BBC, Netflix working on miniseries about 1988 Lockerbie plane bombing

Karen Butler
·2 min read
A memorial wreath is seen at the 19th anniversary memorial service for the victims of Pan Am Flight 103 at Arlington National Cemetery in 2007. A miniseries about the terrorist attack that killed 270 people is now in the works at the BBC and Netflix. File Photo by Alexis C. Glenn/UPI
A memorial wreath is seen at the 19th anniversary memorial service for the victims of Pan Am Flight 103 at Arlington National Cemetery in 2007. A miniseries about the terrorist attack that killed 270 people is now in the works at the BBC and Netflix. File Photo by Alexis C. Glenn/UPI

July 31 (UPI) -- The BBC and Netflix are working together on a six-part drama about the 1988 Lockerbie airline bombing and the joint Scotland-U.S. investigation that followed.

Filming is slated to take place later this year in Scotland, Malta and Toronto, according to a press release from the network and streaming service Monday.

No casting has been announced yet, but Line of Duty and C.B. Strike director Michael Keillor will helm the project.

Two hundred and seventy people were killed when a bomb aboard Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over the small Scottish town of Lockerbie.

The flight had been on its way to New York's JFK Airport from London's Heathrow at the time of the incident, which was the worst terror attack on British soil and the first major one on U.S. citizens in history.

In a photo released by the Crown Office, Lockerbie bomber Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, the Libyan man who was convicted of the deadly 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, is shown in his passport picture on August 20, 2009. Al-Megrahi, diagnosed with terminal cancer, was released today by Scottish officials on compassionate grounds and returned to Libya. UPI/Crown Office

"The Pan Am 103 Disaster and the global manhunt it spawned was a defining event in world history -- one that contains so many instances of resilience and courage that deserve to be honored and understood. It's a privilege to write this story for the screen," Jonathan Lee said in a statement.

Former Libyan intelligence officer Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was the only person convicted in the Lockerbie bombing.

President Clinton speaks to Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Hugh Shelton during a brief press conference and announcement with reporters on the refugee crisis in Kosovo and the release of two suspects by Libya to be tried for the Pan Am flight 103 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, April 5, 1999 in the White House Roosevelt Room. File Photo by Ian Wagreich/UPI

He was released from prison in 2009 on compassionate grounds after a terminal prostate cancer diagnosis.

Abu Agila Mohammad Mas'ud Kheir Al-Marimi faces three federal charges -- two of aircraft destruction resulting in death and one of destruction of a vehicle used in foreign commerce by an explosive.

He pleaded not guilty in February of this year, but faces life in prison if convicted.

Al-Marimi was taken into custody in December.