Death in the Desert: The Nurse Helen Mystery

2025 • Directed by

Keely Winstone

Documentary, Crime

In 1979, 23 year old British nurse Helen Smith died in suspicious circumstances in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi authorities quickly ruled it an accident, but their refusal to investigate further created international mystery, with accusations that the Thatcher government was more interested in oil than justice. Now, 45 years on, previously classified documents reveal in this documentary what the British government really knew about Helen's death.