The television drama Lockerbie: A Search for Truth, which stars Colin Firth as a grieving father, has been criticized by the real-life victims of the 1988 bombing as “tragedy porn.”
The Sky and Peacock series is a dramatization of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 and its aftermath. The flight, which was travelling from London Heathrow to New York JFK, exploded over the Scottish town of Lockerbie, killing at least 270 people, including 11 on the ground.
Speaking to Deadline, Michelle Ciulla Lipkin, whose father Frank was among the victims, said she was shocked by the graphic nature of the recreation of the crash.
“I looked at my Mom and I was like, ‘It’s tragedy porn. This is disgusting,’” said Ciulla Lipkin.
“They’re literally representing the worst moments of our life… The amount of bodies they showed and the egregious nature of it becoming like an action movie with things coming out of the sky. You don’t need to do that.”
In a statement, a spokesperson for Sky said: “We recognize that this is a deeply sensitive matter for many and approached the storytelling with the utmost care and respect. We engaged with victims’ families and support groups throughout production and in the lead-up to the series launch and all episodes are signposted for any potentially distressing content.”
Firth plays Dr Jim Swire in the series, a GP who lost his 23-year-old daughter in the tragedy and went on to become a campaigner for the victims.
Speaking to The Independent earlier this month, Firth said he felt “just overwhelmed by the relentless sadness of Jim’s journey.”
Speaking at a screening for the series, the actor said the script instantly had an “emotional impact” on him. “It was less the legal investigation or thriller element of it, and far more how it made me feel, seeing this representation of Jim and Jane and their family, and their journey of having carried this for so long, and still carrying it,” said Firth.
The actor added that he met with the Swires at their home, where he realised the extent of Jim’s “alertness and intellectual agility” and “what a huge thing to live up to this was going to be”.
“You always feel a bit out of your depth when you start a job, but this really felt way out of my depth,” he said.
Mystery still surrounds many of the details of the bombing, and Swire recently urged Sir Keir Starmer to publish everything the UK knows about the tragedy.
