ITV have released a teaser clip for the premiere of drama The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe, based on the shocking true story of a man’s conspiracy to fake his own death in a canoeing accident to make a life insurance claim.
The ITV drama stars Monica Dolan and Eddie Marsan as real-life Hartlepool fraudsters Anne and John Darwin, and hits screens on Easter Sunday.
The four-part drama follows the pair in the lead-up to their fraud conviction after John attempted to fake his own death in 2002 in order to secure insurance money to pay off thousands of pounds of debt.
In ITV’s first look at the premiere episode of the drama, Anne Darwin is heard saying: “All I ever wanted was a simple life,” before her husband replies: “I'm going to fake my death - what could be simpler?”
The Sherlock Holmes actor is then seen in comic scenes shuffling his ill-fated canoe out to sea off the coast of Seaton Carew in Cleveland, where the couple owned two large houses with panoramic views of the sea.
Doctor's receptionist Anne continues in a voice-over: “I begged him to turn himself in,” before saying: “It was all going to his plan.”
Prison officer John is seen camping in the woods and hiding in a closet in the family home as a police search rages, while his wife Anne throws a wreath of flowers out to sea.
She asks him: “You want me to exploit people's genuine sympathy for your benefit?” to which he quips: “Well, obviously don't put it like that, but yes.”
In later scenes during the teaser clip, Anne is seen holding various claim forms and speaking into the phone saying: “Could you tell me who I need to speak to about making a life insurance claim?”
The deception was to take its toll on Anne, who lied to their sons Mark and Anthony for five years whilst her husband at one point secretly lived in a bedsit next door to the home he shared with Anne.
One of their sons is seen towards the end of the clip demanding to reporters: “How could our mum continue to let us believe our dad had died when he was very much alive?”
Anne and John eventually decided to leave Seaton Carew and move to Panama City to start a new life together, before the Mirror exposed the fraud with a now-famous photo of them smiling side by side in a Panama real estate office in July 2006.
At her trial Anne pleaded not guilty, arguing that she had been coerced into the plot by her husband, but the jury didn’t believe her and they were both jailed for more than six years.
The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe starts Sunday, April 17 at 9pm and continues over the following nights at the same time on ITV and ITV Hub.
