Name: The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe
Released: 2022-04-04T00:00:00.000Z
Cast: Eddie Marsan, Mark Stanley, Monica Dolan

TV Show · Drama · Crime

The extraordinary true story of the Canoe Man, John Darwin, and his wife Anne Darwin, who together perpetrated one of the most elaborate, devastating and surreal fake death frauds of all time. A darkly comic true crime story of a coercive marriage and an unforgivable betrayal.

2022 · 46m

Starring Eddie Marsan, Mark Stanley, Monica Dolan

Director Richard Laxton

EPISODE 1

Episode 1

John and Anne Darwin are plagued by debt and faced with bankruptcy. John decides to fake his own death using his canoe, much to the horror of his wife.
EPISODE 2

Episode 2

John successfully applies for a passport to create a new identity, while forcing Anne to demand an inquest into his death so they can get the insurance payout. Miraculously it works and the cheques arrive. They plan a new life together in Panama.
EPISODE 3

Episode 3

John has had enough of being dead and returns to England to declare he is suffering from amnesia, and he is reunited with his sons; journalists hunt down Anne in Panama and the story starts to unravel as a photograph of the two of them emerges.
EPISODE 4

Episode 4

The truth emerges when Anne and John are interviewed by the police. The case goes to trial and Anne pleads not guilty.