ITV show to explore 'narcissism and toxic masculinity' of 'canoe man' John Darwin

Eddie Marsan believes that his portrayal of "canoe man" John Darwin in new ITV drama The Thief, His Wife and The Canoe showcases our increased understanding of psychological abuse in marriages.

The 53-year-old actor plays Darwin alongside Monica Dolan as his wife, Anne, the 'canoe couple' who faked John's death for money.

The Darwins’ jaw-dropping deception tricked insurers, police and even their two sons into believing the ex-prison officer had died in a North Sea accident in 2002.

The couple started a new life in Panama but the tale unravelled when John came back from the dead in 2007, claiming to have suffered amnesia.

They were jailed for the fraud and the extent of the parents’ deception shocked the world.

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Marsan told a Q&A panel for the show at Bafta HQ that Darwin fits into the world of "toxic masculinity", alongside numerous other characters he has played — including Olivia Colman's abusive husband in 2011 film Tyrannosaur.

"When I did Tyrannosaur, it was so grotesque that it was a comfortable distance from us. And we could look at it and it wasn't us and we could judge it," said Marsan.

He added: "Post-Me Too, I think it's become more nuanced and abuse has become more subtle. It's not just violence — it's psychological manipulation and all of those things.

"John, to me, is an embodiment of what we're dealing with with a lot of men. Society is working out how to deal with men, and their narcissism and their toxic masculinity.

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"The thing about young men is, when they're teenagers, they're encouraged to have this thing of the myth of omnipotence where they think they can do anything.

"Reality shows us that we can't, and some men can't deal with that. And so they become self-deceitful and they become liars, and they become narcissists."

Chris Lang, the show's writer, explained that Anne Darwin attempted to prove that she had been controlled and coerced by her husband, but found it impossible to prove that defence.

At the time, the law required that the alleged abuser be present every single time an offence was committed in order for it to be a valid defence — a stipulation which was later removed.

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Lang said: "It feels, looking back, slightly absurd that a court wasn't able to recognise that someone is present in your mind, particularly if they've been gently coercing you and controlling you for 30 or 40 years.

"You don't need to have them standing by your side in order in order to get you to bend to their will."

Dolan said it's likely that Anne Darwin would have "been listened to differently" if she were to make her claims of coercive control today rather than in the late noughties.

"What's interesting with Anne and very complex, I think, is that her fear was that he might leave her," Dolan added.

"There's all sorts of hinterland to that in terms of making someone feel that it's impossible to leave you, I think, which can definitely be described as sort of abusive in quite a nuanced way."

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The show depicts Anne recounting a story of her first meeting with John as a schoolgirl, in which he knocked her hat off her head as a joke.

"There's the stage where she realises how her relationship started with humiliation, and what her relationship was," said Dolan.

"But then that's another very fast step from deciding to get out of the relationship and having the courage to do that.

"There are little deaths and rebirths every time we make a decision or any of us get found out about anything."

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Lang said the idea of forgiveness was a driving force behind the way they approached telling the story of the Darwins — predominantly through Anne's eyes.

"I was really struck by the fact that she rebuilt the relationship with her sons in a way that John Darwin really didn't," he said.

John and Anne Darwin separated while in prison, with Anne reconciling with her sons while John has now remarried and lives in the Philippines.

None of the Darwin family were involved in making the drama, though the script was based on court documents, police interviews, TV appearances and newspaper stories.

Lang added: "That's really the point of the story — that power of forgiveness and compassion, and you don't get compassion unless you try to extend empathy.

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"It's a slight credo of mine that good people do bad things. And, you know, let's try to understand and let's try to forgive. If her sons could forgive her, I would hope that we can as well."

The Thief, His Wife and The Canoe does not have a confirmed broadcast date yet, but will be shown on ITV this year.

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