US series The Looming Tower, which explores whether rivalry between the FBI and CIA could have inadvertently set the path for 9/11, has been acquired by BBC Two.
Based on Lawrence Wright’s Pulitzer Prize-winning non-fiction book about the rise of Osama bin Laden and al Qaida in the late 1990s, the programme originally aired on Hulu.
The 10-part series follows counter-terrorism divisions at the FBI and CIA in the lead-up to the attack on the World Trade Centre on September 11 2001.
American actor and Dumb And Dumber star Jeff Daniels plays John O’Neill, the chief of the FBI’s I-49 unit.
He and his protege, Muslim-American agent Ali Soufan, played by Tahar Rahim, are hindered in their investigations by their unco-operative counterparts in the CIA, led by Peter Sarsgaard’s Martin Schmidt.
The series also guest stars Alec Baldwin as CIA director George Tenet.
Lawrence Wright's inspiration for the title of #TheLoomingTower came directly from the Quran. These words were reported to have also been uttered by Osama bin Laden to the 19 hijackers prior to 9/11. pic.twitter.com/90Uq7B43pw
— Looming Tower (@TheLoomingTower) June 15, 2018
Daniels was nominated in the lead actor in a limited series or movie category at the Emmys last year, alongside Benedict Cumberbatch for Patrick Melrose and John Legend for Jesus Christ Superstar.
BBC programme acquisition head Sue Deeks said: “Brilliantly weaving archive footage with tense and compelling drama, The Looming Tower is a fascinating and illuminating deconstruction of the personalities and events that ultimately led to the horror of 9/11.”
The Looming Tower will air on BBC Two in spring.
