Colin Firth reveals emotional journey portraying Dr Jim Swire in Lockerbie TV drama

Colin Firth on set in Bathgate, Lothian during filming for an upcoming Sky series about the Lockerbi (Image: PA)

Colin Firth has revealed how emotional he felt filming his latest TV drama about the Lockerbie bombing.

The 64-year-old award-winning actor plays real-life campaigner Dr Jim Swire, a Midlands GP whose daughter Flora was on board the doomed Heathrow to New York flight.

She was going to see her American boyfriend when a terrorist bomb on board Pan Am Flight 103 detonated on December 21, 1988 killing 270 people including 11 people on the ground in the Scottish town of Lockerbie.

Sky's compelling new five-episode drama Lockerbie: A Search For Truth follows an ordinary man in extraordinary circumstances, forced to fight against the obduracy of the state in order to get to the truth.

Oscar-winner Colin Firth stars as real-life campaigner Dr Jim Swire, a Midlands GP whose daughter Flora, travelling to spend Christmas with her American boyfriend, was on board Pan Am 103.

Actor Colin Firth pictured filming his new movie about the Lockerbie (Image: Stuart Vance/ReachPlc)

"I think anyone of my age here or in the US will remember this in a way that's really impactful, but part of me can't believe it was more than 30 years ago," says Colin. 'In another way, it feels like so much has happened since, particularly 9/11.

"It had an emotional impact on me. I didn't know much about Jim beforehand. Reading the script led me to look him up.

"I was just overwhelmed by the relentless sadness of his journey. The twists and turns of it and revisiting what I thought I knew about the trial, investigation and subsequent events.

"I thought it was the most remarkable story, a painful but also impressive one. I thought if you go through the steps that man has been through."

Firth met Jim, now 88, at his home before he started filming. “His alertness and intellectual agility were astounding. The script had a real emotional impact on me. I was overwhelmed by the relentless sadness of his journey.”

The drama, Lockerbie: A Search For Truth, starts on Thursday on Sky Atlantic, and Firth hopes it will help people understand more about the disaster and the investigation that followed.

“This is a murky story. The truth has been elusive and there is a chance when people see it they’ll want to understand more,” Firth said.