Screenwriter Chris Lang, who wrote the ITV Unforgotten detective story, is known for creating rotating, psychologically complex plots, but the true story of John and Anne Darwin – which he has turned into his new ITV drama The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe – is beyond his imagination. Such was the media coverage of the story when the couple was tried and jailed in 2008 that Lang might consider calling it Unforgettable. But more than a decade later, the exact details are not so easy to remember. “I was amazed at how much I forgot,” says Lang. “As I read the research material, I kept thinking: oh yes! “But then there was a huge wealth of things I had no idea about: how they implemented the idea, why they decided to return.” Lang has devised a live prank on an unfortunate eccentric fantasy that seems to resonate with the public – judging by the reactions to the series’s commercials. “When I posted the first photo of the poster on Twitter, there were people who said, ‘They only blamed the insurance companies… and they’ve been marrying us for decades,’” Lang said. “But it was not this crime that attracted the prison sentences. that’s what they did to their children. “ The unpleasant way in which Anna Darwin pretended to her children that their father was dead is what attracted Monica Dolan to play her. He is the latest in a string of ITV drama criminals, including the productive serial killer Rose West in Appropriate Adult and Maria Marchese, a Londoner jailed for the horrific pursuit of an ex-boyfriend in U Be Dead. Dolan enjoys the challenge of places that viewers will dislike, maybe even hate. “I like to justify a character,” he says. “I just do what the character in the script does and I try to never resist it.” Although it was John’s idea to settle his huge debts by claiming payment for his death, it was Anne who received the longest sentence: three months more than the six years and three months her husband received. Just as Medea, who killed her children, is more notorious in Greek tragedy than many psychopathic men, maternal cruelty seems to have been considered more delinquent than that of Dad. “Unfortunately, we’re used to men behaving awfully to children,” says Lang. “There is something more interesting about a woman and a mother committing this betrayal than a father.” Watching the version of Lang’s events, viewers can conclude that Anna fell victim to coercive control by her husband, who seems to have a strong romantic and sexual dominance over her and make all the decisions for both of them. . This was put in her defense, although, very importantly, the concept of coercion was less legally defined than it is now. The Living Dead… The True John and Anna Darwin, who broke into Panama with a local real estate agent in 2006. Photo: Shutterstock “When he was tried,” says Dolan, “the person accused of coercion had to be physically present at the time of each alleged offense.” Thus, long-term psychological care or emails from Panama did not count. When the series premiered in Hartlepool last April, Boris Johnson was in the city, backing his candidate in a run-off that ousted the Northeast Torres for the first time in five decades, in part because of the argument that such seats had been neglected. by London politicians and exploited by the capital’s bankers. Dolan believes that, in this sense, Darwinians can be considered victims: John, a man of mediocre background, was given loans to buy a dozen properties for rent. When he invented his plot, he owed .000 700,000. “In order not to diminish what they did,” says Dolan, “but in the way that banks simply lent money to people, such things inevitably happened. “The extent of their debt was staggering.” Dolan emphasizes that she and Eddie Marsan in the role of John play “characters written by Chris”. Neither Darwin’s parents nor their sons collaborated on the project, so it is based on research and the manuscript of an unpublished book by journalist David Leake. “You have to imagine a lot,” Lang admits. “You research and you research and then you make this little jump. It is a conjecture, but it is a truly educated conjecture. You can not say that it really is what happened or what goes through her mind. But how much do any of us know about ourselves? If I could sit down with Anna and say, “Why did you do that?” “I’m not sure it would be clearer than me.” … With a paddle Έ Eddie Marshan in The Thief, His Wife and The Canoe. Photo: Helen Williams / ITV But without permission or input from the living originals, does the author feel responsible for them? “Of course,” Lang replies. “There is a huge moral responsibility and we have discussed it a lot. There is a task for the boys but also for John and Anne. You can not slander them, you can not invent things. As for the kids, I would be surprised if they did not think it was a nice reflection of what happened to them. “We are absolutely on their side that this was a heinous crime against them.” But what if they just did not want to be dramatized in primetime and re-shown in the media? “The denial of this is that the boys gave a huge interview to the Daily Mail. Anna wrote a book and did many interviews. The Darwinians have spoken to the press many times. So the defense that you are left alone can not stand “. The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe take part in the ITV Quiz (about the alleged “coughing up fraud to win Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?”) And BBC One’s A Very English Scandal (remake of a murder plot from then-Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe) to an emerging subspecies of cute, comedic real criminal capers. Because no one died in any of these crimes – although a dog was killed in Thorpe’s story – dramatizations are more allowed to be entertained. The executive producer of the series, David Nath, says: “We said from the beginning that we should not avoid humor in it. I begin to wonder if we are reaching a point of saturation with a cruel dark true crime. What are the iconic stories of this kind? Also, with where we are in the world right now – first Covid, now Ukraine – I’m not sure if this is the most attractive prospect for you to watch something truly horrific. “I think the sweet spot is the true story that is also enjoyable.” Panama Fakes Έ Eddie Marshan as John Darwin and Monica Dolan as Anna Darwin in The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe. Photo: ITV / PA Getting true stories is also a Dolan obsession. For Rose West, she went through a bunch of NHS glasses to find the right couple. With Anne Darwin, the challenge was dental – finding false teeth that would give Dolan’s fuller face more narrow features. And while he helped her grow up in nearby Middlesbrough, she also worked with a dialogue coach in the Darwin natives Seaton Carew. “One of the things I learned is that if you make an accent you have to learn it with your fake teeth inside! “You do not want to do it one way, then put the teeth in and you have to start again because the dentures change the sound,” he says. When filming was over, Dolan wore a different pair of dentures to play pioneer artist Audrey Amiss in Carol Morley’s upcoming biopic Typist Artist Pirate King, and then gave one of the best stage performances of the year as Sister Aloysius, a nun. suspected priest. of child abuse, in a revival of John Patrick Shanley’s Doubt: A Paraable. Although Aloysius was the kind of disliked character she liked to play, there was one major difference – which caused problems. “I knew something was wrong and I had to consciously force myself not to put my hand in my mouth,” he says. “Then I realized it was because, for the first time in so long, I only had my own teeth!” More follows on Lang, who has moved on to the fifth series of Unforgotten, ITV’s brilliant police process, with Sinéad Keegan replacing Nicola Walker as Sanjeev Bhaskar co-investigator. Both shows involve ordinary people doing a wrong thing that they seem to have escaped until fate reveals it to them. “That’s my main interest,” says Lang. “I think we are often on the verge of extreme behavior throughout our lives, and sometimes we do. So it’s about trying to figure it out – and the stress it has to put on the way you live your life. I suspect that some people who have committed crimes are more adept at living with this duality. But many people are ruined by it. That’s what I want to explore. “ The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe have been on ITV and the ITV Hub since April 17
