This is not the first adaptation of the Lockerbie bombing, but it might be the best. That’s a hard thing to say when I haven’t seen every other version of the story, but I don’t know how another dramatization could necessarily surpass this one. We have a tendency to sensationalize true stories, oftentimes almost embarrassingly so, completely rewriting history to fit a decidedly more audience-friendly narrative. The Bombing of Pan Am 103 does simplify things and admittedly features composite characters who are amalgamations of multiple people who worked across more than a decade to bring justice to the victims, but it does so in a remarkably respectful manner.
A lot of true-crime shows lean into the most sensationalized or salacious elements because they’re desperate to hook the audience. The Bombing of Pan Am 103 seems more than comfortable relying on the story as it happened and allowing that story to sit with its audience. Directed by Michael Keillor, the six-episode limited series begins with the town of Lockerbie in the immediate aftermath of the disaster and ends with the trial, followed by an explanation of where things stand today in the continuing pursuit of justice.
It’s strange to realize that I was alive when this happened, yet as someone who wasn’t living in Scotland, I had no real knowledge or understanding of an attack that predated September 11 by 13 years. Nowadays, kids graduate from high school and enter college with their answer to “Where were you on September 11?” being “I wasn’t born yet.” Those of us who remember that day but were too young to remember Lockerbie are now realizing that we once belonged to that same demographic. Because the attack technically happened in Scotland, it isn’t taught as part of the fabric of American history in the same way September 11 is, even though 190 Americans were among the 270 people killed. We have to rely on projects like this to provide a more in-depth understanding.
Netflix also released a companion documentary, but if we’re being honest, more people probably watched the dramatized version filled with terrific actors like Connor Swindells, Peter Mullan, Patrick J. Adams, Merritt Wever, Eddie Marsan, and many others who help guide us carefully through this tragedy. This isn’t a series packed with unnecessary action sequences or manufactured thrills designed to keep the audience’s attention. It consistently endeavors to respect the material while representing the victims, survivors, investigators, and residents of Lockerbie in the most honest way possible.
We witness the crash at the beginning and how it devastates the Scottish town, with plane wreckage, luggage, and bodies seemingly falling from nowhere. The debris itself adds to the roster of victims as 11 Lockerbie residents are killed by parts of the aircraft crashing into their community. The series doesn’t invest us too heavily in the individual passengers aboard the plane because this isn’t that kind of story, but it does spend time with families desperately searching for answers and closure. Most understand that nobody could have survived, leaving them to hope that their loved one’s body can at least be recovered.
The people of Lockerbie rally together to support the first responders desperately gathering bodies and trying to find somewhere to place them, eventually settling on an ice rink as the best available location for such a mass-casualty event. Then the investigators arrive, with the FBI offering its assistance. Because the crash didn’t happen in American airspace, the United States can only send its experts and hope Scotland will allow them to participate. The series follows the uneasy partnership between the two countries as investigators retrieve the black box, determine whether the plane suffered a mechanical failure, discover that a bomb was responsible, locate where it had been placed, and begin tracing how it got aboard and who planted it.
After working through several possibilities, the investigation focuses on two suspects believed to be connected to Libyan intelligence. Since this all actually happened, none of that should qualify as a spoiler. The series eventually reaches their trial before closing with text explaining what happened afterward and where the case stands today. It also recognizes how the evidence-gathering techniques developed and the ability of multiple nations to cooperate during such a crisis helped investigators respond when September 11 happened years later.
It’s interesting to watch this series not only in proximity to the 25th anniversary of September 11, but also within our current political climate, when we’ve become increasingly isolationist. The Bombing of Pan Am 103 is a celebration of international cooperation and the determination of people from different countries to work together to find those responsible for taking hundreds of lives. As far as the performances go, everyone here is terrific, but Peter Mullan is probably the standout as DCS John Orr. He’s a career officer who has done a wonderful job throughout his life, only to suddenly find himself leading an unprecedented investigation after a terrorist attack drops a plane out of the sky and into his jurisdiction. This becomes the defining moment of his career, and he rises to meet it.
I appreciate that the series never goes for the fanciful or invents things to attract a larger audience. It avoids the approach Ryan Murphy has taken with Netflix’s Monster franchise, pulling events out of context and smashing them together in an attempt to make something that should already be compelling even more dramatic. The Bombing of Pan Am 103 feels grounded in what happened and made with respect and dedication toward those who survived, those who were lost, and those who remember.
Adrenaline Studios does a lovely job with the audio description, which has quite a bit of text to read throughout the series, especially during the closing explanations of where things stand now. The story also spans more than a decade, features a massive ensemble cast, and moves across several countries as the investigators pursue those responsible. The audio description handles those transitions and the scale of the investigation without losing the emotional gravity of the material.
The Bombing of Pan Am 103 is a tremendously affecting and somber reminder of the cooperation and resilience required during times of tragedy, as well as the strength that can persevere through our darkest moments. The greatest honor it pays the victims isn’t that it keeps the audience on the edge of their seats. It’s that the series remains respectful to everyone involved and to the memory of all who were lost.
Fresh: 8.6/10
