A journalist who worked with John Darwin on his book has opened up on the man behind the unbelievable tale. Bernice Saltzer spoke with Mr Darwin numerous times after he was released from prison while he worked on his book and described how he thought he was "cleverer than everyone else".
Teacher and financial advisor Mr Darwin was believed to have died in a canoeing accident in 2002 at Seaton Carew, in Hartlepool - but five years later he left police bewildered after walking into a police station after his apparent death. And now his bizarre story is the subject of the ITV drama The Thief, His Wife, and The Canoe.
And as the show concluded this week, Bernice shared her thoughts on the series and said Eddie Marsan who starred as John Darwin played him "absolutely right".
Read more: John Darwin's sons divided over seeing dad after forgiving mum Anne over scandal
Bernice said: "Eddie got him absolutely right. He had a completely unshatterable belief in his own importance. He really thought he was cleverer than everyone else and thought he was very calculated and very considered in everything he did.
"He absolutely thought he was made for something better. He didn't want to be a prison officer he wanted a property empire and he was going to have that regardless.
"Afterwards, I think he very much saw himself as a victim. He thought what would happen would be that once the insurance company had taken back the money he would then have the rest. But with the proceeds of crime act, he didn't get any of it and he really felt like that was a great injustice. He thought the way he was being treated was shocking.
"He had no consideration for all the money spent searching for him. He thought all the money from all the properties and everything they owned would come back to him."
The four-part ITV series kicked off on Easter Sunday and sent social media on fire, over the real life events it's based on and the accents adopted by its cast led by Eddie Marsan and Monica Dolan as Anne Darwin. Viewers wasted no time in taking to social media to voice their complaints about the accents, complaining that they sounded more Geordie than from near Hartlepool.
And while Bernice admitted the accents were "jarring" she said she thought overall the series was "pretty spot on". She said: "The first episode was quite jarring because the accents sounded a bit more Geordie than Hartlepool and John doesn't have a particularly strong accent, he has a North East twang.
"But I think the series was pretty spot on. I think it was a really good drama and if you didn't know the story you would just think: 'Who is going to believe this?' It pretty much got it spot on with how he described it happening, obviously, they can't put every last bit in it."
The drama was told from the perspective of wife Anne who Bernice said she does have a "certain amount of sympathy" for. She said: "I never knew Anne but I think she was very much a victim. The thing most people can't get over is how someone could do that to their kids.
"I think she was quite a timid woman compared to John who was very strong and overbearing and I think she did everything for a quiet life. He has a really forceful personality and I don't think she was any match for him so I do have a certain amount of sympathy for her."
