LOCKERBIE: CASTING ANNOUNCED FOR NEW BBC-NETFLIX FACTUAL DRAMA

The BBC and Netflix have announced casting for Lockerbie, the forthcoming factual drama made by World Productions. The six-part series is based on the real events surrounding the 1988 Lockerbie bombing and the joint Scots-US investigation which sought to bring the perpetrators to justice.

On 21 December 1988, flight Pan Am 103 was en route from Heathrow to JFK when a bomb exploded in its hold over the small Scottish town of Lockerbie, killing 270 people, including 43 British citizens and 190 Americans. It was the worst ever terror attack on British soil and the first major one on US citizens.

Lockerbie will focus on the investigation into the crash on both sides of the Atlantic and the devastating effect it had on the small town and the families who lost loved ones. From the initial exhaustive search for evidence on the ground in Scotland, via the US and Malta to the trial at Camp Zeist in 2000, the drama takes us right up to the most recent indictment at the end of 2022.

Lockerbie’s cast includes Connor Swindells (SAS Rogue Heroes, Sex Education), Patrick J. Adams (Suits, A League of Their Own), Merritt Wever (Unbelievable, Godless), Peter Mullan (Ozark, Payback), Tony Curran (Mary & George, Mayflies) and Eddie Marsan (Ridley Road, The Pact).

Plus Lauren Lyle (Karen Pirie, Vigil), Andrew Rothney (The Undeclared War, Traces), Phyllis Logan (Downton Abbey, Guilt), Parker Sawyers (Spy/Master, P-Valley), James Harkness (The Sixth Commandment, The Victim), Khalid Laith (Vigil, Cobra), and Amanda Drew (The Gold, Wolf).

The lead writer is acclaimed novelist and screenwriter Jonathan Lee, with two episodes written by Scottish screenwriter Gillian Roger Park. The 6 x 60 series is produced by World Productions (United, the story of the Munich air disaster, and Anne, the drama about Hillsborough mother and justice campaigner Anne Williams) in association with MGM Television (The Devil’s Confession: The Lost Eichmann Tapes, Fargo) and Night Train Media (Rogue Agent, Catch me a Killer).

Lockerbie was initially developed by MGM Television and Night Train Media.

Lockerbie will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer, followed by Netflix in the UK and globally. The producer is Julia Stannard (United, War and Peace, Anne) and Michael Keillor (Chimerica, Roadkill, Best Interests) is the director.

The project was initiated by filmmaker Adam Morane-Griffiths whose research includes extensive interviews with Scottish police officers and representatives from United States investigative agencies, many of whom have never previously shared their stories.

Gaynor Holmes, Commissioning Editor, BBC, says: “The tragic events which took place in Scotland that night continue to have an impact on our country and in particular the Lockerbie community. It was an atrocity which shocked the world and changed lives forever. We have the right team in place to tell this extraordinary story with the greatest of care, making sure the series reflects the devastating events of that night, the complex and far-reaching investigation that followed and the effect it had on all those who lost loved ones.”

Mona Qureshi at Netflix says: “The moment we read Jonathan’s pilot script, informed by Adam’s meticulous research, we understood that this team had found a way into these events that is epic and intimate, local and global, personal and political. The devastation wrought on the night of 21st December 1988 continues to reverberate through the decades. Netflix is proud to partner with the BBC to bring a true story that feels as raw and urgent as ever, to audiences in the UK and across the world.”

Filming has now begun in Scotland and will continue in both Malta and Toronto.