Netflix & BBC team for Lockerbie bombing drama from ‘Line Of Duty’ firm World Productions

Mona Qureshi

Netflix and UK pubcaster the BBC have jointly commissioned Lockerbie, a drama series based on the real events surrounding the 1988 Lockerbie bombing.

Hailing from ITV Studios label World Productions (Line Of Duty), in association with MGM Television and Night Train Media, the 6 x 60-minute series will air on BBC One and iPlayer followed by Netflix in the UK and globally. The project was initially developed by MGM Television and Night Train Media.

The lead writer on the series is Jonathan Lee, with two episodes written by Scottish screenwriter Gillian Roger Park. Julia Stannard will produce and Michael Keillor will direct.

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 goes right up to the most recent indictment at the end of 2022.

The project was initiated by filmmaker Adam Morane-Griffiths whose research included interviews with Scottish police officers and representatives from United States investigative agencies. Filming will take place later this year in Scotland, Malta and Toronto.

Netflix UK commissioner Mona Qureshi, who joined the streamer from the BBC last year, said: “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.”

Executive producers on the series include Simon Heath and Roderick Seligman for World Productions; Steve Stark and Stacey Levin for Toluca Pictures, Adam Morane-Griffiths, Sara Curran, Herbert L. Kloiber, Michael Keillor; and Gaynor Holmes for the BBC.

The co-executive Producer is Joe Hill. Mona Qureshi will oversee for Netflix.