A new series about the Lockerbie disaster has been described as “tragedy porn” by a surviving relative of one of the victims.
Mary Lou Ciulla found out about the death of her husband Frank while cooking dinner as a news flash revealed the Pan Am flight 103 had crashed.
He was one of 270 people on the flight who died after a bomb on board exploded.
Her daughter, Michelle Ciulla Lipkin, was just 17 at the time and was called home from school as the family began a search for answers to what had happened.
Lipkin, a spokesperson for the Victims of Pan Am Flight 103 group, had liaisede closely with producers at Carnival about the historical accuracy of the drama, but says that Lockerbie’s graphic depiction of the disaster was a shock.
In its opening scenes, the series imagines passengers joining together in a singalong of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer before an explosion rips through the cabin.
Debris reigned down on Lockerbie residents. Those who scrambled to assess what has fallen from the night sky found the bodies of passengers, gruesomely lit under the glare of their torches.
“I looked at my Mom and I was like, ‘It’s tragedy porn. This is disgusting,’” Lipkin said. “They’re literally representing the worst moments of our life … The amount of bodies they showed and the egregious nature of it becoming like an action movie with things coming out of the sky. You don’t need to do that.”
Lipkin says Sky and Peacock made a “very deliberate choice” to dramatise the crash and, although producers were honest and transparent about their intentions, the “re-traumatisation” of the scenes was troubling.
In a memo sent to other victims, she recommended skipping the first episode and later recaps.
“We had lots of good conversations, but it was too late to address anything,” she said.
A Sky spokesperson said: “We recognise that this is a deeply sensitive matter for many and approached the storytelling with the utmost care and respect.
“We engaged with victims’ families and support groups throughout production in the lead-up to the series launch and all episodes are signposted for any potentially distressing content.”
Lipkin also questioned the source material Lockerbie: A Search for Truth, the book The Lockerbie Bombing – A Father’s Search for Justice by Jim Swire, the doctor portrayed by Firth.
On December 21 1988, 259 passengers and crew were killed when Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie 38 minutes after take-off, with a further 11 residents losing their life as the plane came down over the quiet, Scottish town.
In the wake of the disaster and his daughter Flora’s death, Dr Jim Swire (Firth), became nominated spokesperson for the UK victims families, who had united to demand truth and justice.
Travelling across continents and political divides, he embarked on a relentless journey that not only jeopardised his stability, family and life, but completely overturned his trust in the justice system.
Sky’s blurb states: “Exploring events from the disaster and its aftermath, Lockerbie: A Search for Truth provides an intimate account of a man, a husband, and a father who risks everything in memory of his daughter and the unflinching pursuit of truth and justice.”
The drama follows Swire’s pursuit of the authorities in his attempt to establish the truth behind the death of Flora.
Lipkin believes his account distorts reality, particularly in that it portrays Abdulbasset Al Megrahi, the only person convicted in connection with the disaster, as an “innocent man that should be empathised with”.
The group believes that the trial of Megrahi is misrepresented and that Swire is wrongly portrayed as the only family member consistently speaking out in the fight for justice.
The drama’s opening title card states that it is “based on the events and aftermath of the Lockerbie bombing,” is inspired by Swire’s work, and “characters and scenes have been changed or fictionalised for dramatic purposes”.
Lipkin claims that Sky and Peacock have not done enough to make clear that Swire’s account is ‘his truth rather than the truth’.
She said: “Lockerbie: A Search for Truth is an example of how ‘based on a true story,’ is an egregious genre if you’re really trying to get the truth out there. Because ultimately, this series is fictional. It’s entertainment.
“It should have no bearing on how people understand the truth about the bombing of Pan Am 103.”
She has found examples of NBC promotional materials that refer to Lockerbie: A Search for Truth as a “true story”.
She says NBC changed the language after she requested edits. In the UK, a Q&A about the show on the Sky website asks: “Is the TV series Lockerbie: A Search for Truth a true story?” The written answer was an unequivocal “yes.”
Lipkin said: “They should tell people why they made their choices and they should fact-check them.”
A Sky spokesperson told Deadline: “We understand there are opposing opinions on the Lockerbie disaster and the programme does not attempt to tell the definitive version or present a conclusion. We chose to tell this story as we believe that drama is an accessible medium that can shine a light on difficult and thought-provoking subjects.”
Lockerbie’s post-script makes clear that Megrahi is “the only person to have been convicted of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103,” but caveats this by saying that Swire remains convinced of his innocence and continues to believe that the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command, supported by Iran – was responsible for the atrocity.
The end cards only fuelled Lipkin’s anger, who argues that they amplify falsehoods and wrongly suggest that “we’ll never know the truth”.
Get the latest celebrity gossip and telly news sent straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily Showbiz newsletterhere.