Peacock ‘Lockerbie’ Drama Sparks Criticism From Real-Life Victims’ Families
The Peacock and Sky original series Lockerbie: A Search for Truth, starring Colin Firth, has sparked mounting criticism from real-life victims’ families over the dramatic retelling of the aftermath of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.
Michelle Ciulla Lipkin, a spokesperson for the Victims of Pan Am Flight 103 group and who lost her father, Frank Ciulla, in the December 1988 terrorist attack, tells The Hollywood Reporter that Lockerbie: A Search for Truth needlessly sensationalized the deadly airplane bombing.
That includes in the first episode choosing to portray the Pan Am Boeing 747 being destroyed by a bomb that killed 270 passengers and crew, including 190 Americans, even if that meant triggering painful memories held by the victims’ families.
“By making the choice to show it (the bombing), making the choice to fill these gaps of what happened on the plane before it blew up, hearing passengers sing Christmas carols, showing the horrific, grotesque images of bodies falling — those are deliberate creative choices to get people to watch a TV show. You know what? That’s what happened to my dad. I don’t need to see that. I never need to see that,” Ciulla Lipkin insisted.
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She also objected to the limited, five-parter as a fictionalized drama being told strictly from the perspective of real-life campaigner Dr. Jim Swire, played by Firth, while excluding the views of other victim families who have also searched for answers to the continuing mystery behind the deadly terrorist attack.
“These fictionalized versions of history are really a dangerous genre, especially at a time where we are battling ecosystems that have so much misinformation. This is part of that, this is ultimately spreading misinformation about the bombing of Pan Am 103 through the guise of an entertainment drama,” Ciulla Lipkin argued.
The limited series from Carnival Films portrays Firth’s character questioning his long-held beliefs and allegiances as he mounts a controversial, decades-long campaign for justice that takes him to the deserts of Libya where he met Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, played by Nabil Alraee, and to the Netherlands for the trial of convicted Libyan national, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi (Ardalan Esmaili).
Ciulla Lipkin said she and her family object to the Lockerbie limited series including Dr. Swire’s theory that al-Megrahi was innocent of the Pam Am 103 bombing, despite his conviction for the atrocity. “One of the most egregious lines in the series is when they say that al-Megrahi was the 271st victim of Pam Am 103. They didn’t need to say that,” she insisted.
Despite the conviction of al-Megrahi, multiple theories to explain the bombing of Pan Am 103 have emerged, including over who was ultimately responsible for the terrorist attack. The Peacock and Sky original series is a co-production between Carnival Films, which is part of Universal International Studios, and Sky Studios. Scottish playwright David Harrower is the lead writer.
The five-part drama also comes ahead of the upcoming U.S. criminal trial of Libyan Mas’ud al-Marimi for allegedly making the bomb that brought down the Pan Am Boeing 747 as it flew from London to the U.S.
Victoria Cummock, whose husband, John Cummock, was among the 270 people, including 190 Americans, killed during the Lockerbie tragedy, in a statement to THR said the Peacock original series, coming ahead of the U.S. criminal case, “is a myopic, strategic and egregious effort, cloaked as entertainment, to influence the sentiments of uninformed audiences, instill doubt in potential jurors and undermine the course of U.S. criminal justice.”
Cummock, who is a founder and spokesperson for the Pan Am 103 Lockerbie Legacy Foundation, added the series, in centering the experience of Dr. Swire, “glorifies one man’s distorted interpretation while deliberately censoring any contrasting narratives and divergent facts, which have been chronicled in the stories of hundreds of other victims’ family members for more than 35 years.”
Responding to criticism from the real-life victims’ families, Sky in a statement to THR said the series is rooted in the experience of Dr. Swire and is based on his book with Peter Biddulph, The Lockerbie Bombing: A Father’s Search for Justice. “We understand there are opposing opinions on the Lockerbie disaster and the program does not attempt to tell the definitive version or present a conclusion,” Sky argued.
“We chose to tell this story as we believe that drama is an accessible medium that can shine a light on difficult and thought-provoking subjects. However, we recognize that this is a deeply sensitive matter for many and approached the storytelling with the utmost care and respect. We engaged with victims’ families and support groups throughout production and in the lead up to the series launch and all episodes are signposted for any potentially distressing content,” Sky added.
