The Thief, His Wife And The Canoe Viewers Baffled After Spotting Karl Pilkington

Viewers watching ITV's true crime drama The Thief, His Wife and The Canoe were surprised to see a familiar face appear on their TV screens.

An Idiot Abroad star Karl Pilkington appeared as a detective questioning the fraudulent couple.

Some viewers believed the detective was just a lookalike until the end credits confirmed that is was in fact the 49-year-old comedian. Watch the scene here:

The four part drama, which started on ITV on Sunday, tells the story of John Darwin (Eddie Marsan) and his wife Anne (Monica Dolan).

In the early 2000s the pair orchestrated a preposterous plan to fake John’s death so that they could claim his life insurance money.

Not even telling their own sons that John was alive the entire time, the couple got away with the scheme for a several years before a few slip-ups outed them.

In 2008 they were arrested and went to court, with John sentenced to six years and three months in prison and Anne receiving six years and six months.

ITV)

After tuning into the first episode of the drama, fans took to Twitter when they spotted a familiar face in the interrogation room after John finally showed his face again, claiming memory loss.

One bemused fan took to twitter, writing: "Karl pilkington showing up in this series on itv is strange [laughing emoji]"

"Bloody hell it's only Karl Pilkington [three smiling emojis] #thethiefhiswifeandthecanoe" posted another.

Twitter)

Another viewer seemed to be shocked at his acting ability, tweeting: "#KarlPilkington #thethiefhiswifeandthecanoe first time I’ve ever seen him in an acting role lol he’s quite good.." - to which another Twitter user jokingly replied that perhaps the comedian could be cast as the next James Bond.

That would be a surprise, but we can't say we wouldn't go straight to the cinema on opening day.

Twitter)

Others suggested that there might be a subtle meaning to Karl's appearance in the show, with one viewer writing:

"Anyone else think that Karl Pilkington’s appearance in The Thief, His Wife and The Canoe is a subtle message that John Darwin is in fact an idiot abroad"

"An idiot abroad and it isn't Karl Pilkington. #thethiefhiswifeandthecanoe" Added another.

One user called the casting 'genius' - and we're inclined to agree.

You can watch all four episodes of The Thief, His Wife And The Canoe on ITV Hub.