Lockerbie - Sky Atlantic

[witchycat2]

Is anyone watching this? Stars Colin Firth as Jim Swire.

The first episode was horrifying when they depicted the plane crashing down on Lockerbie. The bodies, the baby, the seats, the woman hanging in a tree... the little boy who went out for a bike ride and then returned to a crater where his house once was. His whole family gone.

I wasn't even born when it happened, but I've read quite a bit about the politics and events that have followed. This may be a controversial 'drama' but it does illustrate the real horrors of that night.

Yes but I actually read that most of the victims were alive for 46 seconds whilst falling and only died on impact 😨

Given that most people on this thread didn't know/realise that bodies were falling from the sky etc, the particularly extreme horror of how they died is a critical factor in it all.

My dad was also involved in the aftermath, he helped with counselling the workers who'd helped with the initial clear-up. He still doesn't talk about it, he's locked it away.

I'm also finding it interesting to see on the thread that so few posters knew that the guilt of Al Megrahi was doubted by the British families. Are those posters from elsewhere in the UK. Living in Scotland, I always thought it was widely known that people thought he was a scapegoat

I'm not from the UK originally (came here in 2003). I only knew the very general facts of the case before watching the series and the documentary. I remember Al Megrahi's release and I knew about that poor Lockerbie boy with his sister's bike whose family was killed. I didn't know Al Megrahi's guilt was in doubt.

I've never really believed any of what we were told was the truth.
I've always been astounded that Tony Blair became a middle east peace envoy after resigning as PM.

David Milliband as foreign secretary blocking the release of key Lockerbie files.
I've never been one to dismiss politicians as all being of the same ilk but I have no words at all for how they behaved over this.

I agree with you that at the time that Megrabi was released, it was common knowledge in Scotland that he might not have been guilty.

Also, Scotland's laws and policies would have allowed Megrabi to gain compassionate release, no strings attached, if doctors said he had three months or less to live and he would not have had to abandon his appeal. The story line is that Scotland (not the UK) said that he must abandon his appeal, but that isn't right. It would have been right if he applied under the new-at-the-time UK prisoner exchange program -where Scotland DID especially say that appeals must be abandoned - but he didn't need to do that because a doctor HAD said that he had less then three months to live and so he qualified for compassionate release under Scottish law. Scottish law would not have forced him to abandon his appeal.

Tony Blair as Middle East Peace Envoy was an absolute joke. He caused half the problems. My opinion of him will never change. The man has a front wider than Blackpool turning up at the Centotaph every year.

I was young,I never really paid much attention to whether al Magrahi was innocent or not. I do remember vaguely there was doubt.

When it first happened everyone thought Iran.

I watched all of it, I have read a book that is very similar, so much so the TV series could be based on it.

@atiaofthejulii give it a watch, most of it is about the legal battle, the evidence and the reasons why it may or may not have been Libya involved.

I know some of the families aren't happy about the level of detail, such as the bodies landing in the farm, but I think the truth has to be told as it shows the courage of the people living in Lockerbie and the emergency services in facing that. The people of Lockerbie were amazing in how they responded.
I was 16 and living at home in Glasgow at the time. I will never forget sitting at the dinner table on Boxing Day and my brother's friend coming in. His dad was a policeman who had gone down to help and he said there were hardened Glasgow cops sitting on the ground in tears. That brought a swift end to the meal. We felt so guilty for enjoying our Christmas when that was going on not too far away.

I am in 2 minds about watching this.

I can’t fathom how some (I believe 1 for definite) passengers were thought to have survived the explosion and the fall to earth, but succumbed to injuries and exposure on the ground. It is breathtaking to me.

I think the image of the cockpit of the Maid of Seas (the plane) ploughed into the field on Tundergarth is one of the most iconic or memorable images of the decade. I believe it sits in landfill now.

The TV series is based on Jim Swires book who Colin Firth plays, father of Flora Swires who was on the flight. Maybe that was the book you read.
It is getting released this month.

@Luddite26 I don't think so I read it quite a few years ago, Megrahi was still in prison.

