The Thief, His Wife And The Canoe

ITV, 9pm, Sunday to Wednesday

‘All I ever wanted was a simple life,’ declares Anne Darwin (Monica Dolan) as we meet her at the start of this fact-based drama showing over four nights.

Sadly, as we now well know, a simple life was quite the opposite of what lay in store for her and her husband John (Eddie Marsan, right with Dolan) – thanks to their decision to fake his death in a canoeing accident so that he would be presumed drowned and his body lost at sea in order to collect on life insurance policies to pay off debts of around £700,000.

It’s a story that would lead them from sedate Hartlepool to an exotic hideaway in Panama before they were disgraced and exposed in the press. It’s a jaw-dropping saga told through the eyes of the couple who became the subject of global ridicule and notoriety before each was jailed for six years. ★★★★★