst ever terrorist attack

Credit: Getty

TV


Lockerbie: the BBC’s new drama is based on the true story of the UK’s worst terrorist attack

By Amy Beecham

1 year ago

3 min read

From the makers of Line Of Duty comes a devastating BBC drama based on the true events of Pan Am Flight 103.


On a winter’s day in 1988, Pan Am flight 103 was en route from Heathrow to New York’s JFK International Airport when a bomb exploded in the hold over the small Scottish town of Lockerbie, killing 270 people.

Now, the BBC’s latest factual drama, Lockerbie, produced in collaboration with Netflix, will tell the true story behind the worst terrorist attack on British soil.

Former Libyan intelligence officer Abdelbaset al-Megrahi is so far the only man convicted in relation to the bombing, having been found guilty of 270 counts of murder by a panel of three Scottish judges sitting at a special court in the Hague in 2001.

Drawing on extensive interviews by Adam Morane-Griffiths, a filmmaker and Lockerbie’s executive producer, who spoke to Scottish police and US investigative agencies, the series will examine the complicated investigation as well as the bombing’s impact on the people of Lockerbie.

What is the true story behind Lockerbie?

On 21 December 1988, Pan Am flight 103 from London to New York exploded 31,000 feet over the Scottish town of Lockerbie, 38 minutes after its take-off from London. The 259 people on board the Boeing 747 were killed, along with 11 people on the ground, making it the deadliest terrorist attack in British history, as well as the UK’s deadliest aviation disaster.

Following a three-year joint investigation by Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, arrest warrants were issued for two Libyan nationals in November 1991. It wasn’t until 1999 that then Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi handed over the two men for trial at Camp Zeist, the Netherlands, after years of negotiation and UN sanctions.

In 2001, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, a Libyan intelligence officer, was jailed for life after being found guilty of 270 counts of murder in connection with the bombing. Megrahi’s co-accused, Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah, was found not guilty.

What is the true story behind Lockerbie?

Credit: Getty

Later, in 2003, Gaddafi accepted Libya’s responsibility for the Lockerbie bombing and paid compensation to the families of the victims, but maintained that he had never given the order for the attack.

Megrahi was sent to prison in Scotland, but was controversially granted compassionate release in 2009 after being diagnosed with terminal cancer, returning home to Libya where he died in 2012.

On the 32nd anniversary of the atrocity in 2020, the US announced that it had filed charges against another Libyan, Abu Agila Masud, who it suspected of making the bomb, though he denied all charges when he appeared at a federal court in the US in February 2022.

Who will star in Lockerbie?

The cast is set to include Connor Swindells (SAS Rogue HeroesSex Education), Patrick J Adams (Suits), Merritt Wever (Unbelievable), Peter Mullan (Ozark, Payback), Tony Curran (Mary & George, Mayflies) and Eddie Marsan (The Pact).

Lauren Lyle (Karen Pirie), Andrew Rothney (The Undeclared War), Phyllis Logan (Downton Abbey, Guilt), Parker Sawyers, James Harkness, Khalid Laith and Amanda Drew will also star in the BBC drama.

Jonathan Lee, the novelist behind High Dive, is writing the BBC/Netflix drama alongside Gillian Roger Park (The Young Offenders). Michael Keillor (Best Interests) will direct.

When will Lockerbie be available to watch?

Filming for the series has just begun in Scotland so it’ll likely be a while until Lockerbie lands on our screens. In the meantime, however, you can check out our roundup of the best thrillers to look out for in 2024.

We’ll be sure to update you when any further announcements are made.


Images: Getty

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