A new drama based on the Lockerbie disaster is due to begin filming in Glasgow later this month, The Herald can exclusively reveal.
A series of roads in Glasgow city centre and the east end will close when Lockerbie shoots from February 28.
Lockerbie will see Colin Firth will portray Dr Jim Swire, who tragically lost his daughter, Flora, in the air disaster in 1988 and has doggedly pursued justice, along with his wife Jane, ever since.
The Sky & Peacock Original series is based on the book The Lockerbie Bombing: A Father’s Search for Justice by Jim Swire and Peter Biddulph, along with multiple other sources.
READ MORE: BBC and Netflix commission Lockerbie bombing drama series
The five-part series will be written by Academy Award nominees Jim Sheridan (In The Name of The Father, My Left Foot) and Kirsten Sheridan (In America, Dollhouse).
Pan Am flight 103 was over the Dumfriesshire town of Lockerbie, on its way from London Heathrow to New York’s JFK airport, when a bomb exploded in the hold.
The explosion on December 21, 1988, killed all 259 people on the plane, many of whom were Americans heading home for Christmas, as well as 11 people on the ground in Lockerbie.
Former Libyan intelligence officer, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi is so far the only man convicted in relation to the bombing, after being found guilty of 270 counts of murder by a panel of three Scottish judges, sitting at a special court in the Hague in 2001.
He was sent to prison in Scotland, but was controversially granted compassionate release in 2009 after being diagnosed with terminal cancer, returning home to Libya where he died in 2012.
Another man, Abu Agila Mas’ud, who is alleged to have helped make the bomb, is set to face trial in America in May of 2025.
Libyan-born Mas’ud faces three charges, including two counts of destruction of an aircraft resulting in death, and a further count of destruction of a vehicle resulting in death.
Lockerbie is a co-production between Carnival Films, which is part of Universal International Studios and Sky Studios.
READ MORE: Colin Firth to star in new drama series about Lockerbie disaster
Renowned Scottish playwright David Harrower (Blackbird, Knives in Hens) joins the series as lead writer, while Maryam Hamidi (Vigil) is guest writer on an episode.
BAFTA Award-winning Otto Bathurst (Peaky Blinders, The Winter King) is lead director, while Jim Loach (Save Me) will also direct an episode.
A number of city roads will be closed to all traffic except emergency vehicles as film crews assemble from February 28 through to March 3 for Lockerbie.
Pedestrian movements will also be restricted during scene ‘action’ for the safety of pedestrians, although access will be maintained to properties between filming ‘action’.
Full list of closures:
From 06:00hrs on the 28 February 2024 until 23:00hrs on the 29 February 2024
Prohibition of waiting, loading and unloading
- Molendinar Street for its full length
From 11:00hrs on the 29 February 2024 until 23:00hrs on the 29 February 2024
Prohibition of vehicle movements
- Molendinar Street for its full length
From 10:30hrs on the 29 February 2024 until 23:00hrs on the 29 February 2024
Pedestrian movements stopped during ‘action’
- Molendinar Street for its full length
Gallowgate, north side only, between Watson Street and Spoutmouth Street
From 15:00hrs on the 1 March 2024 until 23:00hrs on the 5 March 2024
Prohibition of waiting, loading and unloading
- Cochrane Street for its full length
South Frederick Street for its full length
From 15:00hrs on the 2 March 2024 until 23:00hrs on the 3 March 2024
Prohibition of waiting, loading and unloading
- George Street between George Square and Montrose Street (excluding disabled bays)
- Montrose Street between George Street and Ingram Street (excluding disabled bays)
From 06:00hrs on the 3 March 2024 until 23:00hrs on the 3 March 2024
Prohibition of vehicle movements
- Cochrane Street for its full length
John Street between Ingram Street and Cochrane Street
Montrose Street between George Street and Ingram Street
- South Frederick Street for its full length
From 08:00hrs on the 3 March 2024 until 13:00hrs on the 3 March 2024
Pedestrian movements stopped during ‘action’
- Cochrane Street for its full length
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