Found it - Cover up of convenience. Well I think it is the right cover. Published in 2001. So things like the warnings and the memo t not fly Pan Am were in the public domain 20 years ago, if not generally known.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cover-Up-Convenience-Hidden-Scandal-Lockerbie/dp/1845966635/259-8099150-2111843?pd_rd_w=HLn75&content-id=amzn1.sym.a6779871-f1b3-4f65-8ecd-f839d6272217&pf_rd_p=a6779871-f1b3-4f65-8ecd-f839d6272217&pf_rd_r=69MRGCQSQS8K7GTXCXQZ&pd_rd_wg=ZT5SE&pd_rd_r=be0481ca-131f-483a-98f0-1ac19721faf7&pd_rd_i=1845966635&psc=1

I think I will be reading Jim Swire's book.

Jim Swire’s book is this one: Lockerbie: A father’s search for justice

well worth a read for the background to the TV series

Thanks @sashh .
That's good that both books are of a similar angle I will have a look.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/lockerbie-victims-grandkids-friendship-farmers-13672516.ampThese were the farmers who wanted to bring him inside and stood vigil over him instead. They called him "our Frank" too I believe. I have only just started watching but when I think of Lockerbie it is as much the acts of humanity as the horrors of it that come to my mind.

And @LaurieFairyCake your recollections were so vivid they gave me chills. 💐.

They were in the most recent Sky documentary - such a lovely couple

Me too. It is very well done. I am old enough to remember it but of course the Internet and social media weren't around. I don't think I've ever heard what the CIA man said. I might try and look at the documentary.

I've finished this now and I'm uncertain about my feelings about all of this. It's naive to think you will ever get the truth on this. I also feel that this is made to give sympathy to Al Megrahi yet we are then left as to "guilty or not"'. I know there isn't an answer and I know it is Jim Swire's book. We do see the effects of Jim's quest on his family too.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6454701/amp/Chilling-aerial-photos-reveal-forgotten-remains-tragic-Lockerbie-Pan-plane-scrapyard.html. This is interesting.

news.sky.com/story/amp/lockerbie-bombing-part-of-pan-am-flight-103-moved-to-us-ahead-of-abu-agila-masud-trial-13270357

We still don't know though. That's the reality of it. Jim Swire's point is that the evidence against Megrahi was very weak and having watched the Sky documentary - the court scenes and witness evidence has been replicated very closely in the series. I think Megrahi would have been acquitted had he not lied about being in Tripoli the day before the flight. His own sketchy behaviour convicted him.

I still think Libya was involved as why would they pay out billions in compensation otherwise? However, I am with Jim Swire on the placement of bomb at Heathrow. I think the prosecution's theory that the bomb travelled on 3 different planes before reaching its desired destination on Pan Am flight 103 is absurd. Anything could have gone wrong with that plan. The bomb could have easily gone off anywhere. The timer worked for up to 45 minutes and the bomb exploded 38 minutes into the flight. It must have been placed at Heathrow and the luggage attendant at Heathrow confirmed there were 2 new cases he had no knowledge of that appeared in his lunch break.

I am also with Jim Swire on the warning that all US diplomats received not to travel on that flight and that it's completely outrageous the public wasn't given the same warning.

I can understand Jim Swires's family for wanting him to move forward and not to have to be the one fighting every time. I think they are an amazing couple to have stayed married through thick and thin. I can understand Jim Swires's dogged determination not to give up - not to let his daughter down.
I'm glad he has tried his utter best. I'm glad he is pleased with this TV series. I wish he hadn't felt compelled to go down this route. I hope that when they are reunited with their daughter, Flora, that she has seen all that they have done to search and try to uncover the truth.

If it was proven that Megrahi wasn't guilty the question would be who did and why weren't they brought to justice.it is easier to leave people to accept that one person did it and move on and many people will accept that for peace of mind. Few people have the dogged drive of Jim Swires.

I also thought it was widely known that the verdict was doubted by many. It was sad in the drama when he was asked by the girl in the bar what his badge was for and she didn’t know what he was talking about.

If I remember right she was Scottish and I would find it hard to believe that even younger Scottish people would never have heard about what happened

Also, their surname is Swire, not Swires. I mean that respectfully, I'm not being snippy.