The Sixth Commandment
The Sixth Commandment is a brand new four-part true crime drama which explores the deaths of Peter Farquhar and Ann Moore-Martin in the village of Maids Moreton, Buckinghamshire, and the extraordinary events that unfolded over the following years. Based on our documentary Catching a Killer: A Diary from the Grave.
The Sixth Commandment tells the story of how the meeting of an inspirational teacher, Peter Farquhar (Timothy Spall) and a charismatic student, Ben Field (Éanna Hardwicke), set the stage for one of the most complex and confounding criminal cases in recent memory.
It also focuses on how suspicions around Field’s relationship with Ann Moore-Martin (Anne Reid), Peter’s deeply religious neighbour, unlocked a series of chilling revelations.
The Sixth Commandment explores the way in which both Peter and Ann were manipulated by Field, capturing the extreme gaslighting, the gripping police investigation and the high-
profile trial. While poignantly highlighting the devastating effect of isolation and loneliness, as Field closed in on them, it also celebrates both Peter and Ann’s lives as cherished mentors, much loved relatives and adored friends.
RUNTIME:
4 x 60 Minutes
WRITER:
Sarah Phelps
PRODUCER:
Frances du Pille
DIRECTOR:
Saul Dibb
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS:
Brian Woods
Derek Wax
Sarah Phelps
Saul Dibb
Lucy Richer
RELEASED:
2023
The Sixth Commandment is a Wild Mercury/True Vision Co-Production
Awards
Leading Actor - Timothy Spall - Nominee
BAFTA 2024
Leading Actress - Anne Reid - Nominee
BAFTA 2024
Limited Drama - Nominee
BAFTA 2024
Supporting Actor - Éanna Hardwicke - Nominee
BAFTA 2024
Photography & Lighting: Fiction - Rik Zang - Nominee
BAFTA 2024
Writer: Drama - Sarah Phelps - Nominee
BAFTA 2024
Limited Series - Winner
RTS Awards 2024
Supporting Actor - Male - Éanna Hardwicke - Winner
RTS Awards 2024
Writer - Drama - Sarah Phelps - Winner
RTS Awards 2024
Leading Actor - Male - Timothy Spall - Nominee
RTS Awards 2024
Best Drama Series (4+Eps) - Nominee
BPG Awards 2024
Best Actor - Timothy Spall - Nominee
BPG Awards 2024
Best Writer - Sarah Phelps - Nominee
BPG Awards 2024
Best Mini Series - Nominee
C21 Drama Awards 2023
Best Casting - Winner
C21 Drama Awards 2023
Individual Performance in a Drama Series - Timothy Spall - Nominee
C21 Drama Awards 2023
Casting Award - Julie Harkin & Nathan Toth - Nominee
RTS Craft and Design
Best Drama Series or Serial - Nominee
Broadcast Awards 2024
Limited Series - Nominee
2024 Rockie Awards
Radio Times Readers Award - Nominee
Sandford St Martin Awards 2024
Best Lead Actor - Eanna Hardwicke
IFTA Awards 2024
Reviews
"as immaculate a piece of TV as you will ever see"
Lucy Mangan - The Guardian
50 Best TV shows in 2023 - No 9
‘a masterclass in respectful true-crime TV’
Chitra Ramaswamy - The Guardian
The Sixth Commandment is very disturbing (its emotional violence has haunted me since I saw it)
Lucy Lethbridge - The Tablet
With its engrossing script, commanding direction and brilliant ensemble, The Sixth Commandment never puts a foot wrong.
David Knox - TV Tonight
the real horror of this series lies in the universal rather than the particular. It speaks to our collective isolation, the condition now so widespread, and to the risk involved in daring to break free of it.
Rachel Cooke - New Statesman
“hailed as one of the dramas of the year” - Interview with Writer Sarah Phelps and producers Brian Woods and Derek Wax
Stephen Armstrong - Drama Quarterly
Real detective praises BBC drama
Danny Fullbrook - BBC News
Viewers of The Sixth Commandment praise Éanna Hardwicke's 'sinister' portrayal of a murderous fraudster and call for him to win 'all the awards' as the disturbing BBC drama concludes
Jessica Taylor - Mail Online
The Sixth Commandment true story is explored through the perspective of investigators and family members in the Catching a Killer series
Emma Shacklock - Woman and Home
“a heartbreaking portrayal of a sickening crime”
Carol Midgley - The Times
the best thing on the BBC in ages and should clean up at the Baftas.
