"A point of no return for convicts banished from their homeland for repeated crimes, Van Diemen's Land was a feared and dreaded penal settlement situated in the most remote and unexplored region of the British Empire. The entrance to its station of secondary punishment, Macquarie Harbour, was named 'Hell's Gates' by its prisoners, with the legend "Abandon all hope ye who enter here" posted on a sign at the harbour's mouth as a warning to all the souls sent there.
In 1822, eight convicts escaped Macquarie Harbour in a fateful bid for freedom. Led by ex-sailor and experienced navigator Robert Greenhill, this band of Irish, English and Scottish thieves was immediately hurled into chaos as their plans to escape the island by boat failed and they were thrust into the heart of a harsh and unforgiving terrain. With little in the way of food or equipment, the men struggled to survive in the barren land. As their limited supplies began to run out, exhaustion and hunger combined to drive the men to madness, leading them to contemplate the unthinkable."
Van Diemen's Land is out on UK DVD from 24th May 2010 through High Fliers.