The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe

The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe is an ITV television drama series that was first broadcast on 17 April 2022.^[2] Written by Chris Lang and directed by Richard Laxton, the programme dramatises the John Darwin disappearance case (2002-2007), where prison officer and teacher John Darwin faked his own death in a canoeing accident, and reappeared five and a half years after he was believed to have died.^[3]

The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe
Genre	Crime drama
Created by	Chris Lang
Based on	a memoir by David Leigh
Written by	Chris Lang
Directed by	Richard Laxton
Starring	Eddie Marsan Monica Dolan Mark Stanley Dominic Applewhite Karl Pilkington
Music by	Harry Escott Ben Pearson
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	4
Production
Executive producers	Chris Lang David Nath Sofia Noronha
Producer	Alison Sterling
Production locations	Hartlepool[1] Walthamstow[1] Seaton Carew[1] Middlesbrough[1]
Cinematography	Sergio Delgado Hermes Marco
Editors	Barry Moen James Taylor
Production companies	Story Films ITV
Original release
Network	ITV
Release	17 April (2022-04-17) – 20 April 2022 (2022-04-20)

Cast

• Eddie Marsan as John Darwin
• Monica Dolan as Anne Darwin
• Mark Stanley as Mark Darwin
• Dominic Applewhite as Anthony Darwin
• Karl Pilkington as DC Phil Bayley

Production

Hartlepool, Walthamstow, Seaton Carew and Middlesbrough were used as filming locations.^[1]

Episodes

Episode	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original airdate	Viewing figures (millions)
1	"1.1"	Richard Laxton	Chris Lang	17 April 2022 (2022-04-17)	10.09
2	"1.2"	Richard Laxton	Chris Lang	18 April 2022 (2022-04-18)	9.23
3	"1.3"	Richard Laxton	Chris Lang	19 April 2022 (2022-04-19)	8.62
4	"1.4"	Richard Laxton	Chris Lang	20 April 2022 (2022-04-20)	8.81

Reception

Stuart Jeffries for The Guardian gave the series four out of five stars.^[4]