FILMING for a new television drama about the bizarre real-life case of canoe man John Darwin, who faked his own death as part of an insurance scam, is due to start in the North-East this month. Filming for the four-part ITV drama, which will star Eddie Marsan and Monica Dolan, is taking place in Hartlepool. Mr Darwin went missing in 2002 while canoeing off the coast of Seaton Carew, near Hartlepool, where the couple lived. The Thief, His Wife And The Canoe will tell the story of how Ms Darwin, played by Dolan, became complicit in her husband’s deception, allowing them to collect his life insurance.