Episode #1.1

There has been talk of a drama based on the Lockerbie disaster for over 25 years. There was a movie mooted over 25 years ago with Sean Connery playing the Scottish police chief in charge of the crash investigation.

In the end the makers have settled on a drama based on the memoirs of Dr Jim Swire, he became the spokesman for the relatives of victims of the disaster. Jim Swire's daughter Flora died in the incident, she got a last minute plane ticket on the ill fated Pan Am 103 flight.

The opening episode begins with the aircraft exploding and how the wreckage came down on the Scottish village of Lockerbie.

Jim Swire (Colin Firth) hears about the incident on the television news and desperately tries to find more information regarding his daughter.

In the immediate aftermath, the families of the deceased cannot see the bodies of the loved ones. A psychiatrist decided that it would cause more distress.

Jim Swire after receiving a tip from Dumfries Courier Reporter Murray Guthrie (Sam Troughton) sneaks in to see his daughter. It is the episode's most emotional moment.

Later Jim Swire and Guthrie team up to find out what the security services knew in advance about the dangers of a bomb going off.

The first episode had good special effects and the devastating impact it caused in the local community of Lockerbie. Firth sensitively portrays Dr Jim Swire.

There is a good balance of library footage and the dramatised reconstruction. I remember the incident taking place during the Christmas period of 1988.

I am not sure how much drama there could be as to whether the flight should had proceeded. As a government minister mentions. If every threat was actioned there would not be any flights taking off.

Also a decision has been taken to focus on the Swire family. It means other families are overlooked.