''Joanne Lees: Murder in the Outback'' (also known as ''Murder in the Outback'') is a television film produced by Channel Ten and

ITV Productions ITV Studios is a British multinational television production and distribution company owned by the British television broadcaster ITV plc. It handles production and distribution of programmes broadcast on the ITV network and third-party broadc ...

, which first aired in Australia on Channel Ten on 18 March 2007 and in the UK on ITV on Sunday 8 April, where it was titled ''Murder in the Outback''. It is based on the real life disappearance of Peter Falconio.

Synopsis

The film begins in 2001, when backpackers

Joanne Lees Joanne Rachael Lees (born 25 September 1973) is a British woman who was attacked and subjected to an attempted abduction while travelling in Australia with her partner Peter Falconio. Lees escaped her attacker, but Falconio was never found. The ...

and

Peter Falconio Peter Falconio was a British tourist who disappeared in a remote part of the Stuart Highway near Barrow Creek in the Northern Territory of Australia on the evening of 14 July 2001, while travelling with his girlfriend Joanne Lees. In the afte ...

were travelling around the outback in Australia in a

camper van A camper van, also referred to as a camper, caravanette, motor caravan or RV (recreational vehicle) in North America, is a self-propelled vehicle that provides both transport and sleeping accommodation. The term describes vans that have been fitt ...

. On the

Stuart Highway Stuart Highway is a major Australian highway. It runs from Darwin, in the Northern Territory, via Tennant Creek and Alice Springs, to Port Augusta in South Australia; a distance of . Its northern and southern extremities are segments of Aus ...

, near Barrow Creek, in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...

, they were waved down by

Bradley John Murdoch Bradley John Murdoch (born 19 February 1958) is an Australian criminal serving life imprisonment for the July 2001 murder of English backpacker Peter Falconio in Australia. He will be 74 when eligible for parole in 2032. Murdoch is being held i ...

, who was later convicted of assaulting Lees and murdering Falconio. The opening scene is Bondi Beach in Sydney. The backpackers climb into their Kombi van and embark upon their journey into the outback. When driving on the

north of Alice Springs late one night, they are flagged down by a bearded man driving a ute. Falconio disappears around the back of the Kombi with the man, and tells Lees to rev the engine. She does so, and a gunshot can be heard. Lees cries out for Falconio, but he does not answer back, and he is not seen again after this point. The bearded man then appears at the front of the vehicle brandishing a gun, and attempts to kidnap Lees, tying her up in the process. Managing to escape from capture, she hides in nearby bushes. After four hours of hiding she is finally rescued by a driver of a

road train A road train, land train or long combination vehicle (LCV) is a trucking vehicle used to move road freight more efficiently than semi-trailer trucks. It consists of two or more trailers or semi-trailers hauled by a prime mover. History Early ...

, who takes Lees to a hotel, where the police are called. Immediately, the press from the UK and Australia began gaining interest in the case, throwing doubt onto Lees' story and focusing on intense rumours that she murdered Falconio. Later, however, Bradley Murdoch is arrested and charged with Falconio's murder after Lees identifies him as the bearded man who kidnapped her. Lees then faces Murdoch at a committal hearing, and undergoes tough questioning about her version of events and her relationship with Falconio. She is questioned at length about Nick Riley, a man with whom she was having

sex Sex is the trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing animal or plant produces male or female gametes. Male plants and animals produce smaller mobile gametes (spermatozoa, sperm, pollen), while females produce larger ones ( ova, of ...

without Falconio's knowledge, and to whom she continued sending e-mails even after Falconio disappeared. Eventually, however, it is decided that there is enough evidence to charge Murdoch and bring the case to trial. Lees, unwilling at first, attends the trial and gives evidence. She demonstrates to the jury how she was able to manoeuvre her bound hands from behind her back to in front of her body, a key part of her account of her capture. Substantial DNA evidence against Murdoch is also revealed. The jury give a unanimous decision, finding Murdoch guilty of the murder of Falconio. The judge calls him a ''"Cold blooded killer, who's shown no remorse."'' He is sentenced to 28 years in prison before being eligible for parole. The film ends with a scene of Lees sitting on the beach, and text on the screen displays simply: "Peter Falconio's body is still missing".

Cast

Joanne Froggatt Joanne Froggatt (born 23 August 1980) is a British actress. From 2010 to 2015, she portrayed Anna Bates in the ITV period drama series ''Downton Abbey''. For this role, she received three Emmy nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a ...

* John Wood as Grant Algie *

Bryan Brown Bryan Neathway Brown AM (born 23 June 1947) is an Australian actor. He has performed in over eighty film and television projects since the late 1970s, both in his native Australia and abroad. Notable films include '' Breaker Morant'' (1980), ...

Rex Wild Rex Stephen Wild is a former Director of Public Prosecutions for the Northern Territory of Australia. Career Wild was appointed to the position of Director of Public Prosecutions for the Northern Territory in 1998, retiring in 2006. One o ...

* Tom Long as Tony Elliot *

Asher Keddie Asher Keddie (born 31 July 1974) is an Australian actress. Beginning her career in the television series '' Five Mile Creek'' in the mid 1980s, Keddie received wide recognition for her role in the television series ''Offspring''. Her significan ...

as Anne Barnett * Richard Carter as

* Laurence Breuls as

* Damian de Montemas as PC Bantan * Mel James as the Clerk of the Court

References

External links

Producers overview - official site
* {{IMDb title, title=Joanne Lees - Murder in the Outback, id=0874293 2007 television films 2007 films Australian television films British television films Television shows set in the Northern Territory 2000s crime drama films Films scored by Guy Gross 2007 drama films Films directed by Tony Tilse