BBC’s new show The Sixth Commandment is set to air on the network later this year - and the first sneak peek of the show looks chilling. The true-crime show, which was written by A Very British Scandal screenwriter Sarah Phelps, follows the deaths of Peter Farquhar and his neighbour Ann Moore-Martin - and their connection to one of Peter’s former students, Ben Field.
Harry Potter star Timothy Spall and Last Tango in Halifax actress Anne Reid are set to star as Peter and Ann respectively, while Normal People actor Éanna Hardwicke will play Ben Field and The Split star Annabel Scholey portrays Ann’s niece, Ann-Marie Blake.
They will also be joined by Unforgotten alum Sheila Hancock and Amanda Root, Andor actor Ben Bailey Smith, Industry’s Conor MacNeill and Chernobyl actor Adrian Rawlins.
So what is the true-crime drama about? The synopsis reads: "The Sixth Commandment tells the story of how the meeting of an inspirational teacher, Peter Farquhar, and a charismatic student, Ben Field, 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, Peter’s deeply religious neighbour, unlocked a series of chilling revelations."
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The story is set to explore how both Peter and Ann were both manipulated by the former student, who had hoped to manipulate them into writing him into their wills, showing extreme gaslighting - as well as the police investigation and high profile trial. The BBC has confirmed that Peter and Ann’s families were in "full cooperation" with the upcoming drama.
Speaking about their involvement, Sarah said: "I wouldn’t have been able to write this without the help, support and insights of Peter and Ann’s families. I’m so appreciative of the trust they placed in me to tell the stories of their loved ones."
What happened to Ben Field?
Benjamin Field was jailed back in 2019 for the murder of 69-year-old Peter Farquhar in Buckinghamshire after secretly spiking the university lecturer’s drink and driving him to believe that he was losing his mind in extreme gaslighting. Following his death in 2015, he then entered a relationship with Ann, who died in 2017. However, Field was found not guilty of plotting to kill her.
While sentencing Field, Mr Justice Sweeney told him that he "lived by deception and deceit and had been a well-practised and able liar". He added: "You further admitted how you could manipulate and manoeuvre people, however sceptical they may have been, to achieve your ends without ever asking them to do so directly."
Field’s lawyer made a second bid to overturn his murder conviction in January 2022, one year after the court of appeal dismissed their first challenge to the conviction. They claim that there was "no evidence that Mr Farquhar had been forced or tricked" into consuming the spiked drink.
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