In 2001, a British couple, Joanne Lees and Peter Falconio are travelling across Australia in a camper van. One night, they are stopped by another driver who turns out to be a cold-blooded killer. He shackles Joanne and throws her into the back of his van. She hears a gunshot but shortly after this manages to escape and hide in the wilderness. Hours later she flags down a truck and then escapes to safety. Her boyfriend (or rather his body) has never been found.

I travelled to Australia in 2006 for a year and the first book I read was the book written by Ms Lees regarding what had happened to her. Yes, not the ideal book to read when you’re travelling solo in Oz.

There was more to the case as it seemed as if Joanne endured a trial by media who saw her as being cold, aloof and moody. The TV movie based on the case portrays her in much the same light, which is my major objection to it. Joanne Lees: Murder in the Outback does nothing to rehabilitate her image as she comes across as utterly vile and a real bitch in most scenes. This is in stark contrast to her account as her book, No Turning Back is one of the best true crime books I think I’ve ever read. It’s very telling that a female victim of such a traumatic event is looked down on if she doesn’t perform for the cameras enough. Heaven forbid that a young woman should react to trauma in her own way. It’s almost as if different people react to different life-changing events in different ways.

This TV movie touches on the media depiction and the lack of victim care by the police but it also panders to the gutter press’ image of her as being utterly unlikeable.

I’d recommend you watch a well-made documentary about the case or, instead, read Ms Lees’ excellent book rather than watch a superficial and rather biased TV movie.

1.5 out of 5 stars