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The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe viewers 'furious' over final Anne Darwin scenes

21 April 2022, 10:35 | Updated: 22 April 2022, 10:12

Anne Darwin meets husband John again in Prison on The Thief, His Wife, and the Canoe

The final episode of John and Anne Darwin's story The Thief, His Wife and The Canoe baffled ITV viewers on Wednesday.

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ITV viewers tuned in to watch the final episode of The Thief, His Wife and The Canoe last night.

The four-part series tells the story of John Darwin (Eddie Marsan) who convinced his wife Anne (Monica Dolan) to help him fake his own death so they could claim his life insurance money.

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After pretending to go missing in his canoe, John left Anne to convince the police, coroners and even their sons Mark and Anthony that he had died at sea.

Wednesday's final episode saw Anne and John interviewed by police officers as they were both charged with fraud.

Anne Darwin was arrested in Manchester airport. Picture: ITV

While they first decided to say they John had amnesia, Anne eventually confessed what had really happened, before John did the same.

The couple then reunited in jail, with John kissing his wife and telling her: "I forgive you, Anne. I really do".

But viewers were furious over his words, with one writing on Twitter: "I forgive you? I BEG YOUR PARDON?! I have no words!"

Someone else wrote: "What a manipulative lying s***!!", while a third viewer added: "That's a bit rich John it was your idea, you bullied Anne into the whole situation".

Anne and John Darwin were both sentenced to over six years in prison. Picture: ITV

"He forgives her, actually raging at that,’ a fourth commented.

Later in the episode, John admitted seven charges of obtaining cash by deception and a passport offence, while Anne denied six charges of deception and nine of using criminal property against her.

But the jury found her guilty and she ended up getting three months longer than John in jail, with a sentence of six years and six months.

After watching the sentencing, many viewers couldn’t help but feel sorry for Anne.

"Don’t get me wrong, I know what Anne Darwin did was wrong, but I can’t help but feel sorry for her. John was an absolute rotter and she is well rid of him,” wrote someone.

Anne Darwin 'can't understand what the fuss is about' over The Thief, His Wife and The Canoe

While someone else agreed: "Good on you Anne. I hope she has found happiness away from John and his manipulative ways #thethiefhiswifeandthecanoe.”

This comes after it was revealed the real-life Anne didn’t enjoy the dramatisation of her story.

According to journalist David Leigh, who wrote the book The Thief, His Wife and The Canoe is based on, she would rather it all went away.

Appearing on This Morning, he told Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield: “She obviously wishes this wasn’t happening but accepts she played a role in it and understands, to a degree, the fascination from the public.

“This story has been running now for 15 years and on it goes, so I think she’ll be happy when it’s over and she can get on with her life and spend time with the boys.”