Miranda Norris - Oxford Mail
True crime has become a byword for commodifying trauma. But this drama refuses to be dazzled by its killer – and never forgets his victims
Ed Power - The Telegraph
The Sixth Commandment deserves ‘all the awards’
Nancy Brown - Entertainment Daily
Proof that true-crime dramas don’t have to exploit murder victims
Gerad Gilbert - inews
"If he is sorry for anything it is that he got caught."
Rebecca Cook - Digital Spy
an intensely intimate portrayal of a tragedy so awful you literally weep
Paul Hirons - The Killing Times
Audiences have praised the BBC’s LGBTQ+ true-crime drama The Sixth Commandment for highlighting vulnerable loneliness among the older generation.
Asyia Iftikhar - Pink News
An extraordinary depiction of prey and predator, Phelps gets under the skin of those vulnerable to the manipulations of someone intent on conning them and draws, I think, the conclusion that it could be any of us.
Julia Raeside - I Dare Say
a brilliantly-crafted true crime story that is both careful and full of care
Philip Cunnington - Lancashire Post
Timothy Spall praised for 'performance of life time' in BBC true crime drama
Tom Wood - LADBible
Even if you hate true crime, you should watch The Sixth Commandment
Rachel Cooke - The Observer
It also celebrates both Peter and Ann’s lives as ‘cherished mentors, much loved relatives and adored friends’.
Harborough Mail
The show delicately elicits compassion for two people who mistook cynical exploitation for sincere affection. The series is less preoccupied with Field’s motivations and more invested in his victims.
Dan Einav - Financial Times
"What’s so tragic is the optimism instilled in these elderly people."
Rebecca Cook - DigitalSpy
If you’re beginning to wonder what the point of the whole true crime drama genre is… all you need to do is watch this new four parter
Boyd Hilton - Heat
How The Sixth Commandment brought a harrowing British case to the screen
Belfast Telegraph
This sensitive BBC drama holds vital lessons for today’s Church
Tony Wilson - Premier Christianity
The BBC’s Sixth Commandment is a murder mystery masterclass
Camilla Long - The Times
This is sure to be a chilling exploration of a case that continues to surprise everyone.
Emily Bootle - inews
a chilling account of a killer who preyed on the elderly
Chris Harvey - Telegraph
The harrowing saga shows how Ben Field manipulated his victims
The Bucks Herald
based on the true story of how the inspirational teacher met charismatic student Ben Field and the murder that followed.
Paul Simper - Metro
The chilling case of a murderer who preyed on two elderly neighbours
TV & Satellite
The Sixth Commandment… tells the harrowing story of how Field, a student in his twenties, convinced Peter that he was in love with him, before getting him to change his will and then killing him to acquire his estate.
Michael Crick - The Times
The true story of the victims of an evil predator
TV Choice
Real churchwarden who murdered man from Sixth Commandment series has since tried to leave prison
Tom Wood - LADBible
Interview with Ann-Marie Blake - How I exposed the real life Midsomer Murderer
Vicki Power - Daily Express
10 Questions with Timothy Spall
Radio Times
This four-part series explores the deaths of respected teacher Peter Farquhar and retired headmistress Ann Moore-Martin
Nick Fiaca - Total TV Guide
One of the most chilling and complex criminal cases in recent history
TV Times
it’s the tragic, true case of a lonely man who was murdered by the very person he thought he would share the rest of his life with.
Ellie Harrison - Independent
Just when you think you’ve learned of the most terrifying or hideous case, another comes along to take its place.
Claire Cartmill - Newsletter
Telly favourites Timothy Spall and Anne Reid team up for a gripping thriller this week based on a bizarre true crime story
Tricia Martin - Inside Soap
It means a lot that those who knew him felt the part authentic
Nicola Methven - The Daily Mirror
A new drama will tell the infamous story of an author murdered by a churchwarden in Buckinghamshire.
BBC
the show manages to avoid the true crime pitfalls of focusing on the killer at the expense of giving the victims a voice.
Katie Rosseinsky - Stylist