ITV are clearly hoping for a big ratings winner with their new drama The Thief, His Wife and The Canoe as they have let it dominate their primetime schedule this week coming week, with viewers tuning in every night to follow all the twists and turns of the infamous 'fake death' fraud.
The new series, although sounding like something entirely fictional, given its main protagonist fakes his own death after paddling out to sea in a kayak, is mist definitely real. The story of 'canoe man' John Darwin spread much further than his home town of Seaton Carew when the shocking fraud plot unfolded two decades ago.
Finding himself in a mountain of debt, John launched a wicked trail of deception, which started when he paddled out to sea not far from his home, with wife Anne than raising the alarm after claiming that he never returned. The shocking reality was that John hadn't drowned at all, but instead, was keeping himself hidden away from police, friends and his and Anne's own two sons.
READ MORE: What happened to 'canoe man' John Darwin after prison stretch
After a few years of laying low, John went to Panama, with Anne eventually joining him. The couple's scam was rumbled when John walked into a London police station, telling officers he 'thought,' he was missing person, only for a photo to emerge of him and Anne in a estate agents office in Panama. With the game well and truly up, they both ended up behind bars, with Anne insisting she'd been coerced into going along with things by John.
How many episodes of The Thief, His Wife and The Canoe are there?
There are FOUR episodes of The Thief, His Wife and The Canoe in total. And, the good news for anyone who can't stand to have to wait a week between episodes is that it will air on ITV over consecutive nights.
It kicked off at 9pm on Easter Sunday, April 17 and will go out in the same time slot on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday as well, with Wednesday night's being the final instalment. If you were instantly hooked on it, all four episodes are now available on ITVHub.
