Inspired by the true story of John and Anne Darwin, ITV true crime drama The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe is due to air next month in April.
The upcoming four-part ITV series is based on the unbelievable story of Hartlepool couple the Darwins, who faked John’s death during a supposed canoe accident in 2002, before their eventual discovery, arrest and later prison sentencing in 2008 shocked the nation.
Speaking at a press event attended by RadioTimes.com, Lang said that John and Anne Darwin “didn’t want to get involved” with the ITV drama.
“No, not direct contact, we approached them all. And none of them were interested in discussing or collaborating on the project,” he said.
“David Leigh, who was the journalist who broke the story… does still speak with Anne and has a good relationship with her. So, you know, I think [he] hopefully has been able to reassure her that it is as sympathetic a telling of her story as is possible, given what she did.
“But no, they didn’t want to get involved. You know, they have told their story a lot in public, obviously… Yeah, none of them wanted to.”
The drama stars Eddie Marsan and Monica Dolan as the Darwins, a couple who conspired to fake John’s death as part of a life insurance scam, even lying to their own children.
Read on for everything you need to know about The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe.
When will The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe air?
![""]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2022/03/thief-wife-canoe-anne-darwin-sons-610598a.jpg?quality=90&crop=26px%2C154px%2C6248px%2C4162px&resize=620%2C413" "\"\"")
There’s no set air date confirmed as of yet, but we do know that the drama will air sometime in April 2022.
The series is inspired by an unpublished manuscript penned by David Leigh, the journalist who first found Anne when she was living in Panama, where the couple moved following their 2002 insurance scam.
The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe cast
Eddie Marsan and Monica Dolan lead the cast as John and Anne Darwin respectively, while the supporting cast includes Mark Stanley (Anne Boleyn, Sanditon) and Dominic Applewhite (The Inbetweeners) as their grieving sons.
On being cast as John, Marsan previously said: “I’m so thrilled to be working with Chris Lang, one of our greatest writers, and to get the chance to work with Monica Dolan.
“The story of how and why John Darwin faked his own death to defraud insurance companies is fascinating, and if it weren’t fact, you’d think it unbelievable.
“I can’t pretend to understand what was going on in his head when he made those choices, but I’m going to do my absolute best to portray him, and I can’t wait to get started.”
Read more: John and Anne Darwin’s son secretly watched new drama filming
Dolan added: “The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe tells the story of surely the most outrageous fraud of modern times – and my favourite kind of drama is when the outrageous comes from the prosaic.
“As breathtaking as their managing to pull this deception off in the first place, is how spectacularly the couple wrecked it for themselves as soon as they had got away with it.”
Is there a The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe trailer
While the trailer for The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe has aired on ITV, it is not available to view online yet, but we’ll keep this page updated.
The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe will air soon on ITV and ITV Hub. If you’re looking for more to watch, take a look at the rest of our Drama coverage, or check out our TV Guide.
The latest issue of Radio Times is on sale now – subscribe now to get each issue delivered to your door. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to the Radio Times podcast with Jane Garvey.