Series shot over 13 weeks in Scotland and Morocco will launch in the new year

Colin Firth plays Dr Jim Swire in the new Sky drama series Lockerbie: A Search for Truth. | Graeme Hunter

In the heart of a vast warehouse complex next to the M8 motorway, tension is building as final preparations are being made for the resumption of a criminal trial.

The scene may be familiar, but this is no ordinary courtroom and no ordinary case.

The judges, lawyers and witness taking their seats are in a painstakingly researched replica of the specially-created Scottish court, created at a former military base in the Netherlands, where two Libyan men accused of the Lockerbie bombing went on trial.

Watching on intently is Colin Firth, the Oscar-winning actor portraying Jim Swire, the doctor who has spent decades pursuit the truth and justice over the 1988 bombing of Pan AM Flight 103, which claimed the lives of all 259 passengers and crew, and 11 residents of the town of Lockerbie, in Dumfries and Galloway.

Firth and Catherine McCormack play Dr Swire and his wife Jane - whose daughter Flora was killed on her way to spend Christmas in New York with her boyfriend - in a forthcoming five-part drama series largely inspired by the campaigner's 2021 book The Lockerbie Bombing: A Father's Search For Justice.

Glasgow-based playwright David Harrower was approached to adapt the book for the Sky series after he carried out extensive research on the bombing - including Dr Swire's own personal investigations - for an earlier project which was in development for several years.

Harrower said: "I started work on that initial project around 2015. When it came to me, it was also very much through the prism of Jim Swire and his story, which I got really drawn into and starting read more about it.

"The project didn't get anywhere and I thought I was done with Lockerbie, but then got a second chance at it. I'd done a lot of research by then, but hadn't realised Jim had published his own book.

"He was baring his soul and was deep in the grain of it. His subjective experience really electrified the whole thing."

Colin Firth pictured during filming of the Sky drama series Lockerbie: A Search for Truth. Photo: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire

Harrower worked closely with researcher, screenwriter and consultant Faisal Qureshi, who had been following the Lockerbie case for more than 20 years and compiled a database of around 7000 documents on every aspect of the bombing ahead of filming getting underway on Lockerbie: A Search for Truth, which launches on 2 January.

Catherine McCormack and Colin Firth play Jane and Jim Swire in Lockerbie: A Search for Truth. | Sky/Carnival

Harrower said: "I was wary about writing about Lockerbie, not least because of the emotional aspect of it. It really lingers in the Scottish and American psyche. And I knew there were conflicting arguments and beliefs about the bombing.

"When I approach a project I always think: 'What is my entry point into this? Looking at the bare facts about Lockerbie, I wasn't sure what the best entry point would be, but reading Jim's book changed all that. He suddenly shone a light on the personalities and I started to see the various characters."

The series was shot across 13 weeks earlier this year, mainly around Scotland, while the cast and crew also travelling to Morocco to film the scenes set in Libya.

One of the main bases was the Pyramids Studios complex in Bathgate, where the replica court was built and which also stood in for exterior shots of the Camp Zeist building. A former Ministry of Defence base in Stirling was used to film the impact of the bombing on Sherwood Crescent, in Lockerbie, where a number of homes were completely destroyed.

Producer Colin Wratten said the crew felt "a real sense of responsibility to get it right," with the production having an "extraordinary" level of detail.

He said: "We replicated Camp Zeist completely to scale, it was an absolutely to-the-inch replication of that court.

"We built Sherwood Crescent and had the crater at the end of the road. We set out to replicate that in an accurate way, but with sensitivity in mind — making sure we were filming in places that couldn’t be overlooked.

Catherine McCormack plays Jane Swire in the Sky drama series Lockerbie: A Search for Truth. | Sky/Carnival

"There was a sharp focus on balancing accuracy and sensitivity every day. We were mindful that if people saw things in isolation in a public place without the context of the five-hour story we were telling, that could be very upsetting, so an enormous amount of time and effort went into security and a sensitive approach."

Firth said he was overwhelmed by the "relentless sadness" of Jim Swire's story when he read the script for the series and started to read more about him.

He said: "I thought it was the most remarkable story, a painful one, but also in many ways an impressive one.

"I thought that if you go through the steps that that man has been through, it was very much a story worth telling.

"One of the things that's so extraordinary and so particular about the character of Jim Swire is the journey and its duration. The point where he finds himself today couldn't be further from his starting point."

McCormack admitted she was daunted by the prospect of playing "a real-life person who had suffered such a great loss."

She added: "I watched a few documentaries about Lockerbie and Jane was interviewed in a couple of them.

"There wasn’t much footage of her but in the brief moments she spoke on camera she had such grace and dignity.

"There was a particular moment where Jane is asked how she dealt with Flora’s death. She says: “I just tried to survive it, one step at a time”.

"This simple moment was so full of Jane’s humanity, vulnerability and strength that it became a bit of a guiding light for me."

Dr Swire met Firth before filming got under way and also visited the Camp Zeist set.

He said: "The recreation of Camp Zeist was amazing. It bought back intense memories of the actual trial.

"It was very gratifying to see such a large and competent team.

"There was another thing that really struck me, which was that I could see the story they were making a programme about was beginning to impact them.

"You could see it in their eyes, that there really is a story here that ought to be known. It was extremely rewarding."

Firth was already linked with the project when Harrower came on board, but the writer had to put the actor to the back of his mind.

Harrower said: “When I come onto a project the only thing on my mind is writing a good script. I see it as a bit of a hex if I think about how going to be playing the part.

“I just kept thinking about Jim, trying to capture his bearing and language.

“When they started to send me the rushes from filming I thought Colin was extraordinary. He was playing Jim to an absolute tee. It was amazing.”

Dr Swire added: "The thing that really struck me was a close up at one point of Colin’s face.

The little muscles in his face were doing exactly what I knew my little muscles would have been doing if I had been asked that question.

"That really brought home to me how involved Colin had become in what he was being asked to portray."

Inside new Colin Firth drama following Dr Jim Swire's relentless pursuit of Lockerbie truth and justice

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