Catherine McCormack Joins Colin Firth in Peacock, Sky Series Lockerbie

Catherine McCormack (Slow Horses, Temple) has joined Sky and Peacock original limited series Lockerbie to star opposite Colin Firth.

McCormack will play the role of Jane Swire, wife of Dr. Jim Swire who will be played by Academy Award- and BAFTA-winning star Firth (The King’s Speech, A Single Man, The Staircase). The couple lost daughter Flora in the terrorist attack on Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988. The five-part series will explore their search for justice ever since. 

Also joining the cast are Sam Troughton (Chernobyl) as Murray Guthrie, Mark Bonnar (Napoleon, Guilt) as Roderick McGill, Andy Nyman (A Small Light, Judy) as Edwin Bollier, Ardalan Esmaili (Opponent) as Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, and Selwa Jghalef (Layers) as Aisha.

In the attack, a Pan Am transatlantic flight from Frankfurt to Detroit was destroyed by a bomb 38 minutes after take-off while flying over the Scottish town of Lockerbie, killing all 243 passengers and 16 crew members. Parts of the aircraft crashed into a residential area, killing an additional 11 people.

The series, on which NBCUniversal Global TV Distribution is handling international sales, is based on the book The Lockerbie Bombing: A Father’s Search for Justice by Jim Swire and Peter Biddulph, along with other sources. Sky, NBCUniversal and its streamer Peacock are all part of media, telecom and technology conglomerate Comcast.

The five-part series is a co-production between Carnival Films, which is part of Universal International Studios and Sky Studios. Scottish playwright David Harrower (Blackbird, Knives in Hens) will serve as the lead writer on the series, with Maryam Hamidi (Vigil) working as a guest writer on an episode. Additional writing is provided by Jim Sheridan, Kirsten Sheridan and Naomi Sheridan. BAFTA Award-winning Otto Bathurst (Peaky Blinders, The Winter King) is the show’s lead director. Jim Loach (Save Me) will also direct an episode.  

Gareth Neame and Nigel Marchant are executive producers on the show for Carnival Films; Sam Hoyle is executive producer for Sky Studios. Additional executive producers include Harrower, Bathurst, Liz Trubridge, Jim and Kirsten Sheridan, and Oskar Slingerland. 

“In the wake of the disaster and his daughter’s death, Dr. Jim Swire (Firth), is nominated spokesperson for the U.K. victims’ families, who have united to demand truth and justice,” a plot description explains. “Traveling across continents and political divides, Jim embarks on a relentless journey that not only jeopardizes his stability, family, and life but completely overturns his trust in the justice system. As the truth shifts under Jim’s feet, his view of the world is left forever sullied.”

Exploring events from the disaster and its aftermath, Lockerbie promises to provide “an intimate account of a man, a husband, and a father who risks everything in memory of his daughter and the unflinching pursuit of truth and justice.”

Production on the series has begun. It will be available on Sky and streaming service Now in the U.K., Ireland, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, and on Peacock in the U.S.