Colin Firth to play Jim Swire in Lockerbie disaster series

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Colin FirthImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Colin Firth will play the role of Dr Jim Swire in the new series about the Lockerbie disaster

Oscar-winning actor Colin Firth is to play the part of Dr Jim Swire in a new series about the Lockerbie disaster.

It is based on Dr Swire's search for justice after his daughter died in the 1988 bombing which claimed 270 lives.

The five-part series entitled Lockerbie - to be shown on Sky - will begin production this year.

It is based, in part, on the book Dr Swire wrote with Peter Biddulph - The Lockerbie Bombing: A Father's Search for Justice.

He has been a prominent campaigner for justice since Pan Am flight 103 was brought down over the southern Scotland town more than 35 years ago.

Dr Swire has also questioned - and been part of efforts to appeal against - the conviction of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi for the bombing.

Image caption,

Dr Jim Swire has been a campaigner for justice since his daughter died in the 1988 bombing

Al-Megrahi died in Tripoli in 2012 after being freed from a Scottish jail in 2009 on compassionate grounds because of cancer.

Dr Swire's part in the new series will be played by award-winning actor Colin Firth who has starred in the likes of The King's Speech, the Kingsman film series and Bridget Jones's Diary.

On 21 December 1988, all 259 people on board a jumbo jet heading to New York from London were killed.

Another 11 people died in Lockerbie when wreckage destroyed their homes.

Following the disaster, and his daughter's death, Dr Swire became a spokesperson for the UK victims' families in their search to find out what happened to their relatives.

Sky and Peacock Original, who are behind the new series, said it would look at his "relentless journey" which "completely overturns his trust in the justice system".

They said Firth would play the part of a "a man, a husband, and a father who risks everything in memory of his daughter and the unflinching pursuit of truth and justice".

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