ITV have commissioned new drama 'The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe', based on the crimes of John Darwin.
Stephen Graham is rumoured to be one of the stars who could play John Darwin
Darwin infamously faked his own death to claim life insurance and avoid bankruptcy - after he ran up debts of £64,000 on 13 credit cards - and the story will be part of a new show penned by Chris Lang.
ITV by Head of Drama Polly Hill said: "This is an extraordinary story of deception within a very ordinary family.
"Chris has written brilliant scripts about the heart breaking cost of this elaborate lie.
"I am so pleased to be working with Richard Laxton again and with Dave Nath and Story Films first drama for ITV."
The four-part drama will tell the story of prison officer Darwin and how he came up with a plan to defraud insurance companies, unbeknownst to his and wife Anne Darwin's two sons, Mark and Anthony.
The show will be based upon the unpublished manuscript written by journalist David Leigh, who was the first reporter to find and interview Anne in Panama.
Anne had attempted to convince the world that her husband had gone missing in 2002 while canoeing off the coast of Seaton Carew in Cleveland, where the couple owned two large houses with panoramic views of the sea.
In the early days of their scam, Darwin lived next door to Anne in a bedsit, but they later decided to move to Panama City so they could live together again.
But a photo of them in a Panama real estate office in July 2006 was later posted and their huge secret was exposed.
The pair were later jailed for more than six years.
Chris said: "If I'd tried to sell this project as an original story, it would never have got further than the pitch. 'It's just too far-fetched, Chris, no-one would ever believe that any of that could actually have happened.'
"Except it did. All of it. And I loved writing every, single, word."
According to the Daily Mirror newspaper, Stephen Graham is among the stars who could land the role of Darwin.
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