The Sixth Commandment: The Chilling BBC True-Crime Drama Viewers Say You Shouldn’t Miss
A seemingly kind student. Two vulnerable elderly neighbours. And a shocking deception that would ultimately become a devastating criminal case.
BBC’s The Sixth Commandment is a four-part drama based on the real-life deaths of Peter Farquhar and Ann Moore-Martin, two respected members of the small Buckinghamshire village of Maids Moreton. Starring Timothy Spall and Anne Reid, the series explores how their lives became entangled with Ben Field, a young man who manipulated his way into their confidence.
First broadcast in 2023, the miniseries has earned a reputation as one of the BBC’s most affecting crime dramas, combining an unsettling true story with deeply human performances.
The full series is currently available on BBC iPlayer.
A disturbing story of trust and manipulation
At the centre of The Sixth Commandment is Peter Farquhar, a devout Christian, Cambridge graduate and inspirational teacher who takes a position as a guest lecturer at the University of Buckingham.
Although Peter is surrounded by friends and respected within his community, he has spent much of his life struggling with loneliness and accepting his sexuality.
His life changes when he meets Ben Field, one of his students.
Peter is immediately impressed by Ben’s intelligence, and the two develop a close bond over their shared interests in literature and religion. Their relationship eventually becomes romantic, but Ben’s intentions are far darker than Peter realizes.
His interest is driven by one thing: Peter’s inheritance.
Ben’s manipulation does not end with Peter. He also turns his attention to Ann Moore-Martin, an 83-year-old Christian woman living nearby.
Ann had previously enjoyed a successful career as a model before becoming a headmistress. Ben gradually earns her trust through his apparent religious devotion and willingness to help around her home.
He eventually tells Ann that he has fallen in love with her.
Anne Reid previously explained to the BBC how Ben’s attention affected her character:
“He wins her confidence and sort of draws her in.”
She noted how beguiling such attention could be for an 83-year-old woman, particularly when it came from a much younger man.
But Ann’s niece, Ann-Marie Blake, begins to suspect that something is wrong when Ann’s health starts to deteriorate.
Timothy Spall and Anne Reid lead the cast
The drama features a strong ensemble, with Timothy Spall and Anne Reid at its centre.
- Timothy Spall as Peter Farquhar
- Anne Reid as Ann Moore-Martin
- Éanna Hardwicke as Ben Field
- Annabel Scholey as Ann-Marie Blake
- Sheila Hancock as Elizabeth Zettl
- Ben Bailey Smith as Simon Blake
- Conor MacNeill as Martyn Smith
- Adrian Rawlins as Ian Farquhar
- Amanda Root as Sue Farquhar
Hardwicke’s performance as Ben is particularly important to the story, as the character must appear charming and trustworthy while gradually revealing the extent of his manipulation.
Meanwhile, Spall and Reid bring considerable emotional depth to Peter and Ann, ensuring that they are portrayed as fully developed people rather than simply victims in a crime story.
A difficult but deeply moving watch
The Sixth Commandment is not an easy drama to watch.
The real-life events behind the series are disturbing, and the story becomes increasingly difficult as Peter and Ann’s vulnerability is exploited.
Yet the series has also been praised for its sensitivity and emotional weight. Rather than focusing solely on the crime itself, it spends time showing who Peter and Ann were, the contributions they made to their communities and the lives they touched.
That approach gives the story an emotional dimension beyond the mystery surrounding their deaths.
For viewers interested in true-crime dramas, it offers a particularly unsettling reminder of how easily trust can be manipulated.
Watch the trailer
The BBC released a trailer showcasing the increasingly tense relationship between Peter, Ann and Ben, hinting at the deception that gradually unfolds throughout the four episodes.
The trailer gives a glimpse of the drama’s serious tone without revealing the full extent of what happens to the two elderly victims.
How to watch The Sixth Commandment
The complete four-part series is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
For viewers who have already worked through some of the BBC’s better-known crime dramas, The Sixth Commandment offers something different: a compact true-crime story driven less by conventional detective work and more by psychology, manipulation and the devastating consequences of misplaced trust.
More BBC crime dramas to watch
If The Sixth Commandment leaves you wanting another mystery, ** River ** offers a much darker detective story.
The six-part series stars Stellan Skarsgård as Detective Inspector John River, who investigates the murder of his close colleague, Detective Sergeant Jackie “Stevie” Stevenson, played by Nicola Walker. River continues to encounter Stevie through ghostly apparitions as he works through his cases. The series is available on ITVX.
For something more traditional and lighter in tone, ** Moonflower Murders ** stars Lesley Manville as Susan Ryeland, a former book editor who becomes a sleuth.
The sequel to Magpie Murders follows Susan after she moves to Crete with her boyfriend Andreas, played by Alexandros Logothetis. Her new life is disrupted when an old murder connected to a British country hotel resurfaces, forcing her to investigate. Moonflower Murders is available on BBC iPlayer.
But for a story rooted in real events, The Sixth Commandment remains one of the BBC’s most unsettling recent dramas — and its powerful performances make the tragic story of Peter Farquhar and Ann Moore-Martin particularly difficult to forget.