Tracie Andrews - Road Rage Killer pulled from Channel 5 schedule months ago has new confirmed release date

Channel 5 added to their Under Suspicion true-crime franchise by scheduling a dramatisation of the horrifying 1996 murder of Lee Harvey at the hands of his girlfriend, Tracie Andrews.

Following on from Under Suspicion: Kate McCann, which told the story of what happened to Madeleine McCann's mother in the days after she disappeared in Portugal in 2007, Under Suspicion: Tracie Andrews - Road Rage Killer was due to air earlier this year on July 13.

However, true-crime fans were left bemused when the one-off film was quietly removed from the schedule just days before the release date with no explanation - although there was some online speculation about the reasons for the unexpected change.

Now, Channel 5 has confirmed a new release date for the show, and it will air on September 30 at 10pm.

When Lee Harvey died during a car journey on December 1, 1996, Tracie Andrews maintained her fiancé, then aged 25, had been murdered at the hands of a road rage killer.

Tracie's story began to unravel when she gave different timelines to the events surrounding the murder, and her story was notably inconsistent.

Forensic evidence suggested the couple had been engaged in a big argument at the time of Lee's death, and eventually it came out that there was no road rage attacker - Tracie had stabbed her fiancé 42 times with a pen knife.

She was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1997 and released in 2011. Actress Emma Rigby takes the part of Tracie in the drama, and had never heard of the case before being cast in the role.

To help her prepare, Emma says, "I watched every documentary made about the case; there are many. I wanted to really mirror Tracie, so I studied real-life footage of her and listened to recordings."

She continues, "I read the book Pure Evil written by Lee's mother Maureen Harvey. I found her insight very helpful, and deeply moving."

When asked what she found most chilling and shocking about playing and researching Tracie, Emma says candidly, "The most chilling moments are when we used transcripts of what Tracie actually said.

"Her tone is terrifying and her lack of remorse is extremely sad. Tracie is the very definition of chilling. Her behaviour is shockingly unbelievable."

Letting viewers know what she found the most shocking, Emma replies, "I had never heard of Tracie Andrews or the Road Rage case before signing onto the project. I was eager to do as much research as possible and approach it without bias."

Calling herself an "avid consumer of true crime content," the actress continues, "However the more I consumed [about Tracie] the more horrified I became. Each new detail that emerged was more shocking than the last, it makes for a gripping drama."

Grant Armour who wrote the script, was fascinated by the press conference responsible for Tracie's story really beginning to unravel - one held two days after Lee's death closed early because of Tracie's conflicting accounts of what happened.

Explaining why he was particularly interested in that moment of the case, Grant shares, "The press conference is the moment that is ingrained in most people’s memories when they hear the name Tracie Andrews."

He adds, "Tracie tells the press this frightening story of a road rage attack on a dark country lane leaving her fiancé, Lee Harvey, brutally murdered and her beaten by a violent stranger with 'staring eyes.'"

He says this story gave her "the nation’s sympathy" before "cracks in her narrative began to show."

The writer explains, "Tracie was an aspiring model and, according to Lee’s mother Maureen, Tracie referred to herself as the 'star witness' before she stepped out in front of the national media.

"I think Tracie was intoxicated by the idea of fame and the attention and adoration it promised. The press conference was this crystallising moment where she could position herself as a 'celebrity victim' but ultimately her performance let her down."

He concludes, "The press photo of Tracie demonstrating the 'staring eyes' is the single image most associated with her, as it revealed an unhinged side of her personality and broke her victim facade."

Under Suspicion: Tracie Andrews - Road Rage Killer airs on Channel 5 on September 30.