Up to their necks in guilt
A brilliantly entertaining portrayal of how Canoe Man John Darwin’s scam of the century left him and his wife...
THE THIEF, HIS WIFE AND THE CANOE Sunday to Wednesday, ITV, 9pm
The bizarre double life of John Darwin (played here by Eddie Marsan) and his wife Anne (Monica Dolan, both right) combined all the elements of a Carry On film with the most cynical criminal fraud.
Faced with staggering debts thanks to John Darwin’s attempt to build a property empire and maintain a luxury car with a personalised number plate, all on a prison officer’s salary, the Teesside couple were facing ruin in 2002, owing some £700,000.
But the indefatigable John had an idea: rather than them both declaring bankruptcy, he would disappear while on a canoeing trip, leaving his boat to be found in the North Sea so he would be presumed dead. Somehow they managed to pull off the scam, even while he hid out with absurd brazenness in a house they owned next door to their Hartlepool home. Eventually the seemingly widowed Anne was able to collect a sixfigure sum on his life insurance policies – enough cash not only to clear up their financial affairs but also to move to Panama and start afresh under new identities.
At least that was the plan, until fate intervened to expose their mendacity to the world.
Now the full, astonishing story of what happened is revealed in a brilliantly entertaining drama showing over four consecutive nights, packed with jaw-dropping incidents at almost every step.
It’s also full of comic moments in a fleet-footed script from Unforgotten creator Chris Lang, as when John itemises what he’ll need in his emergency kit ‘to survive in the wild for an unspecified period of time’, listing: ‘A tent obviously, a sleeping bag, a stove, clothes, a torch, a pen knife,’ before offhandedly adding: ‘Maybe some Kendal Mint Cake. Whatever.’
But the saga takes on an increasingly sombre tone, portraying Anne as much a victim as perpetrator, coerced by her husband into telling lies, most devastatingly having to maintain the pretence to their two sons.
It’s a portrayal that some will question as being overly generous to Anne, but then nailing down the facts amid such a complex tale of deception is not straightforward.