Colin Firth to Star in Sky & Peacock’s Lockerbie

Colin Firth (The King’s Speech, A Single Man, The Staircase) has been cast to star in the upcoming Sky and Peacock original limited series Lockerbie as Dr. Jim Swire.

Swire tragically lost his daughter in the 1988 Lockerbie disaster, in which Pan Am Flight 103 exploded 38 minutes after takeoff, killing 259 passengers and crew and 11 residents of the Scottish town. After the disaster, Swire became a spokesperson for the U.K. victims’ families as they demanded truth and justice.

The five-part series is a co-production between Carnival Films, part of Universal International Studios, and Sky Studios. Scottish playwright David Harrower (Blackbird, Knives in Hens) is lead writer, while Maryam Hamidi (Vigil) is guest writer on an episode. Otto Bathurst (Peaky Blinders, The Winter King) is lead director. Jim Loach (Save Me) will also direct an episode.

Lockerbie is based on the book The Lockerbie Bombing: A Father’s Search for Justice by Jim Swire and Peter Biddulph, along with multiple other sources. The series will be available on Sky and NOW in the U.K., Ireland, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Austria, and on Peacock in the U.S. NBCUniversal Global TV Distribution will handle International sales of the series.