Channel 4 look into the files of ‘The Nurse Helen Mystery’

A mystery is reinvestigated…

In 1979, 23-year-old British nurse Helen Smith died in suspicious circumstances in Saudi Arabia, apparently falling from a balcony at an expat party.

The Saudi authorities quickly ruled it an accident, but their refusal to investigate further created an international mystery with one question at its heart: was Helen murdered? Helen’s death generated sensational tabloid coverage throughout the 1980s, with her final evening cast as an illicit alcohol-fuelled sex party.

And there were wide-reaching diplomatic and political ramifications.

Accusations were made that the newly elected Thatcher administration was more interested in oil deals than justice. Now, 45 years on, director Keely Winstone has obtained hundreds of previously classified government documents, revealing what the British government really thought and knew about Helen Smith’s tragic death

Death in the Desert: The Nurse Helen Mystery, Channel 4, Monday, June 23rd at 9 pm.