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In the aftermath of the 1988 Pan Am Flight 103 terrorist bombing and his daughter Flora’s death, Dr. Jim Swire was left unsatisfied by investigators’ conclusion that Libyan intelligence officer Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was responsible for the attack.

In early January, Peacock premiered “Lockerbie: A Search for Truth.” The show examines the bombing that killed all 259 passengers on board, including 35 Syracuse University students, from Swire’s perspective. The show, based on Swire’s book “The Lockerbie Bombing: A Father’s Search for Justice,” concludes that al-Megrahi was wrongfully convicted.

Every year, SU celebrates the lives of the victims by naming 35 Remembrance Scholars in their honor. Many of this year’s scholars said the show felt like a misrepresentation of the tragedy and wished it was based on other accounts of the event, as Swire has been labeled as a conspiracy theorist by the families of some victims.

Sarah Trevis, “A Search for Truth’s” casting director, said the show’s writers chose to focus on Swire’s story to highlight how one voice could make a difference and to showcase his personal experience.

“I like the idea of a ‘mouse who roared’ – a man who was seemingly a very ordinary citizen who then really went above and beyond his expectation of himself to have access to world leaders,” Trevis said.

She also said Swire’s story shows the importance of standing up for one’s beliefs.

Natalie Dolenga, who graduated from SU in December and is a 2024-25 Remembrance Scholar, said in focusing on only Swire’s perspective, the plot ignored the experiences and suffering of other families affected by the bombing.

“I think we should be using a lot more caution when consuming media about it, especially when it’s for dramatized purposes, and especially when it’s based on the account of one individual in his family,” Dolenga said.

Trevis said one reason the show is re-told from Swire’s perspective, rather than others, was because many families declined to participate in the show’s creation. To work around this, the show included characters based on the stories of other victims and created fictional characters inspired by them, she said. She added that some characters were a blend of two people, altered for the show, while some were entirely imagined.

Tabitha Hulme, a Remembrance Scholar and senior studying public health, said the creation of fictional victims and combining the stories of families who declined to participate was an oversight on the show’s part.

Hulme visited the Pan Am 103 memorial in Washington, D.C., with the other Remembrance scholars on the anniversary of the tragedy in December. After speaking with the families of some victims, she agreed that the show can come off as insensitive.

“From our understanding with the victims of the Pan-Am Association and everyone that we’ve spoken to, it’s a pretty gruesome re-encountment (sic) that is very inaccurate,” Hulme said. “Of course, things are dramatized to have a certain appeal to the eye, but I think it’s very insensitive to make this inaccurate piece about what happened and not really address the victims.”

On Jan. 2, the board of the Victims of Pan Am Flight 103 organization released a statement expressing their frustration and anger about the show’s content, adding that the series amplifies falsehoods and unsupported theories about the tragedy, particularly in regards to al-Megrahi’s portrayal.

In the show and book, Swire concludes al-Megrahi is innocent, calls him a victim and argues the Iranian government was responsible. Al-Megrahi, who was sentenced to life in jail in 2001, was freed on compassionate grounds in 2009 by the Scottish government while terminally ill with cancer, before he died in Libya three years later.

The board said in the statement that exploring al-Megrahi’s innocence as a central theme of the show “dishonored the memories of (their) family members.”

Kelsey Leary, a Remembrance Scholar and senior photography major, also said her main issue with the show was its willingness to explore al-Megrahi’s innocence.

Leary’s parents were sophomores at SU when the bombing occurred and had friends on board when the plane crashed into Lockerbie, also killing 11 residents on the ground. She said the bombing had a long-term impact on her parents and convinced her mother not to go abroad the following year.

“The woman I was speaking to directly about this told me her brother died on that plane. Imagine watching a show and hearing them call, essentially, the murderer of your brother also a victim of this. That’s upsetting,” Leary said.

Trevis, who has worked on the project since 2021, said that the show made a conscious effort to cast actors with similar authentic backgrounds similar to each character. In cases of controversial roles like al-Megrahi — which she described as the most difficult to cast — Trevis said multiple actors turned down the role because they didn’t want to be cast as a terrorist, complicating the process.

“The casting team was really sensitive about that. So we tried our very best to find as authentic an actor to match the person as we could. But it wasn’t always possible with the Libyan roles. We had to really think laterally around those,” Trevis said.

While Trevis said casting al-Megrahi was a struggle, selecting Colin Firth for the role of Swire was an easy choice. She felt that Firth would effectively portray the emotion required to convey Swire’s feelings of hopelessness and heartbreak in the immediate aftermath of the attack.

Mason Garbus, a Remembrance Scholar and senior studying music education, said he wishes the show had cast a lesser-known actor for Swire’s role. Garbus pointed to the show’s release in the U.S. and the U.K. as a potential concern for how quickly the content could spread misinformation using a well-known actor like Firth.

Garbus said the show’s potential for spreading misinformation could place an added burden on groups like Remembrance Scholars to help distinguish fact from fiction.

Garbus said the show could be especially pivotal ahead of an upcoming trial in May. Abu Agila Masud, who U.S. authorities have accused of making the bomb as an accomplice to al-Megrahi, will stand trial at a federal court in Washington in May. Like al-Megrahi, Masud faces a potential lifetime sentence.

“I think it has the potential to be problematic. I think it’s important for people to remember that it was made for the purpose of entertainment, and I think it’s important for people to be educated on the history of the tragedy and the events leading up to and following the trial,” Garbus said.

Various scholars also expressed discontent with the show’s graphic content. The first episode depicts debris from the crash falling on Lockerbie residents, who use torches to find the bodies of the deceased passengers throughout the town.

For Dolenga, the dramatization of the crash is like that of an action film. She believes viewers could still grasp the serious nature of the attack without the graphic scenes.

“It’s not respectful, and there are just so many family members and victims who are still alive. It feels very graphic for such a sensitive topic where the victims have actively said, ‘We do not support this show,’” Dolenga said.

Hulme said if the victims’ families don’t feel comfortable with how the crash is depicted or how the overall content is presented, it’s hard for her to support it. As a Remembrance Scholar, she sees it as her job is to uphold the truth and bring honesty forward, especially considering the U.S.’s efforts to resolve the case, she said.

Dolenga agreed, saying she believes that while the show attempts to provide a detailed account of events through Swire’s perspectives, other sources are available for those seeking more accurate information on the terrorist attack.

She said the Remembrance Scholars program will present projects in the spring that offer a more accurate account than the show does. Dolenga also said she hopes people don’t rely solely on the show to educate themselves about the bombing, emphasizing there are other resources dedicated to educating the community and fostering understanding and connections.

Hulme said people can research the attack in the SU Library archives, or through other sources such as first-hand accounts, if they want to learn more about the bombing. She specifically pointed out that many of the victims’ families are still alive and questioned the decision to rely on Swire’s book.

“It’s interesting to see that media has taken a turn to kind of profit off of the grief of others,” Hulme said. “Although it might sound interesting to want to watch this series, also remember, at the core, what is this trying to really do? And how is it trying to impact others?”

Published on January 30, 2025 at 2:13 am

Contact Henry: hdaley@syr.edu