*Warning: This article contains graphic descriptions of abuse, murder, and other serious crimes.*
The Sixth Commandment, a new BBC series based on a horrifying true tale, premiered on Monday night (July 17).
The four-part series, starring Timothy Spall and Éanna Hardwicke, examines how a seemingly innocent connection may lead to a complex and sad criminal prosecution.
Spall plays novelist Peter Farquhar, who had an affair with PhD student Ben Field before Field poisoned him and finally murdered him.
They originally met at Buckingham University, where Farquhar was a lecturer; they were shortly engaged, and Farquhar characterised the day as one of his “happiest days.”
However, once the two had moved in together, Field began drugging and manipulating the old former instructor, leading him to believe he was insane.
Field then persuaded Farquhar to include him in his will, and subsequently smothered him when his attempts to arrange the 69-year-old’s suicide failed.
Field moved on to his next victim, Anne Moore-Martin, a friend of Farquhar’s who lived on the same block as him, while he was still alive.
Last Tango in Halifax actress Anne Reid will portray Moore-Martin, who died of natural causes while Farquhar was telling her he was in love with her.
Moore-Martin’s friendship with Field, on the other hand, had caused alarm among her family, particularly her niece Anne-Marie Blake.
Blake will be played by Annabel Scholey from Being Human, while her husband Simon will be played by Doc Brown from The Inbetweeners.
Dame Sheila Hancock will play Liz Zettl, a friend and neighbour of Farquhar and Moore-Martin, and will bring her Tony Award-winning credentials to the part.
Field, like Farquhar, began persuading Moore-Martin to include him in her will. She, on the other hand, became aware of his plots and had him removed.
After contacting the police, an inquiry was launched, and Field was convicted to a minimum of 36 years in jail in 2019.
Moore-Martin died of natural causes in a nursing and retirement institution two years before his hefty sentence was handed down.
Hardwicke, who portrays convicted Field, admitted his’shock’ at the real story that inspired the series before of its broadcast.
The Normal People actor, 26, said: ‘I had to set aside any horror and disgust I might have felt about what my character had done and get into his headspace.’
‘Thankfully, there was loads to read and watch to try and understand him,’ he added, saying that ‘playing Ben felt a bit like going into a labyrinth.’
‘I’ve always wanted to be able to play people with a distinctly different world view from my own’, Hardwicke continued, speaking to the BBC.
The Vivarium star said that to ‘momentarily step into something very different and surrender yourself to that’ is a thrilling aspect of his profession.
He added: ‘When it’s a character who has done such terrible things, there’s a real balancing act in telling that story.
Watch The Sixth Commandment on the BBC and iPlayer.
Source My Celebrity Life.
