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Irish filmmakers writing series about the Lockerbie bombing

Jim Sheridan - New series Lockerbie, which he is writing with his daughters Kirsten and Naomi, will air next year
Jim Sheridan - New series Lockerbie, which he is writing with his daughters Kirsten and Naomi, will air next year

Filmmakers Jim, Kirsten and Naomi Sheridan are writing a miniseries about the 1988 Lockerbie bombing.

The father and daughters are working on the five-episode series for Sky in the UK and streaming service Peacock in the US. It is due to air next year. No directors are attached at present.

Kirsten Sheridan

A total of 270 people were killed when Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over the Scottish town of Lockerbie on 21 December 1988.

Former Libyan intelligence officer Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was found guilty in 2001 of mass murder and jailed for life with a minimum term of 27 years - the only person convicted of the attack. Megrahi was released from prison in 2009 on compassionate grounds while terminally ill with cancer. He died in Libya in 2012.

US entertainment industry publication Deadline reports that Lockerbie will be based on the search for justice by Dr Jim Swire and his wife Jane. Their daughter Flora was among the 259 people killed on the aircraft. Eleven people on the ground also died after the bomb exploded on the plane.

Dr Jiim Swire

Jim and Kirsten Sheridan are adapting the book The Lockerbie Bombing by Jim Swire and Peter Biddulph for the screen and will write all the episodes. They will be joined for one episode by guest writer Naomi Sheridan.

Speaking about the series, Jim and Kirsten Sheridan told Deadline: "The Pan Am Flight 103 disaster was one of the world's deadliest terror attacks that continues to have widespread implications for the meaning of justice in the US, Scotland and Libya.

"Over 30 years on, this series takes an intimate and very personal look at the aftermath."

Naomi Sheridan and Jim Sheridan

Jim, Kirsten and Naomi Sheridan were Oscar-nominated in 2004 for Best Original Screenplay for their work on Jim Sheridan's autobiographical film In America.

J im Sheridan's other credits include In the Name of the Father and My Left Foot. Kirsten Sheridan's other feature credits include Dollhouse and Disco Pigs.

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