Clockwise from top left, Eddie Marsan and Monica Dolan as John and Anne Darwin in the new ITV drama, the Hartlepool Mail in 2008 after John pleaded guilty and a picture of Anne outside court.Clockwise from top left, Eddie Marsan and Monica Dolan as John and Anne Darwin in the new ITV drama, the Hartlepool Mail in 2008 after John pleaded guilty and a picture of Anne outside court.
Clockwise from top left, Eddie Marsan and Monica Dolan as John and Anne Darwin in the new ITV drama, the Hartlepool Mail in 2008 after John pleaded guilty and a picture of Anne outside court.

Who are Hartlepool couple John and Anne Darwin in ITV1 drama The Thief, His Wife And The Canoe?

Television drama The Thief, His Wife And The Canoe returns to our screens this week.
By Gavin Ledwith
Published 15th Apr 2022, 15:23 BST
Updated 12th Jun 2023, 10:52 BST

The acclaimed 2022 four-part series, which revisits the misadventures of Hartlepool couple John and Anne Darwin, appears on consecutive nights on ITV1 from Monday, June 12, at 9pm.

It recalls how the pair conspired to fake John’s death in a 2002 canoeing accident before cashing in life insurance and pension policies so they could eventually begin a new life in Panama.

Here’s how their plot eventually unravelled.

Fifty-one-year-old former teacher John Darwin, played here by Eddie Marsan, was reported missing after apparently canoeing off the coast of Seaton Carew, close to where he lived, in March 2002.

1. From the beginning

Fifty-one-year-old former teacher John Darwin, played here by Eddie Marsan, was reported missing after apparently canoeing off the coast of Seaton Carew, close to where he lived, in March 2002. Photo: ITV

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Surgery receptionist Anne and the couple's two oblivious sons, as portrayed here in the ITV drama, mourned John's apparent death near the spot where he was last seen.

2. Devastated family

Surgery receptionist Anne and the couple's two oblivious sons, as portrayed here in the ITV drama, mourned John's apparent death near the spot where he was last seen. Photo: ITV

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He was legally declared dead a year later, even though his body had still to be recovered from the North Sea, after Hartlepool's coroner recorded an "open verdict" at an inquest.

3. Declared dead

He was legally declared dead a year later, even though his body had still to be recovered from the North Sea, after Hartlepool's coroner recorded an "open verdict" at an inquest. Photo: Owen Humphreys

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The Hartlepool Mail was the first paper to learn that Darwin, by now 57, had walked into a London police station in December 2007 to say he was suffering from amnesia. He is pictured here in 2007 with a police officer.

4. An unexpected twist

The Hartlepool Mail was the first paper to learn that Darwin, by now 57, had walked into a London police station in December 2007 to say he was suffering from amnesia. He is pictured here in 2007 with a police officer. Photo: Owen Humphreys

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