Season 1 |
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Episode Guide
Episode 1 -| Review Score – ?/5
Episode 2 -| Review Score – ?/5
Episode 3 -| Review Score – ?/5
Episode 4 -| Review Score – ?/5
Episode 5 -| Review Score – ?/5
35 years ago, one of the worst terrorist attacks in British history rocked the UK and wider world, causing widespread political ramifications and the loss of 270 men, women and children from 21 different countries
Until 9/11 of course, the Lockerbie Bombing was a huge and significant terror attack. 38 minutes after taking off, the plane exploded over the small Scottish town of Lockerbie. As a result, an investigation launched into figuring out exactly what happened – and why.
Among those lost on the flight is Flora Swire, daughter to father Jim Swire, whose the focal point of this series. Jim remains dead-set on finding out what happened.
Nominated spokesperson for the UK victims’ families, Jim finds himself travelling across to various regions, speaking to different individuals and determined to find out the truth no matter what.
That last sentiment is the drive for Lockerbie’s character-driven subplot, which involves Jim’s exasperated wife Jane, who goes from grieving mother to frustrated wife, desperate as she feels like she’s losing her husband to a story that’s quickly becoming stranger than fiction.
Along the way, Jim finds his conviction and resolve shaken, as new evidence is brought to light and those who are apprehended for the bombings may have been set up rather than being the proper culprits.
The show, in many ways, feels similar to HBO’s excellent series Chernobyl, with an opening episode that wastes little time in getting to the heart of the drama. In fact, within the first 10 minutes, we see the disaster in its shocking, rawest form. Bodies fall from the sky, plane wreckage wipes out houses and a fireball eerily illuminates the sky as dumbfounded onlookers try to work out what’s happened.
This paves way for two individuals to come to the foreground. The aforementioned Jim Swire, and an investigative reporter by the name of Murray. The latter is the one who drives Jim forward, bringing up little tidbits of information across the five episodes, coming just at the right time when Jim needs more motivation to continue pursuing what looks to be a case full of inconsistencies and issues.
The pacing does slow after that though, turning instead to the investigation at hand, a court case and the aftermath of sentencing verdicts, all told through the eyes of Jim Swire. There are numerous time jumps here, all broken up by expository text to show how long this is dragged out for and the changing world around Jim.
What begins with a whole bunch of people rallying behind Jim, soon turns to disdain and even outright hatred for the man as Jim’s search finds his allegiances and ideas shaken to the core.
All of this is brought to life in a realistic way by Colin Firth. You can see trickles of grief underneath the bullheaded exterior, and moments like Jim sitting watching home videos, tears silently falling down his cheeks, help to humanize this man and show that he’s just trying to do right by his family
The irony here, of course, is that the further Jim searches, the bigger the rift that grows between himself, Jane and his kids. It’s a really interesting dynamic that the show explores, and the later episodes in particular dedicate a good chunk of time to this as Jim finds himself having to choose between his family and the truth.
In many ways, Jim Swire is somewhat of an enigma in this show because he’s neither a hero nor a villain. He’s very much a man just trying to do right by his daughter and making lots of mistakes – and having some solid wins too – along the way. This flawed character makes for a more intimate and realistic character portrayal and Lockerbie is all the stronger for it.
The show doesn’t outstay its welcome either, although one could argue that episode 4 does feel a tad too long and could have done with a big of tightening up, just to make for a more intense watch. However, that’s a minor point in what’s otherwise a solid drama.
Despite the numerous jumps, the editing here is tightly woven together, and the blend of actual archival news footage and doctored footage to include Colin Firth’s Jim Swire is a nice touch and it never feels exploitative either.
In fact, these moment feel integral to the story as a whole, as they help to show the changing political landscape, especially the aftermath of 9/11 and how air travel and safety has changed over time. Anybody who flies regularly will know that there’s a ton of checks that make it nigh-on impossible to replicate what happened with the Lockerbie bombing.
Alongside Firth, the rest of the cast put on an admirable display, with the performance from Catherine McCormack as Jane Swire particularly great, as she gets a chance to flex her acting prowess late on during some scenes that focus solely on her and her grieving process.
The rest of the cast are good, although the earlier parts of the show do depict tensions between Jim and his children, Cathy and Will, which never gets too much closure which is a shame. Given we get some closure for Jane and Jim, it would have been nice to get the same thing for the kids.
All that being said, Lockerbie: A Search For Truth is a solid watch and a respectful way to pay homage to those who lost their lives in a tragic terrorist attack. Whether we’ll ever truly know what happened and why is anyone’s guess but in the meantime, Lockerbie is definitely worth checking out and a great way to kick the New Year off with.
Missing You releases on Sky and Peacock 2nd January 2025 worldwide!
Many thanks to Sky and Peacock for providing all 5 episodes ahead of release for this review.
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Verdict - 7.5/10
7.5/10