Academy Award winner Colin Firth is to return to the world of true-crime television with the news that he’s set to headline a limited series based on the 1988 Lockerbie bombing.
According to Variety, Firth will follow-up 2022’s HBO mini-series The Staircase with the leading role in Sky and Peacock’s Lockerbie, in which he’ll play Dr. Jim Swire, who tragically lost his daughter Flora when Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over the small Scottish town, causing the deaths of the 259 passengers and crew members onboard, as well as 11 Lockerbie residents.
The official synopsis reads “In the wake of the disaster and his daughter Flora’s death, Dr. Jim Swire (Firth), is nominated spokesperson for the U.K. victims’ families, who have united to demand truth and justice. Traveling across continents and political divides, Jim embarks on a relentless journey that not only jeopardizes his stability, family and life, but completely overturns his trust in the justice system. As the truth shifts under Jim’s feet, his view of the world is left forever sullied. Exploring events from the disaster and its aftermath, Lockerbie provides an intimate account of a man, a husband, and a father who risks everything in memory of his daughter and the unflinching pursuit of truth and justice.”
Based on the book The Lockerbie Bombing: A Father’s Search for Justice, written by Swire and Peter Biddulph, the five-part limited series is being written by David Harrower (Blackbird), with Peaky Blinders‘ Otto Bathurst on board as lead director. Filming on the series is expected to get underway early this year.
