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), 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.

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

The executive producers are Simon Heath and Roderick Seligman for World Productions; Steve Stark and Stacey Levin for Toluca Pictures, Adam Morane-Griffiths, Sara Curran, Herbert L. Kloiber for Night Train Media, Michael Keillor; and Gaynor Holmes for the BBC. The co-executive producer is Joe Hill. Mona Qureshi and Manda Levin will oversee for Netflix. Lockerbie is produced by World Productions, an ITV Studios company, in association with MGM Television and Night Train Media.