It’s adapted from a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel

The Looming Tower is no lightweight thriller; its integrity is fuelled by a “remarkable” non-fiction book of the same name by author Lawrence Wright.

The account is based on over 500 interviews with key players around the events of 9/11, including bin Laden’s best friend in college and a former White House counter-terrorism chief.

Widely considered to be one of the most thorough authorities on the events leading up to the attacks, it demonstrates that they were not inevitable.

“Rather, bad luck, the confluence of particular decisions and chance encounters, dithering on the part of United States officials and a series of absurd turf wars between the CIA and FBI all contributed to Al Qaeda’s success in pulling off its nefarious plans that sunny September day,” says a New York Times review of the Pulitzer-winning read.

Everything you need to know about new BBC thriller The Looming Tower