The Sixth Commandment
GenreDrama
Created bySarah Phelps
Written bySarah Phelps
Directed bySaul Dibb
Starring
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series1
No. of episodes4
Production
Executive producers
  • Lucy Richter
  • Derek Wax
  • Sarah Phelps
  • Brian Woods
ProducerFrances du Pille
CinematographyRik Zang
Editors
  • Sarah Peczek
  • Steven Worsley
Running time57 minutes
Production companies
  • Wild Mercury Productions
  • True Vision Productions
Original release
NetworkBBC One
Release17 July (2023-07-17) –
25 July 2023 (2023-07-25)

The Sixth Commandment is a four-part British true-life crime drama, written by Sarah Phelps and directed by Saul Dibb. Based on the murders of Peter Farquhar and Ann Moore-Martin, it stars Timothy Spall, Anne Reid, Sheila Hancock, Éanna Hardwicke, Annabel Scholey and Ben Bailey Smith.

Produced by Wild Mercury Productions and True Vision Productions, the series began to air on BBC One on 17 July 2023.[1]

Synopsis

The story explores the gaslighting and murder of Peter Farquhar and Ann Moore-Martin as well as her death, in the Buckinghamshire village of Maids Moreton in 2014 and 2017 and the subsequent events including the police investigation and 2019 criminal trial of Ben Field and Martyn Smith.[2]

Cast

Production

Development

The project was first announced in November 2020 by the BBC to “explore the death of Mr Farquhar and the gaslighting campaign of physical and mental abuse he was made to endure at the hands of church warden Benjamin Field”.[3] Sarah Phelps was writing the screenplay.[4]

In June 2022 the project was announced as moving forward with Wild Mercury Productions and True Vision Productions making the four-part series for BBC One. It is directed by Saul Dibb, from a Phelps script, with production by Frances du Pille. The project is executive produced by Derek Wax, Brian Woods and Lucy Richer as well as Dibbs and Phelps.[5] It was confirmed that the project had the full co-operation of the families of Peter Farquhar and Ann Moore-Martin.[6]

Casting

In June 2022 Timothy Spall, Anne Reid, Éanna Hardwicke, Annabel Scholey and Sheila Hancock were announced as the lead cast.[7]

Filming

Filming took place in Bristol and Bath, Somerset from July 2022.[8] The shoot lasted three months for Hardwicke.[9]

Episodes

No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateUK viewers
(millions)
1"Episode 1"Saul DibbSarah Phelps17 July 2023 (2023-07-17)5.26
2"Episode 2"Saul DibbSarah Phelps18 July 2023 (2023-07-18)4.71
3"Episode 3"Saul DibbSarah Phelps24 July 2023 (2023-07-24)4.90
4"Episode 4"Saul DibbSarah Phelps25 July 2023 (2023-07-25)5.22

Reception

Critical reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, The Sixth Commandment holds an approval rating of 88%.[10]

Lucy Mangan of The Guardian awarded the first episode five stars out of five, praising the writing, directing and performances.[11] Ed Power of The Daily Telegraph gave it four out of five stars, also praising the performances and saying the drama 'never forgets Field’s victims were real and suffered horribly'.[12] In a more critical review, Nick Hilton of The Independent gave it two out of five stars.[13]

Accolades

The series was nominated in the Best Casting category at the 2023 Royal Television Society Craft & Design Awards.[14]

References

  1. ↑ "The Best TV Shows To Look Forward To In 2023". Empireonline.com. 13 February 2023. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  2. ↑ "Timothy Spall and Anne Reid lead crime drama The Sixth Commandment". Radio Times. 9 June 2022. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  3. ↑ "The Sixth Commandment: BBC to dramatise Buckingham Ben Fields Murder case". Bucks Herald. 10 November 2020. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  4. ↑ "Sarah Phelps To Dramatise The Complex Death Of British Teacher Peter Farquhar In BBC One Miniseries". Deadline. 9 November 2020. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  5. ↑ "Timothy Spall To Lead BBC Factual Drama 'The Sixth Commandment'". Deadline. 9 June 2022. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  6. ↑ "Evil Aylesbury Vale murderer to be the subject of new four-part true crime drama on BBC One". Bucksherald.co.uk. 9 February 2023. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  7. ↑ "Timothy Spall, Anne Reid, Éanna Hardwicke, Annabel Scholey and Sheila Hancock lead cast of BBC One factual drama, The Sixth Commandment". bbc.co.uk. 9 June 2022. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  8. ↑ "New BBC drama being filmed in Bristol as famous film star spotted". Bristol Post. July 2022. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  9. ↑ "Rising Stars Ireland 2023: Éanna Hardwicke (actor)". Screen Daily. 15 February 2023. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  10. ↑ "The Sixth Commandment". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  11. ↑ Mangan, Lucy (17 July 2023). "The Sixth Commandment review – as immaculate a piece of TV as you will ever see". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  12. ↑ Power, Ed (10 July 2023). "The Sixth Commandment, BBC One, review: an unflinching portrait of evil". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  13. ↑ "The Sixth Commandment starts with so much promise but sinks into tawdry true crime". The Independent. 18 July 2023. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  14. ↑ "RTS CRAFT & DESIGN AWARDS 2023". RTS. 4 December 2023. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
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