Under Suspicion: Tracie Andrews removed from Channel 5 schedule sparking speculation over reasons why
The highly anticipated show made a quiet exit from the TV listings, leaving fans disappointed
Following in the footsteps of the recent Under Suspicion: Kate McCann, a dramatisation of what happened to Madeleine McCann's mother in the days after she disappeared in Portugal in 2007, Channel 5 added another true-crime drama to the franchise.
Under Suspicion: Tracie Andrews - Lover, Liar, Killer, was due to air on the channel on July 13, but was quietly removed from the schedule just days before the release date.
The one off, feature length drama depicts the horrifying true story behind the 1996 murder of Lee Harvey.
At the time of his death, he was engaged to his girlfriend, Tracie Andrews, who initially said she's witnessed his killing at the hands of a road rage attacker.
Describing the person who'd attacked Lee as somebody with "staring eyes," who struck while the couple were driving to their home in Alvechurch, Worcestershire, it wasn't long before inconsistencies in Tracie's story became clear.
A press conference held on 3 December 1996 was closed early because Tracie gave different timelines to the events surrounding the murder that didn't match her original statement.
Her demeanour and apparent lack of shock was also noted, and soon afterwards it came to light that strands of her hair were found in Lee's hand, indicating a large altercation had taken place between the couple.
It later emerged that the road rage attacker didn't exist, and Tracie had actually stabbed her fiancé 42 times with a pen knife following an argument during the car journey.
In 1997, Tracie Andrews was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Lee Harvey, but didn't actually confess until two years later, through a letter to her lawyer.
She was sentenced to 14 years in prison and released in 2011. It's alleged that she changed her name and underwent plastic surgery to alter her appearance on her release from prison, and her current whereabouts remain unknown.
In the wake of the drama being pulled from the TV schedule, viewers have been speculating about the reason. The official line from Channel 5 is that Under Suspicion: Tracie Andrews - Lover, Liar, Killer has been moved for "scheduling reasons" and will be "back soon."
Coinciding with the schedule change comes news that Lee Harvey's family aren't happy about the events surrounding his death being dramatised without their knowledge.
While there is no confirmed link between this and the show being removed from the July 13 listings, Lee's daughter Danielle spoke on social media platform TikTok to express concerns about it having been made.
Informing her followers that "yet another drama" was airing about her father's sad demise, she says, "as always, we are the last ones to know."
Expressing how difficult it is for herself and her family to deal with reignited opinions and comments about what happened to Lee, Danielle says she's "easy enough to find" to have been informed that the drama would be shown.
She does reveal that she doesn't mind her dad's memory being kept alive by such TV shows and documentaries, but wants people to remember that it is "our reality, our nightmare and our life sentence," and the family would've appreciated some warning about something that affects them being filmed.
