One of the sons of the couple who made headlines after in the early 2000s secretly snuck on the first day of filming in disguise.
In 2002, a woman named Anne Darwin helped her husband John Darwin pretend that he had died in a canoe accident in the hope that the money they received from life insurance would sort out their debt, convincing everyone – including the police and their sons – that the tragedy was real.
Five years later, John came out of the woodwork claiming that he had suffered amnesia, subsequently leading to him and his wife being jailed for fraud as their unbelievable deception was revealed to the world.
This April, is set to paint their story in a new light, with starring as the narcissistic John and Monica Dolan depicting his partner Anne, who is also the narrator of the tale.
During a press event attended by Metro.co.uk and other media, the creators of the show, including Eddie and Monica, revealed that they haven’t had direct contact with the real-life subjects of the drama.
However, one of the sons was clearly intrigued to see how the show was going to unfold, concealing his identity when he turned up on set on the very first day of filming.
The cast and creators revealed that they found out weeks later that he had been present on the first day of filming in disguise.
‘We heard that he’d come in a baseball cap,’ Monica said, as Eddie added: ‘With a mask on, a Covid mask on to watch.’
However, despite his curiosity, the son didn’t give any feedback on what he thought about the drama.
The creators said that while they approached all of the real-life subjects of the story when making The Thief, His Wife And The Canoe, ‘none of them were interested in discussing or collaborating on the project’.
They explained that David Leigh, the journalist who broke the story of the Darwin family when it was first reported, is still in contact with Anne and ‘has a good relationship with her’.
The makers of the drama therefore hoped that he would be able to reassure Anne that The Thief, His Wife And The Canoe offers a ‘sympathetic telling of her story’, given the crimes she committed.
The Thief, His Wife And The Canoe airs on ITV in April.
