Brian Packham (Peter Gunn) was very honest in Monday’s (July 17) edition of Coronation Street. Maybe almost too honest.
He has just returned after time away with his cousin, Isabella. If you’ve been living under a rock, Isabella and Brian met when she travelled to Weatherfield all the way from Naples. Initially, Brian enjoyed getting to know Isabella and partaking in her Italian lifestyle, but it then became apparent that she was actually incredibly annoying.
While in the pub with Mary (Patti Clare), Brian opened up to her and Jenny (Sally Ann Matthews) about his trip away. Brian revealed that it was practically unbearable, so much so he thought about becoming the next ‘Canoe Man’.
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Brian is referencing the real life story of John and Anne Darwin.
In the early 2000s, prison officer John and teacher Anne worked together as John faked his own death to claim on the insurance and avoid bankruptcy. The ‘death’ involved John going out on his canoe and then never returning home. They then fled to Panama for a new life together, but it was their adult sons who started to wonder if something was going on.
Last year, the bizarre story was told in a 4-part drama on ITV. Eddie Marsan and Monica Dolan took on the roles of John and Anne Darwin, who only had their secrets rumbled thanks to a specific photograph.
The famous image from 2006 – four years after John was supposed to have died – was later used to prove that Anne had known the truth all along, despite the lies she had told for years to the police, financial companies and their own sons.
The photo was taken at a Panamanian estate agents, and in the recreation, the trio are wearing almost identical outfits. In the story, Anne says that after the initial lie of going along with the canoe accident plot, posing for the photo was ‘easily the most stupid thing we did’.
The image was found on the internet by a woman who Googled ‘John, Anne, Panama’ and she sent it to a national newspaper.
Its existence meant Anne could no longer pretend to be shocked and pleased after her husband had turned up alive at a London police station, claiming to have amnesia.
The ordeal was complicated and had twists at near enough every turn – something we think Brian probably couldn’t handle. He mentioned to Jenny and Mary that he wasn’t going to recreate the story exactly, as he wanted to fake his own death with a pedalo.
He wasn’t able to, however, because Brian wasn’t able to have five minutes to himself due to Isabella always being there.
Maybe it is easier to just tell her the truth, Brian?
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