- Network: Peacock
- Series Premiere Date: Jan 2, 2025
Critic Reviews
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It’s not that “Lockerbie: A Search for Truth” is bad. Much of it is strikingly put together and Firth’s performance buoys those moments of emotion with skill and empathy. .... When the show cuts to the devastating news footage of the actual event, one can’t help but wonder if a documentary would have made more sense for telling this still-important story.
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This initial offering is full of good performances and good intentions but remains affectless. An intriguing puzzle only to anyone too young to remember the event – or at least the headlines and the shock of the country – for themselves.
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I’d say the show understands that it’s becoming as distanced from its emotional center as Jim is, as obsessed with making this a whodunnit at the expense of a story of self-care and healing. But I wonder if these same beats would have played more successfully in a feature film or a tighter miniseries.
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This drama is strongest when it focuses on the human fallout.
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The series is a handy primer on the basics of what happened and who it affected, especially after the world’s attention shifted elsewhere. But it also struggles to place Jim’s plight in a broader context.
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A venture that works hard to paint its subject as a noble crusader, even though much of its action suggests he was anything but.
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As a domestic drama, it’s one-note — or rather two-note, as Jane alternates between exasperation and support. The series pays no more attention to Swire’s family than he seems to. Firth is onscreen throughout, but because the story is fragmented, jumping ahead for years at a time, he lacks the space to create a full-blown character. (Others fare even less well.)