The Sky drama informs its audience that some names, scenes and characters have been “changed or fictionalised for dramatic purposes”.
There are examples of that throughout, including its portrayal of the day of the verdicts at the Lockerbie trial.
Megrahi stood trial alongside another Libyan, Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah, at Camp Zeist – a specially convened Scottish court in the Netherlands.
The programme ramps up the tension as the judges announce they have found Fhimah not guilty and Megrahi guilty. This prompts jubilation among almost all of the relatives in the court’s public gallery, with people leaping to their feet and hugging each other.
A distressed young Libyan woman bangs on a glass partition shouting “That’s my dad!” as a bewildered Megrahi is sentenced to life in a Scottish prison.
Played by Colin Firth, Dr Swire faints and falls to the floor.
In real life, the judges announced the verdict the other way round. There were gasps and tears but no outbursts of emotion; the atmosphere remained sombre; Megrahi was impassive; no-one banged on the glass.
In a shocking and unforgettable moment, Dr Swire did faint and had to be carried from the courtroom. The sentence was announced later that day.
